Julian Jackson (boxer)

Julian Jackson (born September 12, 1960) is a former professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who competed from 1981 to 1998. He is a three-time world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight title from 1987 to 1990, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight title twice between 1990 and 1995. Possessing formidable punching power, with a knockout-to-win rate of 89%, Jackson is regarded by many as one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, pound for pound, and was ranked number 25 by The Ring magazine in a 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Punchers".<ref>Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers" Template:Webarchive. About.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.</ref> Jackson was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.

Amateur career

Jackson represented the United States Virgin Islands at the 1979 Pan American Games, losing his first fight to Jose Baret of the Dominican Republic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jackson reportedly completed his amateur career with a record of 15 wins, 2 losses.

Professional career

Jackson turned professional in February 1981 and had many of his early fights in Puerto Rico, where he lived for a short time, and gained a shot at WBA super welterweight champion Mike McCallum in August 1986. Jackson hurt the champion on a couple occasions in the first round, but McCallum came storming back with a barrage that forced the referee to stop matters in the second round.

Light middleweight Champion

After McCallum moved up to middleweight, Jackson got his second shot at the now-vacant WBA title in November 1987 against Korean Baek In-chul, winning in three rounds. Baek would go on to win the WBA super-middleweight title a year later. Jackson made three defenses of his crown, against former IBF title-holder Buster Drayton (TKO 3), Francisco DeJesus (KO 8), and future three-time champion Terry Norris (TKO 2). All these defenses were won with a single knockout punch.

First middleweight title reign

Template:Main Jackson then vacated his crown, moved up to 160 lb (73 kg), and was matched against Herol 'Bomber' Graham for the vacant WBC middleweight title. Due to Jackson's recent retina damage which had required surgery, the British Boxing Board of Control felt that Jackson was returning to boxing too soon and didn't allow him to box in the UK, so the bout was held at Torrequebrada Hotel & Casino, Benalmádena, Andalucía, Spain on 24 November 1990.

Graham was putting on his typical savvy performance against Jackson: countering, slipping, and dancing out of the way, targeting Jackson's vulnerable eye which started to swell. After being consistently beaten to the punch for three and a half rounds, Jackson then unleashed one of the great right hands in boxing history. After Jackson connected with the punch, Graham was unconscious before he hit the canvas, and was revived only after five alarming minutes.

Defenses against Dennis Milton (KO 1), Ismael Negron (KO 1), and Ron Collins (TKO 5) ended quickly, but Thomas Tate would make Jackson work longer and harder in their August 1992 encounter – Julian had to go to the scorecards for the first time in a title bout in winning a 12-round unanimous decision, scoring a knockdown along the way. At this point Jackson was in the middle of the pound-for-pound rankings.

This would lead to his showdown in May 1993 with another big hitter, Gerald McClellan. This time the challenger prevailed, as Jackson failed to find the knockout blow when hitting McClellan with hard punches and controlling Rounds 2 and 3, with McClellan turning the fight around and knocking Jackson down twice in the fifth round. The second knockdown prompted the referee to stop the fight, after Jackson made it to his feet yet remained unsteady.

After winning his next three fights, Jackson had another shot at the title in May 1994 in a rematch with McClellan. In a very brief fight, Jackson hit McClellan with some hard punches, but Jackson was then hurt himself and put under heavy pressure by McClellan, with McClellan flooring Jackson with a left hook to the body after 65 seconds. The referee counted Jackson out as he rose to his feet.

Second middleweight title reign

Template:Main After McClellan vacated the title to move up to super-middleweight, Jackson would have a second but brief reign as WBC middleweight champion, beating the previously undefeated European champion Agostino Cardamone in March 1995. Jackson had a shaky end to the first round, during which he was hurt and put under pressure until the bell by Cardamone, who wasn't considered a hard puncher. In round two however, Jackson again showed his punching power by suddenly dropping Cardamone heavily with a short right hand. Cardamone managed to make it to his feet but remained badly shaken, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Jackson lost the title in his first defense against Quincy Taylor in August 1995, by a sixth round stoppage. During the fight with Taylor, Jackson tore his rotator cuff and looked a shadow of his former self.

Post title

Jackson would have four more low-key victories, before ending his career with losses to Verno Phillips and Anthony Jones, both in nine rounds, in 1998.

He was inducted into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Life after boxing

After retiring from the sport, Jackson joined the ministry and still lives in his birthplace of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. He has continued his involvement in the local boxing field as a trainer and coach, and his three sons, Julius Jackson, Julian Jackson Jr. and John Jackson, have all competed professionally since 2009.

