It wasn’t bad enough that he planned to grab a redeye flight out of Las Vegas so that he could get to his beloved grandmother Cordelia’s funeral back in New York.
At least, Danny ?Golden Child? Jacobs figured, he would bring the WBO middleweight title belt back to Brooklyn, back to the Brownsville ‘hood which gave us heavyweight champions Riddick Bowe and Mike Tyson.
Grandma was a devout Jehovah’s Witness and one of the influential, protective females in the fighter’s family who sheltered him and warned him away from the dangers and lures of the streets in the “‘Ville” which have taken so many young men away to prison and premature death.
The boxer had her nickname “Lady Bird” inscribed on his trunks.
Somehow, he felt, Grandma would know he was now a world champion, that a dream she shared with him had been realized.
Before the Saturday night title bout for the belt which was stupidly stripped away from Sergio Martinez, Jacobs told ESPN.com that he had mapped out his route to victory.
“Not only do I watch tapes of Dmitry and watch the YouTube clips, but I dream about this guy,” Jacobs said. “I go to sleep thinking about this guy. This guy is all I think about, and this victory is all I think about. So the analysis that I get of seeing him fight is that he’s a very crafty fighter.?
But Jacobs had difficulty with Dmitry Pirog’s closed, defensive style and the unbeaten Russian fighter bided his time until he saw the opening for a title winning bomb of a right hand.
He’s only 23 so maybe, despite title bout wreckage, Brooklyn “Golden Child” Danny Jacobs can bounce back (Asscoiated Press Photo)
Down went Jacobs, ref Robert Byrd waved it off and Jacobs had a sore jaw and a flight back to New York that must have seemed a lot longer than its normal five hours length.
Yet another Golden Boy/Al Haymon pugilist was crumpled on the canvas.
Had Jacobs just gone from tantalizing prospect to seriously suspect?
Didn’t anyone make sure that Pigor had read Jacobs press clippings?
Just before this bout, HBO voice Mad Max Kellerman waxed so enthusiastic about Jacobs that he sounded like a teenybopper praising the latest “Tiger Beat” magazine heart throb.
I’m not rapping Excitable Boy Max as enthusiasm for a homegrown prospect is contagious in our sport.business and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Now 20-1 with 17 knockouts, there are really only two questions as to Jacob’s suddenly clouded future.
Sure, getting KO’d is an occupational hazard but now Jacob’s handlers must decide whether to put him back on the same horse who threw him.
Do they try for an immediate rematch with the redoubtable Russian or do they take the old ?confidence builder? route for one or two bouts?
Looming large is the question whether Jacob’s will ever be the same, whether his confidence has taken an irreversible hit.
Remember the Damon Dash-Lou DiBella hyped up ?Chin Checkers??
Golden Boy’s Richie Rich Scahefer chalked up Jacobs’ disaster “as a learning experience” which is an imanginative euphemism for getting KTFO’d.
I looked through Jacob’s record, thinking I might find he was fed an endless series of bums, but that’s not what I found.
Through his first seven pro bouts, his foes had a collective 16 victories but that is par for the initial buildup course in pro boxing.
After that, Jacobs fought the same type of guys his relative peers were fighting.
Being able to take a shot?especially one like the Pirog Pierogi power shot which Jacobs admitted he never saw coming?is something no trainer, not even a Freddie Roach or a Manny Steward, can teach.
You’ve either got a resilient chin or you don’t.
Belted after belting out Daniel Jacobs, groomed for HBO stardom, was Russian Dmitry Pirog (Associated Press Photo)
Going to his grandmother’s memorial service with WBO belt in hand would’ve made for a bittersweet story.
But one smashing right from Pirog wrecked that script.
I can tell you already who Jacobs upcoming foe will be, not only for his comeback bout but well beyond that.
Now Jacobs fights the fight that all formerly unbeaten but now once KO’d fighters fight.
Next up is Danny Jacobs in a bout with self doubt.
I, for one, wish him well.
