Daniel “Danny”
Jacobs (born February 3, 1987) is an American professional boxer who
held the WBA (Regular) middleweight title from 2014 to 2017. Nicknamed
the “Miracle Man,” Jacobs’ career was almost cut short in 2011 due
to osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He went on to make a
full recovery after spending 19 months out of the sport.
Early
life
Jacobs was born and raised in the Brooklyn residential neighborhood
of Brownsville. He was raised by his mother, Yvette Jacobs, his grandmother,
Cordelia Jacobs, and his aunts. Jacobs graduated from Erasmus High
School.
Amateur career
As an amateur boxer, Jacobs recorded 137
wins and 7 losses. In 2003, Jacobs won the Junior Olympics national
championship. In 2004, Jacobs won the United States national champion
in the 19-and-under division, a PAL national championship, and a National
Golden Gloves welterweight championship. In 2005, he won his second
PAL national championship and also won the National Golden Gloves
middleweight championship. In 2006, Jacobs won the United States Amateur
middleweight championship. During his amateur career, Jacobs won four
New York Golden Gloves championships.
Professional career
Early
career
Jacobs made his professional boxing debut on the undercard of
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Ricky Hatton, which took place on December
8, 2007, at the MGB Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. In that fight, he
defeated Jose Jesus Hurtado by first round technical knockout in just
29 seconds. Jacobs signed with Golden Boy Promotions and often fought
on the undercard of super-fights. He was regarded as a blue-chip prospect.
On April 27, 2009, Jacobs agreed to replace junior middleweight
James Kirkland, who was arrested on a gun charge, to fight Mike Walker,
who was coming off a victory over two-time world title challenger
Antwun Echols. The fight took place on May2, 2009, at the MGM Grand
in Las Vegas, and Jacobs won by unanimous decision with scores of
80-72 from two judges and 79-73 from the other. On August 22, 2009,
Jacobs defeated Ishe Smith by unanimous decision to win the NABO middleweight
title.
Jacobs vs Pirog
On July 31, 2010, Jacobs faced undefeated
Russian Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight Championship.
The belt had last belonged to Sergio Martinez, who was stripped due
to not complying with the WBO’s rules. The fight took place at the
Mandalay Bay Events Center. Pirog was a 3-1 underdog going into the
fight. Jacobs was up on the cards when he was caught with a massive
right hand against the ropes and knocked out in the 5th round, handing
him his first career loss. After the fight, Pirog said “After the
second round, I knew I was good. I hurt him in the second and I knew
I could come back and do it again.”
