He’s a Brooklyn boy you should start getting used to.
Daniel Jacobs, the WBA middleweight champ and Brownsville native, isn’t a household name. But that could be changing.
The man who defied the odds in 2011 by beating a frighteningly aggressive cancer, headlines the Dec. 5 card at Barclays Center. Jacobs (30-1, 27 KO) will meet fellow middleweight, friend, and Brooklyn product Peter Quillin (32-0-1, 23 KO) in a battle for borough supremacy that airs on Showtime. And if he takes care of business, Jacobs says his biggest fight in 2016 could come against one of the most dynamic and devastating boxers in the game that every casual boxing fan recognizes: Gennady Golovkin.
Before he disappears for weeks of training, Jacobs visited Complex—appropriately carrying his championship belt and sporting black Yeezy Boost 350s—to discuss the fight, MMA, Floyd Mayweather, and where he ranks amongst the best boxers from his rough and tumble neighborhood.
(This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Do you get tired talking about your battle back from cancer? Do you wish more of the focus would be on your boxing?
Back in the days of the Muhammad Ali’s and back in the days when boxers stood for something, you know, it was always a champion and what they’re representing. So I never get tired of telling my story because maybe there’s a person who hasn’t heard my story or there’s someone who could be inspired by my story, so in that regard I’m never tired. But I do want my skills to be on the forefront and be recognized as a gifted athlete, more so than a cancer survivor. But it’s special. However it comes, it’s going to come regardless. Boxing is one of those things where you want to be respected for what you do at your craft. It can be a burden at times but for the most part I understand the position I’m in and it comes with the territory.
You visited your high school, Erasmus Hall, recently to talk to the students. Was that the first time you’ve been back and done anything like that? How wild was it to think back to your 18-year-old self (that now you’re giving a speech and serving as an inspiration)?
It was unreal. Even still, I can’t fathom the feeling. I wasn’t supposed to be this guy. There were even teachers there that told me that—I was on the USA team and we would travel a lot and miss a lot of days of school—and no one believed in me and no one understood why I would be gone so much. So I remember this teacher saying one day “Why are you even here? You’re a truant. You don’t even belong in here. Just go home.” I remember feeling so hurt behind that. Like I didn’t belong. I look at myself today and I just look at how I came in there with my championship belt and a changed person. Not just a world champion but an inspirational person in general. A changed man in general, you know what I mean? To inspire others, something he tried to do, and I’m doing it on my own. For me, it was a surreal feeling and something that I’m very proud of.
That teacher wasn’t still teaching, was he?
Nah, he wasn’t there. And I was looking for him, too. I was like, where he at?
You and Peter Quillin have a relationship. I don’t know how you define the relationship whether it’s close friends, friends, acquaintances…talk about how facing someone you know is different from your last several fights.
It’s a bit different for me for now because as a professional I never got a chance to fight a friend or fight someone I would consider a friend. But in amateurs, all the time. You could fight guys that you’ve known in the same tournament. You can fight three different guys you’ve known in the same tournament, so I was kind of used to that. But this is a sport where you can’t really make too many friends. Especially friends that is in the same weight class as you. Whatever our relationship is, we understand it but we’re willing to put it to the side to do it for Brooklyn and do it for business because we’re fighting for our families [and] that’s ultimately most important.
You’ve fought a number of times at Barclays Center—it’s kind of becoming your definitive home. What does it mean to be headlining in Brooklyn?
It’s everything. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of. Throughout my process of the comeback trail, I’ve been able to check off a lot of things on the bucket list: me being on a billboard, me having my own main event...but this, as far as like a superstar event—me and Peter Quillin live at the Barclays Center—this is the pinnacle. It doesn’t get any better than this. I’m letting the feelings flow but ultimately I’m just too focused because I can’t get too caught up in the hype.
Is it easy to get caught up in the hype?
Yeah. Oh yeah. Big time. You can get lost in the sauce [Laughs.]. Big time. You know, Brooklyn is very prideful, too. You may have your guys in the local neighborhoods saying you can do this and you can’t get caught up and thinking you don’t have go 100 percent because you’ve got it and you’re from Brooklyn.
Who is going to walk you down to the ring? In the past you’ve had M.O.P. Are you bringing them back?
We’re trying to get my old high school band to bring me out and I want them to perform “Brooklyn, We Go Hard” by Jay Z. That would be perfect. And I thought about that actually when I first got back in the ring (following the battle with cancer). What would be my big, big moment? How would it be? And I envisioned a band bringing me out. Me putting on the best performance. Me getting dropped and getting back up. I already envisioned the fight.
