According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Daniel Jacobs will take on Dimitry Pirog for the recently vacated WBO Middleweight crown on July 31st in Las Vegas as part of the PPV undercard that will be headlined by the rematch of the 2009 Fight of the Year between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.

“Whenever Al(Haymmon who is Jacobs advisor) calls me it’s usually with good news, so when he called me and he also had Richard on the line, too, I knew I was going to go crazy,” Jacobs told ESPN.com on Monday. “They gave me the word and I screamed. I was so excited. It was a really good feeling.”

They told Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs) that he would be facing Russia’s Dmitry Pirog (16-0, 13 KOs) for a vacant title on July 31 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

“We are all done,” Schaefer said from London. “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for Danny. He’s come along very nicely. He’s a well-spoken and charismatic fighter. He had a great amateur career and we have built him up nicely. We all feel he is ready to fight for a title. We are excited he will have the opportunity. We will see how he will do.”

“The WBO ordered negotiations since Danny and [Pirog] were the next contenders, and Artie Puello and me very quickly put a deal together,” Schaefer said. “We finalized it over the weekend.”

“I feel blessed,” said Jacobs, who is from the tough Brownsville section of Brooklyn, N.Y., that also produced former heavyweight champs Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe. “A lot of people in my position, coming where I come from, to get an opportunity like this is one in a million.”

“I feel like I am ready for a world championship fight,” he said. “I don’t think there are too many threats out there. I think if I get this world championship come July 31, I think we’ll have more improvements to do, like getting experience and such. But if anyone has an opportunity to get a world title I don’t think anyone would decline.”

“I know they’ll call me a paper champion when I win,” Jacobs said. “But look at it from the other standpoint — anyone in my position, they wouldn’t decline it if offered. Believe me, if I had the opportunity to fight Sergio Martinez and win the title from him, I would want to do it that way. I would want to take the belt from him, but the opportunity hasn’t been presented to me. This one was. I took it.

“I’m a fighter but I am also a boxing fan as well, so you never really like paper champions. You have to make a name for yourself and then I will get respect as a legitimate world champion down the line when I do fight those other top guys. I want to be a true world champion, but this is my opportunity to start down that road.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the rematch of 2009’s fight of the year between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz will take place July 31st in Las Vegas on Pay Per View.

Marquez-Diaz I took place in front of a wild crowd of more than 14,000 on Feb. 28, 2009, at the Toyota Center in Diaz’s hometown of Houston. It turned out to be an unforgettable fight and was named fight of the year by ESPN.com, the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring magazine.

“These two guys are made for each other,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said. “The first fight was fight of the year and I have no doubt the rematch will be another great fight.”

“I came back to lightweight because at welterweight I lost a lot of speed,” Marquez said.

“I know that 140 is not my weight class,” Diaz said. “It didn’t take anything away from me.”

“I am going to forget our first fight. It is like it never happened,” Marquez said. “I am going in as if this were our first meeting. A lot of people are asking me, ‘Why Juan Diaz again?’ There are two reasons. No. 1 is that he is a great fighter and deserves a rematch. No. 2, the people deserve a great fight like this.

“Our fight was the fight of the year in 2009 and it may be the fight of the year again in 2010. Finally I want to give the people a great fight, especially the Mexican people. You are all going to see two warriors who will give everything they have and leave everything in the ring.”

“I am very excited because I have two things going on in these next couple of months,” Diaz said. “I have the second biggest fight of my career. I have some career defining decisions. On June 7, I am going to take the LSAT and those logic puzzles are kicking my butt. I am excited because this is going to be a great summer for myself, for my family and for my team.

“People are saying this is going to be a must win fight for me. But I don’t see it that way. I see this as redemption. Redemption for what I was going to accomplish in 2009, but it wasn’t meant to be. Come July 31, I am going to pick up in the ninth round. I left off in the ninth round last time, and I am going to pick it up from there.”

Juan Diaz discusses his July 31st showdown rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez on Pay Per View

Watch Juan Diaz in Sports  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz meet the media to announced their July 31st rematch on Pay Per view

Watch Marquez – Diaz II press conference in Sports  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, a rematch of the 2009 fight of the year between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz is almost fonalized for July 10th in Las Vegas in a bout that will be aired on Pay Per View

“It’s very close,” Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said. “We are getting everything signed, but we have agreed on terms.” Willie Savannah, Diaz’s manager, told ESPN.com that he had received the proposal from Golden Boy and that their side wants the fight.

“It looks like that is what will happen,” Savannah said. “I told them we would like to have the rematch.”

Marquez, of Mexico, went to Diaz’s hometown of Houston to face him at the Toyota Center in February 2009 in what turned out to be an all-action slugfest, one that Marquez won via ninth-round knockout.

“The first fight was a great fight. These guys are both coming off losses, but they are still great fighters,” said Willie Savannah who is the co-manager of Diaz. “Doing this rematch, which you know is going to be great fight, is the biggest fight for both of them right now.”

One of the pay-per-view undercard bouts for the July 10 card Schaefer said he is working on is a middleweight match between former undisputed junior middleweight champ Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs) and former junior middleweight titlist Sergio Mora (21-1-1, 5 KOs).