The tragic passing of Patrick Day four days after suffering a knockout loss to Charles Conwell on Oct. 12 stunned the boxing world. Day never regained consciousness after the final blow of the fight, suffering traumatic brain injuries.
Day was a man few had a bad word about and had made friends throughout the boxing world. One man who was deeply affected by Day's death was Daniel Jacobs. The former middleweight champ was friends with Day and has admitted to struggling with his death.
"My dear friend Patrick Day, I lost a great friend of mine," Jacobs said at a November press conference for his Dec. 20 fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. "It's really hard to move forward, but I always have him in the back of my mind."
Now, Jacobs has a plan to pay tribute to his friend when he steps into the ring against Chavez for their DAZN-streamed clash. He will enter with a robe featuring Day's face and nickname. Those same features will decorate his trunks, as tweeted by DAZN.
On December 20, Daniel Jacobs will pay homage to Patrick Day. 🙏
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) December 11, 2019
(📸: @DanielJacobsTKO) pic.twitter.com/yI1s3jug4Q
The move represents one way for Jacobs to deal with the death of a friend and is one of the classier moves in recent boxing history.
"Boxing is not the same," Jacobs said in November. "But I want to maximize my full potential."
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