Daniel Jacobs (28-1, 25 KOs) will defend his WBA ‘regular’ middleweight title against Caleb Truax (25-1-2, 15 KOs) on 11 April, as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series televised on NBC from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The card is headlined by the long awaited showdown between junior welterweight champions Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. The co-feature will have Peter Quillin squaring off against Andy Lee for the WBO middleweight title.
Jacobs has been inactive since stopping Jarrod Fletcher last August to claim the vacant WBA title, which was also at the Barclays Center.
Jacobs made his first swipe at the WBO World Middleweight title in July 2010 against Dmitry Pirog. In what was seen as a temporary setback for the native New Yorker, Jacobs was stopped in the fifth round. His mind was not focused on boxing that evening. His grandmother, Cordelia Jacobs, who helped him become the man he is today, died a week before the bout, with her funeral scheduled the following day.
A few months later. Jacobs went on the comeback trail, winning his two fights against Jesse Orta and Robert Kliewer by knockout, but a new beast had arrived.
Jacobs was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, yet the most common type of bone cancer in children and teens. Jacobs, who was 24 at the time of his diagnosis, was unsure if he would ever get back into the ring again, let alone live.
Jacobs combated the disease with everything he had. In the end, Jacobs overcame the odds and conquered the distressful disease.
Winning his first title in Brooklyn has long been a dream for the ‘Miracle Man.’ After winning five consecutive fights, Jacobs got that opportunity against Jarrod Fletcher and made the most of it, knocking down Fletcher in the first round and proceeding to punish the Australian fighter before the fight was stopped inside the fifth round.
It’s an incredible story of how a human overcame tribulation to become what he has wanted to become his entire life. Jacobs knows how it feels to be in Caleb Truax’s position, which is why he is not disregarding his opponent come 11 April. In an interview with Jason Costa of HitFirstBoxing.com, Jacobs explained why Truax is the right opponent for him.
“I know that he’s worthy of this opportunity. I know that he works hard, and he’s fought top guys to get this shot. He’s worthy of a title shot with myself, and I’m excited to be back in the ring to perform with a guy like that,” said a mannerly Jacobs.
When asked where training camp will be, Jacobs did not have a concrete answer because it had not been scheduled yet quite yet, a shocking statement considering that the fight is a little over five weeks down the road.
“Training camp is not signed to deliver yet. But, we’ll get a spot maybe in the next weekend. We’ll have a couple weeks to get some hard work. We’ve already been putting in hard work, but it’s been in New York. I want to get a good month out of solid training camp outside of New York so I can focus 100 percent.”
The Premier Boxing Champions series has been raising eyebrows across the nation. Will it bring some old fans back to the sport? Will it bring us back to the glory days? Jacobs has confidence that it’s going to bring boxing back. Besides, he and Al Haymon have quite the history. Jacobs was the first amateur fighter Haymon recruited to become a world champion. So as you can imagine, Jacobs had a big grin on his face when talking about his adviser.
“It’s been a journey with me and Al. I’m excited to have this on NBC because no one has ever seen this. This is giving all us boxers so many opportunities to be seen worldwide and to be superstars.”
Jason Costa and Daniel Jacobs were comfortably standing next to the fight poster for the 11 April card. Costa pointed out Andy Lee and Peter Quillin, who will be fighting for the WBO Middleweight title. A fight with either opponent would be a sumptuous fight, certainly one that would require a lot of ratiocination by analysts and fans alike to imagine the possible scenarios that could be showcased in the ring. Jacobs smiled as soon as he heard the words, but quickly became obsequious to hide his excitement.
“I’m getting excited right now. Both guys are world champions and worthy of this opportunity. I’m just waiting on my turn. That’s it. I am a champion myself, but even still I haven’t become the champion that I want to be yet, and there’s only going to be one side that becomes a victor over both these guys or future champs,” Jacobs explained.
There is no way that Gennady Golovkin’s name can be passed up in a conversation with a middleweight champion. Golovkin, on 21 February, stopped Martin Murray in the 11th round to retain his WBA, IBO, and interim WBC Middleweight titles. Murray became the first man to last more than 10 rounds with Golovkin, but even Jacobs, who fought Murray twice previously, was surprised that the Englishman didn’t do more.
“He (Murray) didn’t bring what I thought he was going to bring, but I thought he was going to bring a little bit more. He gave GGG a couple problems, and we’ve seen the flaws, but like I said before, it’s just a matter of getting in there and doing it. A lot of people can say what they are going to do; a lot of people can say that. But, it’s only going to take a couple special guys to get the job done, and I believe I’m one of those guys.”
