Former middleweight champion Daniel ‘Miracle Man’ Jacobs announced his retirement from boxing today at the age of 37.
The Brooklyn native hangs up the gloves with a record of 37 wins against five losses with 30 victories coming by way of knockout.
Jacobs earned his first world title shot in 2010 when he challenged undefeated Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight belt. He came up short, losing by fifth-round knockout, but he didn’t give up.
Four years later he won the vacant WBA ‘regular’ 160-pound strap against Jarrod Fletcher by fifth-round knockout and successfully defended the title four times before running into a prime Gennadiy Golovkin in their unification bout in 2017. Jacobs was down in round four but he toughed it out until the final bell, losing a razor-thin decision by scores of 113-114 and 112-115 twice.
In 2018, Jacobs bested hard-nosed Sergiy Derevyanchenko via split decision to claim the vacant IBF middleweight championship. He lost the title in his very next bout against WBC and WBA 160-pound champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez by close unanimous decision in May 2019.
He would box just four more times, defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Gabriel Rosado before dropping decisions to John Ryder and Shane Mosley Jr.
Jacobs, who overcame a rare form of bone cancer in the middle of his career, issued a statement today.
“I want to show my gratitude and appreciation to the sport of boxing as it has changed my life in ways I never could imagine,” Jacobs said. “It has instilled so many morals and values I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. Boxing made me the man I am today.
“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.
“As a young black kid I was being forced fed an identity that I wasn’t important or wouldn’t succumb to anything substantial in life I was told the ghetto that I grew up in was was full of criminals with no future and I will be a statistic just like my peers and the ones that came before me dead or in jail with no potential to make it out or to make a success of myself.
“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 and your own hands and when you embrace yourself and God-given talents, what all you could achieve.
“I want to thank ALL MY FANS. My teachers from school for giving me knowledge. Thank my neighborhood OG’s who always told me to stay focused and cherish the opportunities God has blessed me with, thank my friends from childhood to adulthood for pushing me and motivating, me on my path.
“I want to thank my Starrett City boxing community for grooming me as well as my trainers throughout my career (RIP Victor Roundtree) thanks to my blood family for giving me unconditional love and support continuously throughout my life thank you to my son Nathaniel for being the reason I fight and the reason I live! My biggest motivator and reason why I do all that I do I’m so blessed to have you as a son.
“Through the ups and downs inside and out of the ring, I have manage to become two-time world champion and I’m able to say I’m the first cancer survivor to be a boxing world champion – the biggest accomplishment I’ve ever could achieve.
“Being able to inspire others with my story has always made me feel like my life meant more than just fighting inside the ring. A true miracle man. Job well done 🙏🏾 #Humbled #meek #teamjacobs”
