Danny Jacobs and Peter Quillin understand just how high the stakes will be when the two finally meet in the ring at Barclays Center on Dec. 5.
The winner gets the World Boxing Association middleweight title, Brooklyn bragging rights, and the opportunity to be a megastar in the sport of boxing — with all the wealth and glory that entails.
The loser will have to claw his way back into the elite tier of fighters after the Barclays bout.
“There are millions of millions of dollars in the future to be made by the man that wins this fight,” said promoter Lou DiBella at a press conference at Planet Hollywood on Wednesday. “The man who loses this fight takes a huge step backward.”
That’s because there is a perfect storm going on in the middleweight division at the moment.
Gennady Golovkin takes on David Lemiux for the International Boxing Federation crown on Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden, and Miguel Cotto is set to fight Canelo Alvarez for the World Boxing Council belt on Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The winners of those bouts will then be on a collision course with the victor of the Barclays bout in the quest to unify the title.
“It puts you at either three or two [in the world] definitely,” said Jacobs of what a victory means for him or Quillin. “The winner would definitely be the next superstar in the sport.”
It’s why both fighters believe this was the perfect time for them to finally meet in what Jacobs called a “career changing” fight. The Brownsville-native has been calling out Quillin, a Downtown resident, for two years on his way to the top. In Jacobs’ case it was worth the wait because now he is the champion after Qullin vacated his World Boxing Organization strap because of the death of his uncle and birth of his son. The next step in both their careers goes through the other.
“It had to take two years for it to build and get juicy, for our careers to blossom for this perfect moment,” Jacobs said.
The two respect one another and are friendly, but fireworks when it’s time to fight. The two are a combined 62–1–1, with Jacobs having the only loss, and 30 knockouts. DiBella predicted the action would be “nasty,” “brutal” and “warfare.”
“This fight is going to determine who is the man,” DiBella said. “Put friendship and respect aside.”
Quillin knows he’ll need to take Jacobs out early.
“He is coming to hurt me and I must do that before he does it to me,” Quillin said.
Jacobs made sure to remind Quillin who the current champ is, sitting with the belt on his lap for most of the press conference. The winner gets the strap — and entry into boxing royalty.
