By Thomas Gerbasi

It takes a lot to leave Danny Jacobs speechless, but winning his first world title in August of last year did the trick.

“It’s really kind of hard to put that moment into words because that moment was something that I dreamed about for a very long time, since I was about 14 years old,” Jacobs said this week in Chicago, site of his first WBA middleweight title defense against Caleb Truax tonight.

That reaction is one shared by many first-time world titlists, especially when it comes after a failed first effort. Think of getting something you’ve wanted since you were a teenager, with all the blood, sweat and tears attached to it. But Jacobs’ story was different. Sure, he bounced back from his lone loss against Dmitry Pirog in 2010 to halt Jarrod Fletcher in five rounds last year, but it was what happened between those two bouts which makes his story all the more fascinating and even more understandable that words can’t describe what he achieved.

“Three years prior, when it was all stripped away from me, all I could do was think about stepping back into the ring and becoming a champion,: he said. “For that to actually happen and for me to experience that, it still has yet to actually sink in. I consider myself a champion by just being a survivor, but as far as a boxing world champion, I still feel like I have a lot more to prove.”

Not in life. In life, Jacobs is on the pound-for-pound list after beating cancer. In the ring, there’s still work to do, but the fact that he’s even able to do it is a tale that never gets old. But does telling this story wear out the 28-year-old Brooklynite, who has had to relive the worst moments of his life on practically a daily basis when his fights approach?

“It’s cool for me,” he said. “I see the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is to get the story out to a lot of folks because it’s very inspiring. And especially when you have a horrendous disease such as cancer that people are dealing with every day, there’s a lot of people that haven’t seen my story or heard my story. So when it’s getting out there, maybe it can get a tad bit tired because to me, it undermines my skill at some point, but I understand the bigger picture and I’m fully aware of that and I accept it because I want to be that superstar and I want to be a guy that represents more than just the actual sport, and what better way to do that than by being a survivor and represent those who are both victims and survivors.”

He’s right on all counts. His story is important to those who need that hope that it is possible to beat cancer, but with 90 percent of the focus on his return after such a harrowing experience, it makes it easy to forget how good he is in the ring. Back in his amateur days, Jacobs was talked about in reverent terms, with videos of his bouts making the rounds like mixtapes in the New York City area. And after winning several amateur titles, he turned pro in 2007 and the train kept a rollin’ until his 2010 loss to Pirog.

Following two wins over pedestrian competition, Jacobs was stricken with cancer, not to return until October of 2012. In his first couple bouts, he wasn’t tested by anything but his own doubts, if there were any, but when asked when he felt like himself again, he doesn’t hesitate to name his fourth fight back against longtime contender Giovanni Lorenzo in August of 2013.

“He was the guy that was considered my biggest threat and he was a guy that had never been knocked out before, so for me to go ahead and knock him out, drop him and hurt him in the fashion that I did, I realized that I was back a hundred percent and that nothing from my cancer or being paralyzed had any effects on me.”

Jacobs finished Lorenzo in just three rounds, and two fights later, he was a world champion in a division overflowing with them. From Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto to Jermain Taylor and Andy Lee, 160 is crowded at the top, a fact not lost on Jacobs.

“I’m a world champion,” he said. “I just feel like as far as gaining the respect of my fellow middleweights, I feel like it isn’t there. When you talk about the middleweight champions, I’m probably the last guy you talk about, so I’m just trying to make my stand inside the middleweight division, and what better way to do it than to have a solid guy like Caleb Truax and climb my way up the ladder. And it isn’t easy. You can’t just go out there and fight everybody at once. It takes time but I’m ready.”

That means he’s ready for them all, even if the biggest names – Golovkin and Cotto – aren’t under the Al Haymon banner. As far as Jacobs is concerned, any fight can be made, and he plans on being in the best ones possible.

“If one of the hardest fights that was able to be put together can happen, as far as Mayweather-Pacquiao, then I believe that anything can be put together,” Jacobs said. “So I’m not worried about it; it’s just a matter of timing. When Al Haymon and my team get together and we see fit that we want to challenge these guys, I don’t think it will be an issue, just a matter of time.”