In sad news, it has been reported that Thierry Jacob of France has passed away at the age of 59. Jacob, who ruled as WBC super-bantamweight champion in 1993, lost his fight against lung cancer. Tributes have been coming in since the bad news broke, with French media in particular paying much respect to the fallen warrior.
Just a short time ago, the boxing world lost another terrific super-bantamweight fighter, Israel Vazquez, who sadly lost his battle with cancer at age 46. Now Jacob, who engaged in some epic 118 and 122-pound fights himself, is gone just a short time before Christmas Day.
Jacob went pro back in 1984, and his road to the top was tough. Going 21-0(14), Jacob, a southpaw, challenged Kelvin Seabrooks for the IBF bantamweight title in July of 1987. The fight – see absolute war – that took place in Calais, France, has to be seen to be believed, the red-hot, two-way action proving utterly spellbinding. Seabrooks stopped Jacob via 9th-round corner retirement (check the fight out now on YouTube).
Undeterred, Jacob, still only 22 years old, challenged for the European title. Here, too, though, he was stopped in nine rounds, with Fabrice Benichou halting him in January of 1988. Then, Jacob got a second crack at an IBF world title, but this time, current super-bantamweight champ Jose Sanabria stopped him in round six.
Proving he was resilient as well as stubborn, Jacob, now 34-3, finally won a major title in September of 1990, when he defeated Duke McKenzie to become the European champion at 118 pounds. At this point in time, save for a fight in Italy, all of Jacob’s fights had been held in France. After beating future three-weight world champ McKenzie, Jacob made two retentions of the European belt before becoming a world champion on the third attempt.
Jacob beat Mexican warrior Daniel Zaragoza to become WBC super-bantamweight champ in March of 1992. This fight also took place in France. Jacob was then beaten quickly, in just two rounds, by Tracy Harris Patterson, and this fight took place in New York. Yet Jacob, now aged 27 and sporting a 38-4 record, got two more world title opportunities. Unfortunately, Jacob failed to become a two-time ruler, as Wilfredo Vazquez twice stopped him in WBA super-bantamweight title challenges. Jacob retired in 1994 after picking up a win over Edgar Orlando Ballen in his final ring appearance. Jacob’s final record reads 39-6(20). Jacob really did have an exciting, up-and-down career, during which time he faced numerous big names.
Our condolences go out to Thierry’s family and friends at this time.
