WBA Middleweight Champion Daniel “The Miracle Man” Jacobs has made it a habit to overcome odds. Jacobs is from the same Brownsville, Brooklyn neighborhood that produced boxing champions Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, and Zab Judah. But Jacobs defeated an even bigger opponent, cancer, after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Rolling out spoke exclusively with Jacobs about his battle with cancer, philanthropy, and his next fight.
If you watched the Super Bowl this year, then you saw Jacobs in a New York-Presbyterian Hospital commercial discussing his battle. “That’s the most humbling experience that I’ve had since coming back, was being able to share my story, because most people go through cancer or most people go through their battles and they’re not ever able to, especially being a survivor, they’re not able to really give others hope in the magnitude that I’m doing it,” he said of the experience.
Jacobs is finding other ways to give people hope. He recently started the Get in the Ring Foundation aimed to knock out childhood cancer and obesity, while also addressing bullying. “I just went to my old high school [Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn] and got a chance to talk to the kids and adopt my old school to help me move the campaign of no bullying,” he said, adding, “[It’s not just about] being a champion inside the ring, but being a champion outside the ring is something I am very proud of.”
In order to remain a champion inside of the ring, Jacobs is going to have to defeat Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin in his native Brooklyn at Barclays Center on Sat., Dec. 5. At the press conference for the fight, which will air live on Showtime, Jacobs had a message for Quillin: “I’ve been on a strict diet; I haven’t been eating chocolate. But after Dec. 5, I’m going to be the Cookie Monster; don’t miss it.”