Is that your song? Is that the one that fires you up more than any other?
Yes. Cause it’s me through and through. It’s the life I lived and it represents my personality to a t.
Was Mayweather-Pacquiao good for the sport?
[Feigns sleeping.] I’m sorry about that. Yes, it was. Despite people considering it a snoozer because of the notoriety it got and the attention the sport got. But people still have that bad taste in their mouths and are still looking for that next superstar. And we have a list of new superstars ready to take over the sport.
Is Floyd really going to stay retired? Would you go out with a 49-0 record?
No, I wouldn’t. I don’t think anybody can go out with a 49-0 record. It would leave a bitter taste in your mouth. I do think Floyd will come back for at least one more fight to end his career with 50-0. I believe that in my heart so we’ll see for the future. I couldn’t do it. And there’s so much riding on the line. You’re battling against another great all-time in Rocky Marciano [49-0] and his career. For that, to be able to distinguish your own legacy, you have to fight one more time.
Are other guys puzzled to why he’s walking away from it?
Yeah. But the one thing I respect about Floyd is that he’s content about his decisions, and you have to respect that about a man no matter what you say about his personality. He’s content with leaving. If he really wants to leave at 49-0, he’s done everything in boxing. He’s beat the greats of the greats. There’s nothing else for him to do, you know? If he doesn’t do it, is that going to take away from his greatness?
How do professional boxers view MMA?
I don’t think we’re bothered by the sport of MMA. Some of us, I believe, including myself, appreciate MMA. It’s a form of martial arts, a form of art, just like we have. It’s just different. It’s a little bit more dangerous than what we do.
Why is MMA more dangerous?
I believe MMA is much more dangerous just because you can use your feet, you can choke people, someone can die in there. Whereas boxing, even though you can die in there, you can get hurt—it’s less likely to happen. I accept MMA, I appreciate MMA, I even get techniques from MMA, surprisingly, like footwork techniques and how I move. It’s different and unorthodox to what boxers are normally used to. I would be a dumb guy to say I don’t like MMA because it’s not boxing. You just have to appreciate everything.
Why has Brownsville produced so many great boxers like Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, and Shannon Briggs?
The government is producing lead in the water [Laughs.]. No, we’re just used to the struggle. We’re used to not having anything. Anytime you get an opportunity to better yourself and escape your surroundings you take advantage of it. The gym has been a safe haven for a lot of kids—the basketball gym [and] especially the boxing gym. We're so used to fighting anyway growing up in those tough streets, you know, seeing things you weren’t supposed to see at an early age. The reason why I got into boxing was because I was bullied, you know what I mean? That alone says a lot about Brownsville and just how tough it is growing up in that area. So being amongst those tough people, you create this tough skin and that’s almost automatic and we take that with our lives. And that’s why we have so much pride.
Who is the best boxer from Brownsville?
Wow. Mike Tyson. No hesitation. He is the greatest boxer that ever came out of Brownsville. I just hope that I even come close to being considered a great from Brownsville. Me being a world champion is a great accomplishment for me but Mike Tyson was just a whole ‘nother level as far as putting us on the map and taking the sport of boxing to another level. Icon. Iconic.
How far down the line before you see Gennady Golovkin?
I would say maybe a year; it’s just a matter of the networks and everybody working. That’s all it is. It’s not anyone being scared of Triple G or not wanting to fight him. I think it’s just a matter of the networks [HBO & Showtime] getting together. But that’s a dream matchup for me as well. But getting through this one is critical as well, stepping up…
How I look at the middleweight division, I look at it like a Mortal Kombat tournament list. So you have Scorpion, you have all these different guys, right, Sub-Zero; Triple G is like the main guy, right. And I’m like here, on the third, I just won my belt. So we’re fighting for the top guy. Everybody is fighting for the top spot. It’s a tournament. And these next three months alone you’re going to have some incredible middleweight championship fights. So there are going to be three guys that aren’t going to make it and next year is going to be a whole new year to pick and choose who is going to be the best.
What makes him so devastating, so exciting?
I just think it’s a bit of everything. I think it’s his demeanor. Obviously it’s his power, his knockout power. It’s just a lot of things. He’s good. You can’t deny him. I mean, obviously someone like myself who looks for flaws I see in ways that he can be beat. But someone who just appreciates him as a fan, they can’t see that, you know what I mean? And they wouldn’t look for it, as they shouldn’t because being a fan of somebody you wouldn’t. But my time will come. I’m just enjoying every step of the way.
