There’s a new sports network in town, and it brings live boxing with it. This Monday night, “Golden Boy Live!” will premiere on the Fox Sports 1 network live from the Best Buy Theater in New York City. Headlining the card is Brooklyn’s own “Golden Child”, aka the “Miracle Man”, Danny Jacobs (25-1, 22 KO’s). Jacobs will meet Giovanni Lorenzo (32-5, 24 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round middleweight contest. The bout is Jacobs fourth since his miracle recovery from osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that left Jacobs near death in 2011.
The Brownsville native is a four time Golden Gloves champion, and a former NABF and NABO middleweight title holder. He was undefeated in 20 bouts with 17 knockouts when he made his first attempt at a world title in 2010, facing undefeated Russian Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight championship. Ahead on points, Jacobs was stopped in the fifth round when Pirog landed a perfect right hand that dropped him; referee Robert Byrd waved off the bout before finishing the count. Danny came back to score to stoppage wins over Jesse Orta and Robert Kliewer respectively, before his ordeal with cancer began.
After 19 months of inactivity, surgery, radiation treatments and rehabilitation, Jacobs made his return to the ring on October 20, 2012 fighting in front of his hometown crown at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with three of his physicians sitting ringside. He stopped Josh Luteran in the first round, a successful beginning to his miracle comeback. Stoppage wins over Chris Fitzpatrick and Kennan Collins followed, paving the way for tomorrow’s headliner when Jacobs faces his toughest challenge since his return in Giovanni Lorenzo. A win over Lorenzo could put Jacobs back among the top 10 contenders and set him on the path to another world title shot.
Lorenzo, a New York based Dominican, began his career with a 26-0 tally before Raul Marquez dealt him his first defeat; a close unanimous decision in 2008 that would have been a draw had Lorenzo not been docked a point for head-butting. The loss would set in motion a back and forth pattern for the former Dominican Republic middleweight title holder; he would win bouts against lesser opponents, while failing when the opportunity to step up was presented to him. World title challenges against Sebastian Sylvester, Felix Sturm and Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam all ended in wide decision losses. In 2012 he made the trip to Australia to meet Sam Soliman in an IBF eliminator, only to lose that bout by a wide margin as well. Early this year, Lorenzo stopped the 3-26-1 Johnny Valentin in the first round.
In the nights co-feature, undefeated Eddie “Eboy” Gomez (14-0, 9 KO’s) of the Bronx, N.Y. meets Steve Upsher Chambers (24-2-1, 6 KO’s) in a junior middleweight eight round attraction. This is Gomez’s fourth consecutive appearance on a New York card, having fought three times at the Barclays Center and once at Madison Square Garden. This is his third outing of the year. Chambers, out of Philadelphia, is coming off an eight round decision loss last October to former welterweight champion Luis Collazo. The most relevant win on his ledger is over Bayan Jargal, who he defeated in 2010, dealing Jargal his first defeat.
2012 U.S. Olympians Terrell Gausha and Marcus Browne will also be featured on the card. Gausha (4-0, 2 KO’s) will meet Austin Marcum (5-3, 3 KO’s) in a six round middleweight bout, and light heavyweight Browne (5-0, 5 KO’s) faces an opponent yet to be named.
New York prospect Claude Staten Jr. (1-0) will also be featured in a super bantamweight bout, facing Theo Johnson (0-5).
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