Jackson was once hired by Coral World Ocean Park in St. Thomas as a way to attract visitors to the park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
61	Template:No2Loss	55–6	Anthony Jones	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	May 24, 1998	Template:Small
60	Template:No2Loss	55–5	Verno Phillips	KO	9 (12), Template:Small	Jan 23, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
59	Template:Yes2Win	55–4	Eduardo Gutiérrez	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Oct 31, 1997	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	54–4	Terry Ford	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Jul 25, 1997	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	53–4	Augustine Renteria	UD	10	Dec 7, 1996	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	52–4	Leonardo Aguilar	UD	10	Sep 9, 1996	Template:Small
55	Template:No2Loss	51–4	Quincy Taylor	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	Aug 19, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	51–3	Agostino Cardamone	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Mar 17, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	50–3	Luis Buitron	TKO	3 (10)	Dec 17, 1994	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	49–3	Gerald McClellan	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	May 7, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	49–2	Eduardo Ayala	UD	10	Mar 4, 1994	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	48–2	Jaime Montano	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Dec 15, 1993	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	47–2	Carlton Haywood	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Aug 6, 1993	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	46–2	Gerald McClellan	TKO	5 (12), Template:Small	May 8, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	46–1	Eddie Hall	TKO	4 (10)	Dec 13, 1992	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	45–1	Thomas Tate	UD	12	Aug 1, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	44–1	Ron Collins	TKO	5 (12), Template:Small	Apr 10, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	43–1	Ismael Negron	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Feb 15, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	42–1	Dennis Milton	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Sep 14, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	41–1	Herol Graham	KO	4 (12), Template:Small	Nov 24, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	40–1	Wayne Powell	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Jun 16, 1990	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	39–1	John McClendon	KO	2 (10)	May 18, 1990	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	38–1	Terry Norris	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Jul 30, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	37–1	Derwin Richards	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	May 13, 1989	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	36–1	Francisco de Jesus	KO	8 (12), Template:Small	Feb 25, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	35–1	Buster Drayton	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	Jul 30, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	34–1	Efren Olivo	TKO	1 (10)	Jun 25, 1988	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	33–1	Reggie Barnes	TKO	1 (10)	Apr 16, 1988	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	32–1	Baek In-chul	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	Nov 21, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	31–1	Milton Leaks	TKO	10 (12), Template:Small	Apr 24, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	30–1	Khalif Shabazz	KO	1 (10)	Dec 19, 1986	Template:Small
30	Template:No2Loss	29–1	Mike McCallum	TKO	2 (15), Template:Small	Aug 23, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Derrick Drane	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	May 20, 1986	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Francisco Del Toro	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Apr 19, 1986	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Mark Allman	TKO	1 (10)	Mar 22, 1986	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Lopez McGee	KO	4 (12)	Feb 28, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Raúl Hernandez	TKO	1 (10)	Nov 15, 1985	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	José Padilla	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Aug 10, 1985	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Rafael Corona	KO	3 (12)	Jul 12, 1985	Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Tim Harris	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Nov 21, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Santos Solis	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Nov 3, 1984	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Curtis Ramsey	TKO	12 (12), Template:Small	Aug 15, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Ron Lee Warrior	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	Jan 20, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	JJ Cottrell	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	May 16, 1984	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Eddie Gazo	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Mar 17, 1984	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Carlton Brown	TKO	1 (10)	Jan 20, 1984	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Jeff Nelson	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Oct 15, 1983	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	David Plowden	KO	3 (10)	Jun 25, 1983	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Reinaldo Roque	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	May 18, 1983	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Jake Torrance	TKO	5 (10)	Mar 6, 1983	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Dominic Fox	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Feb 19, 1983	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Mack Heimbaugh	TKO	4 (8)	Nov 17, 1982	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Miguel Sepulveda	TKO	3 (8), Template:Small	Aug 18, 1982	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Al Cook	KO	2 (8), Template:Small	Jun 8, 1982	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	William Page	Template:Abbr	6	Mar 20, 1982	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Dario De Asa	KO	3 (8)	Sep 26, 1981	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Edwin Rodriguez	KO	1 (6)	Aug 15, 1981	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Reyes Escalera	Template:Abbr	3 (6)	May 15, 1981	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Marcelino Flores	KO	2 (4)	May 9, 1981	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Rafael Ayala	Template:Abbr	1 (4)	Mar 5, 1981	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Inocencio Carmona	Template:Abbr	4	Feb 2, 1981	Template:Small

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Q&A: Julian Jackson!