By Jake Donovan
On the heels of the officially announced clash between Danny Garcia and Paul Malignaggi, the August 1 headlining bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn now has a chief support.
Appearing in the co-main event, Brooklyn's own Daniel Jacobs will make the second defense of his middleweight belt versus former 154 lb. titlist Sergio Mora.
Both bouts will air live on ESPN.
The event will mark the first fight back at Barclays for Jacobs (29-1, 26KOs) since winning his version of the middleweight title last summer. A 5th round knockout of Jarrod Fletcher saw the Brooklynite become the first ever cancer survivor to go on to win a major title.
The venue also played host to his triumphant ring return, on a night that Barclays first opened its doors to the sport. Jacobs made his unlikely comeback in Oct. '12, scoring a 1st round knockout win in his first fight in more 19 months after successfully kicking cancer's ass.
Now comes his latest homecoming, nearly one year to the date of his first title win.
“I’m just excited to be on this great card and to be able to perform at Barclays Center is an honor,” said Jacobs. “I’m looking forward to making the best out of this opportunity and most importantly I want to give the Brooklyn fans a great show. I get to go to work in my own backyard.”
Mora (28-3-2, 9KOs) enters the fight on the heels of a 12-round win over Abraham Han this past February in Biloxi, Miss. The night was originally intended as a middleweight title shot versus Jermain Taylor, who was forced to withdraw after being jailed following his bizarre and dangerous behavior during a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas.
In addition to the letdown of not fighting for the title, Mora was dealt a scare in barely fending off a brave Han, climbing off the canvas to score a split decision in their ESPN2-televised headliner. The win was the fifth straight for the 34-year old middleweight, who previously held a title at junior middleweight and is best known for his winning run on Season one of the now-defunct boxing reality series The Contender.
“I went back to the 'drawing board,' worked hard and now I'm blessed to be a part of this great event,” said Mora, “I don't plan to let this opportunity get by me. On August 1, I'm coming to Brooklyn to win.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox