By Mitch Abramson
The fleet-footed boxer with the million-dollar smile leaned back in his seat, CEO style.
"I’m done with the amateurs," he said. "It’s over."
And with that, Danny Jacobs, a middleweight from Brooklyn and one of the top amateurs in the country announced he was turning professional.
There was no press conference. No photographer snapping pictures. No media crush, shouting questions, like in the movies.
It was just Jacobs, sitting in a folding chair at an amateur boxing tournament in Queens, eating a hot dog, baseball hat low over his eyes, having a conversation with someone who was curious about his future.
"At this point in my career, I’m ready to move to the next stage," he said on September 22. "It’s time to go to the pros."
Blessed with fast hands, fast feet, an entertaining style, Jacobs could be a fan-favorite in the pros. He could be a future world champion; he could be...
"If he’s properly handled right, he could be the next Sugar Ray Leonard," said Joe Higgins, the president of USA Boxing Metro, cutting through the hyperbole. "He could be a bona fide star: He’s articulate, he can fight- any manager would love to have him."
He already has the attention of super manager Shelly Finkel, who has worked with him as an advisor in the amateurs.
Finkel has managed a lot of New Yorkers, Mike Tyson, Zab Judah, Mark Breland, Pernell Whitaker and now, possibly Jacobs. Finkel calls Jacobs the top amateur to come along in New York since Mark Breland.
"It looks pretty good [that I’ll become his manager]," Finkel said last week. "I’m hoping to be with him when he decides to go forward. Danny is the whole package: he’s a good kid with a good disposition. And he can fight."
He has everything, it seems, except a ticket to the Olympics.
Jacobs, the four-time New York Golden Gloves champion, lost in the finals of the USA Boxing Olympic Trials in late August, a 24-14 to Shawn Estrada in Houston, Texas at middleweight.
Instead of Jacobs making the team, Sadam Ali from Brooklyn, glided through the trials undefeated, qualifying for the Olympics. He was the lone representative from New York to make the team.
"Everyone was focusing on Danny, and the guy nobody was focusing on made it," said Victor Roundtree, who trains both Jacobs and Ali. "Sadam was hiding in plain sight."
Jacobs is turning down a chance to be an Olympic alternate. He won’t travel to China just in case someone gets injured.
"I was hoping Danny would fill in as an alternate, but I understand why he wouldn’t want to do that," Higgins said. "Why should he be second fiddle to anyone when he deserves to be on the team?"
Jacobs shook his head when the topic of becoming an alternate came up.
"It was a dream of mine to be in the Olympics," he said. "But it’s time to move on. I don’t want to wait around until someone gets hurt to get my chance."
He may no longer be an amateur, but there was no doubting his star-power in the amateurs.
He was the 2006 National Champion, a two-time National Golden Gloves champion, a National PAL champion, a Junior Olympic National Champion, and here in New York, a four-time Golden Glove champion.
More than that, he was the rare amateur superstar, someone who could elevate the status of tournament by his sheer presence. He was a virtual celebrity in amateur boxing circles. He had an entourage of fellow boxers from the Starrett Boxing Club, where he trained. The media loved Jacobs. He was affable and expressive, smart and funny, and his stature should grow with his arrival in the pros.
"Amateur boxing in New York will miss Danny," said Antonio Midyette, a ring inspector for USA Boxing Metro. "He was a star here, and now it’s a matter of him passing the torch to someone else. But there’s no doubting he was a big name."
As to his legacy, Jacobs is not sure how he’ll be remembered.
"I’ll leave it up to the fans and the media to decide my place," he said. "I feel like I made my mark in the amateurs. I wouldn’t change anything that happened, only my last fight."
The transition from the amateurs to the pros is not as easy as it looks. While scoring in the amateurs is calculated by the number of clean shots that land, professional boxing is predicated, more or less, on the force of a given punch.
"You can’t throw amateur punches in the pros," said the former world champion, Junior Jones, who was at the amateur show in Queens. "In the amateurs you can land 100 punches, but if I land two good ones in the pros, that’s all I need. Danny needs to make that transition. If he can make that transition of landing harder shots, then he’ll be ok. He’s a pretty talented guy, though. We sparred around a year ago and he has pretty good power. Plus, he’ll be using smaller gloves, and that makes a big difference," said Jones, who mentioned that he no longer spars and is officially retired at the age of 36 and works full time in the mailroom of a bank in Manhattan.
The only time Jacobs was knocked down, according to Roundtree, was in the National Golden Gloves finals two years ago against Shawn Porter, whom Jacobs defeated 30-18 in the Olympic trial quarterfinal. Jacobs was lying on the ropes and got caught flush with a punch. He rose on shaky legs and out-boxed Porter the rest of the way to win a decision, Roundtree said.
"That showed what type of warrior he is," Roundtree said.
"We’ll find out if he has a good chin," Jones went on. "Mark Breland, a good friend of mine, had a good chin in the amateurs, but it wasn’t as sturdy in the pros. Danny might have a good chin in the amateurs, but it will be tested in the pro game. Also, in the pros, you may fight a guy who can take your best shot and keep on coming; they never get tired, and you can’t get discouraged."
At the start of his career, when Jacobs is fighting four and six-round matches, Jones said it will be difficult to tell how good he is.
"Those are the same as amateur fights, and he should be able to walk through those easy," he said. "We’ll be able to see where he’s at when he fights the eight and ten round fights."
"Now, he has to start training like a pro," Roundtree said. "He has to start sitting down on his punches and throw his punches with a little more power, no more pitter patter punches. He’s a natural fighter, and it will be an easy transition for him."
Mitch Abramson has covered boxing for The New York Times and the Village Voice and is currently a staff writer at Newsday.