Following his loss to Shane Mosley Jr. former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs announced via Instagram that he will be retiring from the sport of boxing.
”It has always been my dream to be a champion in life and when boxing found me, I was a poor kid growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn with not much to look forward to.”
Daniel Jacobs most notable fight was against Canelo Alvarez in a very competitive fight that was narrow defeat that went down to the wire.
“As a young black kid I was being forced fed an identity that I wasn’t important or wouldn’t amount to anything substantial in life. I was told the ghetto that I grew up in was was full of criminals with no future. I will be a statistic just like my peers and the ones that came before me. Either dead or in jail with no potential to make it out or to make a success of myself.”
The only one
Jacobs was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a rare form of bone cancer) in May 2011 after he woke up one morning completely paralyzed. He underwent surgery to remove a large tumor wrapped around his spine and rebuild his spinal column.
After dozens of radiation treatments, Jacobs returned to the ring in October 2012. Nearly two years later, he won the WBA’s secondary title at 160 pounds and made four defenses, including a first-round KO of Peter Quillin.
Jacobs later won the IBF middleweight title with a split decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2018.
“I am now proud to say I’m the Rose that grew from concrete in Brooklyn. I’ve proven so many people wrong. Proud to say I’m a living example of what it looks like to take your destiny in your own hands. And when you embrace yourself and God-given talents, what all you could achieve.”
More must-reads: