Fully committed to boxing after some legal trouble early in his pro career, Bridgeport, Connecticut-based southpaw Jacob “Lefty” Marrero will be looking to impress on April 18th in his first main event. The unbeaten Marrero (11-0 with 8 KOs), will be taking on Rowin Javier Sanchez in a lightweight contest at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford “This fight, though it’s not in my hometown, but in Connecticut (and the state’s capital), I’m just excited and grateful for the opportunity,” said Marrero. “This is definitely one of the dreams of mine. You know, it’s not for the main belt, but it’s a [regional] belt that means a lot to me because I’ll be the first fighter from my city to actually win a title like that, so it gives me extra motivation to show everybody that Bridgeport has talent, that Bridgeport breeds champions, and I’m just ready to go out there and showcase my talent. I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Marrero has been in training camp since January, as he was initially training for a February bout that fell by the wayside. Marrero-Sanchez headlines Riverside Rumble, a Jimmy Burchfield-promoted Pro-Am show that takes place in the largest convention facility between New York and Boston, and which also provides scenic views of the Connecticut River. The 26 year-old Marrero has come a long way from incarceration in 2018 for assault and burglary. “If it wasn’t for boxing I don’t really know where I would be,” he said. “If I wasn’t in the gym at all, I think I would just be running the streets, you know, getting involved with people that I shouldn’t get involved with and doing things I shouldn’t be doing.”
When he returned to Ortiz Boxing Gym after some time away, Marrero’s longtime trainer Carlos Nieves sat him down and queried him as to whether he was truly ready to dedicate himself to boxing, or not. “Ever since then, I kind of locked in, said Marrero, who added he wasn’t even fully focused as an amateur. Talent helped him get to a New England Golden Gloves title at 16, but he and his coach often talk about the heights he might have reached in the non-paid ranks had he been laser-focused early on. He made it as far as the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the National Golden Gloves in different years but knows he could have won it all if his mentality had been different.
“I was always one leg in and one leg out,” said Marrero. “I could have won multiple national titles, but I don’t live in the past. I live in the present now. I just know that in any training camp where my head is focused and I’m training hard, I feel like I can compete with anyone in the ring.”
In Marrero’s previous outing, October 11th at Foxwoods Casino, he stopped Emiliano Martin Garcia in the second-round of a scheduled eight-rounder. While Sanchez doesn’t bring the breadth of experience that Garcia brought to the ring – he’s 6-2-3 – Marrero doesn’t underestimate anyone who steps between those ring ropes. “I’ve seen a little video on him,” said Marrero. “He comes to fight. He’s got heart. I give all my props to him. I’m expecting a great fight. I’m training harder than ever and whatever he brings to the table, I’m ready to adapt and I’m ready to showcase my skill set.”
Hartford now, Bridgeport in the future, perhaps? While many fighters dream of fighting in Las Vegas or Madison Square Garden, and more recently, the Barclays Center, Marrero’s dream is to one day fight for or defend a belt in the Total Mortgage Arena in his hometown. Seventeen years ago, Norwalk native Travis Simms brought championship boxing to the Park City when he defended his WBA regular junior middleweight strap at the Total Mortgage Arena (then called the Arena at Harbord Yard), taking big-time boxing away from the casino crowd for one night. Marrero would love to follow in Simms’ shoes in that respect. “I always said, if I could fight in my hometown that would be one of my biggest dreams,” said Marrero, adding, “Because that just goes to show anything is possible with hard work and consistency. Dreams do come true if you put your mind to it.”
Marrero fights for his city, his family, but especially his immediate family unit, his girlfriend Sydney and their two-year-old daughter Alaya. Though still a young man, Marrero has matured a great deal since first becoming a professional fighter. “I’m just grateful for all the trials and tribulations,” he said. "Because without those lessons, without the people in my corner, none of this would be possible, and I wouldn’t have the mindset that I have now.” Marrero added, “Boxing has completely changed me. Boxing has given me a new life. Boxing has given me a different perspective on life…I always say to everybody, I don’t have to be the world’s greatest fighter, but I just want to be the best fighter I can possibly be, be the best person I can be, for my family, my gym and everybody that supports me.”
Marrero – who cites Sugar Ray Leonard, Hector Camacho, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Terrance Crawford and Shakur Stevenson as some of his favorites to watch film of -officially signed with Burchfield’s CES Boxing last summer. In addition to gleaming techniques and moves from the greats of the sport, the southpaw and self-described “boxer-puncher” said he also often picks up things from the skilled amateurs he’s around. “I watch everybody. I’m very open-minded,” he said.
Marrero said he plans to campaign at 135 pounds for some time, but will eventually move up to the junior welterweight division. He doesn’t have a motto or slogan he lives by, but notes that his “toughest opponent is myself.”
“I say, if my mind’s not right, I’ll be helping my opponent beat me,” said Marrero. “So my coach always says as long as I’m right, and I’m training right, nobody can beat me but myself, so I always try to put that in my head.” He added, “Run that extra mile, do those extra sit-ups, go those extra rounds. You never know what your opponent’s doing, but can’t nobody beat me in there when I’m on my A-game, so I just try to live by that. Go in and give 110 percent in the ring. Leave it all in the ring and you beat me at my A-game, kudos to you, but if you beat me and I know I didn’t do enough in training camp, I wouldn’t feel right, so I don’t ever want to live with that regret.”
As for April 18th, he says, “I’m looking to put on a boxing clinic,” said Marrero.
