Canelo Alvarez vs Daniel Jacobs: Why American lost $750,000 on eve of middleweight title fight

Despite hitting the 160-pound limit at Friday’s weigh-in, both Canelo and Jacobs has to ensure they did not exceed the 170-pound barrier on the morning of the fight - something that the latter did not do

Daniel Jacobs has confirmed that he cost himself nearly $1m deliberately in order to have the best chance of beating Canelo Alvarez in their middleweight unification bout on Saturday night.

Despite hitting the 160-pound limit at Friday’s weigh-in, both Canelo and Jacobs has to ensure they did not exceed the 170-pound barrier on the morning of the fight - something that the latter did not do.

In what proved to be a confidential contract agreement, either fighter would have to sacrifice $250,000 for every pound over the 170 limit they were, ensuring that Jacobs had to pay out $750,000 from a purse that is expected to be $10m.

“I didn’t feel any different, I’m just a naturally big middleweight and the restraints they had on me in terms of making 170 the next day was a lot for me,” Jacobs said after the fight.

“I made the sacrifice of coming in 170 and came in 173 and paid a hefty fine for it, but at the end of the day this is boxing and I’ve made sacrifices.

"I gave it my all tonight and I got the short end of the stick, but to my fans, to everybody all over the world that support me, to my survivors out there who appreciate my story and what I represent, I thank you. The journey’s not over and I’ll continue to strive to be the best of what I can be. Thank you guys for your support.”

Jacobs made it clear that he intends to continue his professional career, though he will spend time at home with his family first before going through the tapes to see if the evidence matched what the judges scorecards read.

“I feel accomplished,” he added. “I feel great. I’ll have to go back and look at the tapes and see exactly what the judges thought but I kept the conversations with my corner inside the breaks and they said I was up so I was still pressing as I wanted to finish strong.

"He's a tremendous champion, I take my hat off to him. I gave my all out there and we’ll see Daniel Jacobs bigger and better next time.

"I definitely think it took me a couple of rounds to get my wits about me, to figure out his rhythm, because he’s a pop-shotter, and it’s really hard to train for a guy - especially with 10oz gloves on - to really get a feel of the speed, but he’s a fast guy, he’s really slippery. It was a great contest today and I look forward to what the future has in store for me, but I feel like I gave enough to get the victory, but I've got to go back to the tapes and see what happened."

Jacobs gave Canelo problems (AP)

Standing in the ring next to his son, Nathaniel, Jacobs admitted that he had only one person that he needed to convince be could win this weekend. “I asked him if daddy did a great job and he said ‘yes daddy did a great job, he won the fight’ so if it’s in his heart that’s all that matters and I’m going home to be the best dad I can be.”

Canelo meanwhile failed to stop his opponent at middleweight for the fourth successive fight, and admitted that he expected a tricky affair given Jacobs’ ability to switch stances with ease.

It’s just what we thought. We know he was going to be a difficult fighter but thank God we did things the right way, the things we were supposed to do,” Canelo said.

Canelo admitted Jacobs proved a challenge (USA TODAY Sports)

“It’s just what we thought because of the style of fight that he brings, but we just did our job.

“That’s normal and obviously that creates certain problems but it’s just a matter of adapting when he switches lefty or righty.”

Canelo also acknowledged the brutal left hook that he received in the ninth round that looked to momentarily stun the Mexican in a punch that stood out as the shot of the fight.

“It was a hard shot but I received the hard shot, I went back to the corner and they asked me and I said ‘it was no big deal’ and just continued with my fight,” added Canelo.