By Ryan Songalia
All it took was one left hook to the body, wound up and delivered Sugar Ray Leonard-style, for Danny Jacobs to keep Hector Lopez on the floor for the ten count. Making his television debut as a professional, Jacobs was calm from the opening bell and displayed the class that has a lot of pundits calling Jacobs the future of the middleweight division. The official time was 1:05.
"I felt strong," Jacobs, 2-0 (2 KO), told BoxingScene.com. "It's a lot different from the amateurs because in the amateurs you weigh in and fight the same day so you don't get to rehydrate like you do in the pros. I ate a whole lot of steak and I was stronger. I knew I was in with an opponent I was supposed to take out of there so I went in there and took him out."
Aside from the stylish knockout punch, Jacobs flashed some staredown charisma when he winked at the Telefutura cameras as if to say, "This is my Show." Jacobs said that is just him being himself. "I'm Danny Jacobs. I'm not trying to be anybody else. It's just whatever comes in my mind. I don't want people to think of me as a bad person or as a bad fighter for what I do in the ring. If other fighters do the same thing and get cheered for that, then why can't I do the same thing? I don't do things like that to get a reaction, I just try to entertain and have fun. I try to give as best a show as possible."
Jacobs says that the cameras didn't bother him at all. "I didn't have any jitters, I'm used to fighting on television. I was talking with my manager Al Hayman before the fight and he calmed me down. Coming out to Jay-Z, the music just put me in the zone. I was so pumped up and excited that my family and everybody got to see me as a professional for the first time."
The Brownsville, Brooklyn native was poised to make the 2008 Olympics in Beijing after winning four New York Golden Gloves titles, but upset losses to Demeterius Andrade and Shawn Porter derailed those aspirations. Jacobs turned pro last month on the undercard of Mayweather-Hatton, winning by first round TKO.
Jacobs will be back in action on February 16 in Las Vegas on the undercard of Pavlik-Taylor II. "It feels good to be on such a big card like that. Without [Manager] Al [Hayman] I don't think I'd be in the position I am now. I give him all credit. This particular fight between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik, I think it's appropriate that I'm on the card because it will show the current middleweight champion and the future middleweight champion, which is Danny Jacobs."
Any questions or comments? Send them to me at mc_rson@yahoo.com