British super middleweight John Ryder says a win over former IBF middleweight title holder Danny Jacobs in New York would fire him back in line for another shot at WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith. Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs) was seen as an easy mark for Smith, but when the two fought in November, Ryder pushed Smith all the way but lost out in what many thought was a controversial decision. A rematch with Smith is at the top of Ryder’s wish-list but he accepts he may have to earn another shot. “The fight that I really want is the rematch with Callum but I know that Fedor Chudinov is now in the mandatory position,” said Ryder. “In order to get myself back there then why not someone like Danny Jacobs in New York. He’s a great fighter and I want to test myself against the best.

 

“It took me a couple of weeks to watch it back and when I did I still had it to myself by a few rounds even being ultra favourable to Callum Smith in the close rounds. I still feel that at worst it was a draw.

 

“I don’t want to harp on about it and my problem isn’t with Callum or any of his brothers, they’re all lovely people, it’s the judges and the scorecards. It half makes a mockery of the sport. Sometimes you get a dodgy scorecard but I feel that three was a bit wrong. Are judges in the best position to score a fight? Should they be behind the scenes watching on a screen so they’re not influenced by the crowd?

 

“Part of the plan was to build into the fight as we knew he would be dangerous early on so the plan was to take control in the second half. I thought we executed that plan perfectly. The first round I hadn’t planned on throwing a shot but they were there so I ended up throwing a couple.

 

“Sometimes you can sense a script with commentary teams who are so pro for the puncher or the champion that even if the fight isn’t going a certain way the challenger just gets neglected. I think I won, he thinks he won but the scorecards don’t tell the story of the fight which was close.