Billy Lyell might have a better chance than bullies and obesity.
Danny Jacobs will fight them all in an ongoing battle that puts some real meaning back into that cliché about going the distance. There’s little on either side of the ropes that Jacobs won’t fight.
Jacobs whipped cancer. He defied doctors who told him he’d never fight again when a tumor was found locked around his spine. It left him partially paralyzed. It could have choked the life out of him. It didn’t. Instead, it has awakened in Jacobs a stubborn willingness to fight anybody, anything.
“I feel like I was meant to do this,’’ Jacobs said Thursday in a conference call that included confirmation he will face Lyell, of Youngstown, Ohio, on Feb 9 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in his third bout since he was diagnosed with cancer in May, 2011.
Jacobs’ quest to resurrect his career as a promising middleweight coincides with causes he feels compelled to pursue. He’s calling out bullies who terrorize kids with taunts and threats. He’s calling out the fast-food diets that lead to obesity and ill health.
“I’ve always been a giving kind of person,’’ said Jacobs, who has created a foundation, Get In The Ring, to fight battles he saw so many lose while growing up in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood. “Obesity was one of those things that nobody in the neighborhood could get past. You need money to buy good food. The people in my neighborhood are poor. They buy the food that they can make last. But it isn’t nutritious. If I can help change that, I’d love to.’’
Then, there are the bullies. Like so many kids, Jacobs was one of their targets. He learned how to stand up to them by going to a gym, where he discovered he had real athletic talent. But few do. He says he reads about scared kids who commit suicide. He’s seen them. He knows them.
“I want to create a program that teaches kids that words can’t hurt them,’’ said Jacobs, whose foundation will also include the ongoing fight against cancer.
It was his own diagnosis that motivated Jacobs to take on his causes with real action instead of mere words.
“I didn’t have health insurance, so I saw how difficult it is for so many people,’’ said Jacobs, who in October scored a first-round stoppage of Josh Luteran in his first bout since surgery and followed up with a fifth-round stoppage of Chris Fitzpatrick on Dec. 1. “I decided that if I could ever help, I would.’’
The remarkable resumption of his boxing career puts a spotlight on the bigger fight to help his community. He was subjected to radiation treatment 25 times over a two-month span. He underwent a nine-hour procedure to remove a walnut-size tumor. In less than two years, he’s back in the ring, where he says he feels as healthy as he ever has. It’s no wonder he has a new nickname. Before the diagnosis, he was called The Golden Child. Now, he’s The Miracle Man.
“I am completely 100 percent,’’ said Jacobs (24-1, 21 KOs), who will fight Lyell (24-11, 5 KOs) on a Showtime-televised card featuring Danny Garcia against Zab Judah. “The cancer is gone. My back feels strong. Absolutely, I feel like things have turned a complete 360 for me.’’
Before the diagnosis, Jacob’s promising career took a hit with a loss in July, 2010 to Dmitry Pirog, who stopped him in fifth-round stunner in Las Vegas. First, there were doubts. Then, there was cancer. In whipping the disease, Jacobs is confident that anything is possible.
By the end of 2013, he hopes to put himself back in contention.
“After a couple of more fights, I definitely would like to be in a fight against the top 10, if not the top 15,’’ said Jacobs, who said he would like avenge the loss to Pirog in a rematch. “I feel like the rust is out.’’
He knows the cancer is.
