Before former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs steps into the ring again, it will be approximately 29 months – almost two and a half years – since he last stepped into the ring in a professional fight.
Long enough for Jacobs to figure out exactly what he’s fighting for.
Jacobs is scheduled to return on July 6 against Shane Mosley Jr. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, to support the main event between former mixed martial arts champions Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.
At Wednesday’s virtual press conference, Jacobs said the leave was necessary and he was very content with it, but it also revived his spirit and focused on the legacy he wants to leave when he actually hangs up the gloves.
“The two years I was away, there were always thoughts in my head about coming back,” Jacobs said. “I wanted to make sure I was in the Hall of Fame. We looked at my career and thought I could do more, that I could leave a mark on the sport.
“I know I have done so much for this sport considering what I have already achieved. I am an inspiration to the sport and to millions of people around the world thanks to my life story, all the things I have performed both outside and inside the ring. So I want to give a little more and I feel like I have enough left to be able to give my all to the sport.”
Jacobs won his second title in 2014, making four successful defenses, before falling to Gennady Golovkin in a unification fight in 2017 and suffering a defeat. He managed to regain one of the belts with a victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2018, but immediately faced Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and lost by unanimous decision in 2019.
But long before those separate climbs to the top of the 160-pound division, Jacobs provided a wide audience with inspiration simply by surviving. In May 2011, at the age of 24, he began to feel weakness in his legs while on a USO tour in Iraq. He returned to the United States, soon had to utilize a cane, and after undergoing an MRI, it was discovered that he had a tumor wrapped around his spine. Diagnosis: osteosarcoma, a occasional, life-threatening form of bone cancer.
Twenty-five rounds of radiation therapy, surgery to remove the tumor and fusion his spine, and doctors predicting he would never box again, Jacobs was devastated. However, after hours, weeks and months of grueling rehabilitation, he returned to the ring, regained his form and reached the next level to win another world title.
So at the age of 37, with a 15-year-old son at home, an impressive salary and interests outside boxing, Jacobs had plenty of reasons to get back in the ring. Even his on-board adversary, Mosley, who has described him as a “legend”, believes Jacobs’ position in the sport is secure. Why come back?
“I was at the point where I had actually achieved everything I wanted to achieve, so there came a moment in my mind when [had to decide] like I wanted to settle down and retire,” Jacobs said. “But then, you know, the warrior spirit came back and I felt like I could do more, because when it’s all said and done, I want my name to go down with the greats of my generation.”
And if Jacobs has his way, the victory over Mosley won’t be a one-time moonlight. He says he’s done it all, and despite noticing changes and making adjustments to deal with the sluggish aging process, he believes he has one final road to the top of the middleweight division.
“The ultimate goal,” he said, “is to become a champion.”
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