Rozier confirms split with Jacobs
Photo by Al Bello/General Mills via Getty Images
Jacobs is planning to return Dec. 13 at 168 pounds.
A trainer-fighter relationship can be very much like a marriage, with ups and downs, twists and turns, and sometimes, fractures.
Such as on Saturday night, coach Andre Rozier in a chat with ThaBoxingVoice was asked if he was still working with Daniel Jacobs, last seen tussling in May with Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas, and taking an L.
“No,” replied Rozier, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, there to see young Patrick Day perform against Charles Conwell.
Jacobs’ advisor Keith Connolly was asked if the Brooklyn native — who holds a 35-3 mark and is supposed to be gloving up again in December at 168 pounds — if the fighter has selected a new tutor. He said he didn’t want to comment.
Rozier was not available for comment at press time.
A strange-ish situation arose when Jacobs fought Sergiy Derevyanchenko, also trained for several years by Rozier, in Oct. 2018. Rozier worked the Jacobs corner and co-trainer Gary Stark Sr cornered the Ukrainian, who lost via split decision at the Madison Square Garden Theater.
Jacobs’ corner was formerly helmed by Victor Roundtree, who died from diabetes in 2013. Roundtree, a former amateur boxer, discovered Jacobs when he was 14 at the Police Athletic League Howard Houses in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Rozier took over the lead dog reins when Victor passed on.
Whispers about a Rozier-Jacobs parting have been rumored within the fight game sphere for a spell, but the two principals, as yet, haven’t shared about what changed their dynamic.