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From Golden Child To Miracle Man, Brooklyn Boxer's Comeback Story Goes Beyond The Ring

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A boxing champion is the pride of Brooklyn, as much for what he has overcome outside the ring as for what he's accomplished inside it.

Daniel Jacob was on top of the boxing world with many more years of challenges to come, but it was an unseen challenge outside the ring that was Daniel Jacobs' biggest obstacle as he went from being known as the Golden Child to the Miracle Man.

As CBS2's Otis Livingston explained, to watch Jacobs in the ring is to see someone happy at work, truly counting his blessings.

"The doctors told me, this was not supposed to be my life," Jacobs said.

In 2011, his life was supposed to be that of a world champion boxer, and it had been, but weakness in his legs after coming back from a USO tour in Iraq was the precursor to something serious.

He was first misdiagnosed with a pinched nerve.

"We had a massive tumor that was cancerous, put my livelihood on hold," the WBA Middleweight Champion recalled.

That's putting it lightly, the handball sized tumor growing around his spine threatened his life. He was partially paralyzed with no guarantee that he'd ever walk, let alone box again.

"You're a gladiator, nothing can test you. I was broken down," he said.

Immediate surgery was followed by intense rehab to get back his livelihood and get back to the sport he loved, even if everyone wasn't on board.

"The doctors, boxing is out of the equation, biggest motivation to get back to the gym," he said.

Now he's a champion again, the owner of the WBA Middleweight Title which he'll put on the line at the Barclays Center December 5, against fellow Brooklynite Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillen, a guy who's been on his radar since he was battling cancer.

"I've been calling him out, have been wanting this fight," he said, "This is for the middleweight championship of the world, ultimately about the pride of Brooklyn."

Jacobs said that it wasn't about winning and losing, it's about never giving up.

 

 

 

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