Jacobs impresses crowd with dominant TKO

There was a moment early in the fourth round when it looked like veteran middleweight George Walton might be able to take away some of the luster surrounding hot-shot prospect Daniel “The Golden Child” Jacobs.

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Jacobs won the first three rounds with ease, flustering Walton with exceptional hand-speed and ring generalship. But Walton opened up a small cut near Jacobs’ right eye just before round three wrapped up. Jacobs’ corner did a nice job to stop the bleeding, but the 22-year-old out of Brooklyn had never been cut in any of his 16 pro fights.

A fighter can have all the natural ability in the world, but still lose his composure at the sight of his own blood.

Walton went to work pressuring Jacobs in the fourth, taking the fight to Jacobs and smothering him against the ropes in order to attack that cut and neutralize Jacobs’ substantial reach advantage.

How would Jacobs react to his first taste of professional adversity?

Not only did he adjust on the fly, he ended up submitting the finest performance of his young career.

In front of a surprisingly enthusiastic Diamond Center crowd, a national TV audience (ESPN2) and his boss, Golden Boy Promotions’ founder Oscar De La Hoya at ringside, Jacobs (17-0, 15 KO) stopped Walton (20-4, 12 KO) in the eighth round on Friday night. It was the first time Walton had been stopped in his professional career.

“I stunk up the joint,” a disappionted Walton said in the post-fight press conference. “It was totally my fault. I got caught up in the moment and resorted to some of my old habits, instead of making adjustments like he did.”

From the opening bell, it was clear that Jacobs owned substantial speed, length and athletic advantages. He countered Walton’s wide hooks with short, compact left-hand counters, which was the punch he used to put Walton on the canvas early in round two.

“I knew that wasn’t a good round for me,” Walton said. “I went back to my corner and just said to myself ‘Oh, boy. Here we go.’”

When Walton began to shift the momentum in the fourth round, Jacobs unleashed a new weapon — a right uppercut to the body that stopped Walton in his tracks each time he attempted to close the distance.

“I fight with my head,” Jacobs said. “Boxing is about overcoming and adjusting.”

The right hand became Jacobs’ main punch for the rest of the bout, as he aggrivated a two-week-old training-camp injury to his left hand around the midway point of the fight.

Each time Walton attempted to make Jacobs uncomfortable in the ring, Jacobs danced around him with exemplary footwork and tagged him with left-right combinations.

“I thought that cut in the fourth round might shift the momentum, but he did a fantastic job keeping his composure,” Walton said. “He can really do a lot in this division.”

Both men started to tire in the seventh round, but Jacobs ended that stretch with a flurry just before the bell — something he did to seal every round in his favor.

Referee Bobby Ferrara called a stop to the action late in the eighth round, after Jacobs landed a half-dozen unanswered punches. A left hook that left Walton’s head wobbling was fight’s final punch.

“My trainers always say you don’t get paid for overtime,” Jacobs said.

At the time of the stoppage, Jacobs led 70-62 on all three scorecards.

Jacobs, who has been a busy fighter in 2009, might land on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” in August against former title contender Peter Manfredo.

With this win under his belt, the young Jacobs seems to have more confidence than he knows what to do with. In his last three bouts, he’s appeared on ESPN2 twice and in front of 15,000 fans in Las Vegas at the Manny Pacquiao versus Ricky Hatton bout — a fight he took on eight days notice.

“I’m getting better every fight,” Jacobs said. “I see myself as a threat in this division. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before I become the next middleweight superstar.”

Wilder’s eraser

In the heavyweight bout preceeding Jacobs-Walton, Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder (6-0, 6 KO) extended his first-round knockout streak to five bouts, clobbering Kelsey Arnold (1-2-2) at the 1:13 mark.

Wilder might not be the most polished boxer, but if he can land his overhand right, his opponent will likely be hitting the floor.

The 23-year-old out of Tuscaloosa, Ala. came out swinging right from the opening bell and drilled Arnold in the temple. Arnold paused for a moment, then crumpled into a heap. He was not able to beat the referee’s count to 10. Heck, the ref could’ve counted to 50 and the fight would’ve still been scored a KO.

Erislandy Lara, the Cuban sensation scheduled to take part in the co-main event, was unable to participate due to some visa difficulties. Houston welterweight prospect Jermell Charlo took his place on the televised portion of the card and won a controversial eighth-round TKO over Frederico Flores, Jr.

Flores, who won the crowd over with his Mexican flag trunks, gave Charlo (8-0, 4 KO) everything he could handle through the first seven rounds. At the time of the stoppage, judge Derek Zazueta had Flores ahead 67-66, with Dennis O’Connell having Charlo ahead 67-66. Allan Perrault inexplicably had Charlo winning in a shutout, 70-63.

Flores (6-3, 2 KO) won the crowd over with his aggressive style and fearless attitude. The Mexican welterweight walked through many of Charlo’s punches as if nothing happened. Charlo landed his jab consistently, but very few shots seemed to bother Flores.

However, Charlo landed his best punches in the fight (a one-two combination) early in the eighth round and knocked out Flores’ mouthpiece. Flores staggered slightly, which caused referee Nico Perez to jump the gun and stop the bout.

The crowd lustily booed the decision.

In other undercard action, hard-hitting welterweight Keith Thurman (9-0, 9 KO) opened up the festivities with a dominant third-round TKO over Marteze Logan (26-37, 6 KO).

Seth Mitchell and Hylon Williams took home clear decision victories, as well.

Closing out the night, Tucson’s own Annette “Netta” Agredano thrilled the home crowd with a clear victory over Jessica Sanchez.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747