EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: DANNY JACOBS
By G. Leon

GL:  How has your training camp been, and has it been different from your other training camps?  "As far as it being different, first off, camp was great.  Aside from it being great, it was different in the sense that we added a fitness trainer, we added a cook, and we did a lot of thing differently, as far as preparation and strategy wise.  It was great overall, I'm just looking to have fun in there on Saturday night, and do everything I did, in sparring in the camp, inside the ring."

GL:  What are your thoughts on Giroc as a fighter, and what weaknesses do you see in him that you think you can exploit?

Danny Jacobs:  "He has good skills, he's not the average boxer.  He's not the average Russian boxer, I should say.  He tries to emulate the Floyd Mayweather shoulder roll, and he's defense first and offense second, I believe.  He moves a lot, but I think his weakness is he hasn't fought anyone who's going to push him back.  He hasn't fought anybody with handspeed or good power, and he hasn't faced anybody with the skills I have.  Come Saturday night, I think that my speed, my movement, and my ring generalship will be the key factors in the fight."

GL:  Do you think this fight is going the distance?

DJ:  "I hope not, but I'm ready if it does.  I don't think any fighter wants to fight longer than he has to, but I just want to give the fans a good show.  Hopefully everything goes well, and I can bring that belt back to Brooklyn."

GL:  What does becoming champion mean to you?

DJ:  "It means everything.  At this stage of my life, right now, it means so much more than if it wasn't for my grandmother passing.  It means so much more, because I'm doing this for her, in her name.  I know she would want me to continue doing what I'm doing, pursuing my dreams of becoming a world champion.  I have that drive, in the back of my mind I have her rooting me on, so everything is going to be beautiful.  I'm just excited, I want to get in there already."

GL:  What was it like when you first heard the news of your grandmother passing, and how long did it take for you to emotionally deal with the news and physically rededicate yourself to the task at hand?

DJ:  "It was devestating to me, because I didn't hear it, I saw it.  I was in the hospital with my family last Sunday, and my grandmother was in a state where she couldn't talk.  She couldn't do anything, her body was pretty much still, so she wasn't really in existance.  We were all around her, singing to her and telling her how much we love her, and we knew she really didn't have too much left, and she died right in front of us.  That was very devestating, and I was very emotional, but I know in the back of my mind that she's okay now.  She's not in pain, and she would want me to go and fight, even under the circumstances.  I know that's what she would want, so I'm taking that and making it my drive."

GL:  Obviously, becoming champion puts you in a different bracket, the opposition is going to be top level and consistant.  Tell us why you feel you're ready for that, and that this isn't too much too soon.

DJ:  "I know my team wouldn't, not that I'm not ready, but they wouldn't put me in there with somebody they think I wouldn't be ready for.  As far as experience, I feel that I'm ready for anybody in the world.  At the same time, you still have to climb the ladder of experience, and we want to do that accordingly.  We don't want to go and fight, let's say Andre Ward, right off of the bat.  Even though he's not in my weight class, I'm just giving you an example.  We want to take our time, and slowly build while taking time with it."

GL:  Closing thoughts.

DJ:  "If we get this belt, all of my Brooklyn people, we're throwing a parade so make sure you're there.  Next Friday, it's going down.  Brooklyn stand up, and we're going to go get this belt on Saturday night."

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