Julius Jackson Whips Up Win Over Jonathan Nelson

Hot Super Middleweight prospect Julius Jackson (18-0, 14 KOs) opened Showtime Extreme’s televised boxing coverage tonight by scoring a 9^th round TKO victory over Jonathan Nelson (19-1, 9 KOs). Jackson, the son of former junior middleweight and middleweight titleholder Julian Jackson dominated nearly every round, save the 6^th, scoring two knockdowns along the way. For the fight, Jackson out landed Nelson by a 186-68 margin and connected on 51% (120-236) of his power punches.

The undefeated Jackson had taken his last eight victories by KO and had only once gone past the 6^th round, when he scored a 9^th round TKO over previously undefeated Nicolas Dario Lopez on December 7of last year. He followed that victory with a 2^nd round TKO over Crispulo Javier Andino in August of this year. Jackson is ranked just outside of the top ten by all the major sanctioning bodies and was looking to continue his move from prospect to full on contender against Nelson, a step up in competition. Nelson’s only career blemish came in a unanimous decision defeat in a ten rounder against Brandon Gonzalez in November of last year. This was only Nelson’s 2^nd fight this year. Both fighters entered the ring with a lot on the line tonight.

On to the rounds:

Round One: Jackson is ready to get going. Throwing hard and fast early. Nelson comes out busy too. Jackson drops Nelson to one knee within the first minute with a flurry of punches. It’s the first time Nelson has ever gone down. Nelson barely beats the count. Nelson is still trying to find his legs after the knockdown. He is being active though and lands a couple decent shots late in the round, including a solid left at the end of the round. Easy 10-8 round for Jackson.

Round Two: Nelson seems to have cleared the cobwebs, but Jackson is landing the harder straighter punches. Nelson continues to be a bit wide. Jackson is content to box. It’s a competitive round with Jackson landing more blows and the most meaningful ones.

Round Three: The fighters trade good jabs at the beginning of the round. Jackson lands a solid right that knocks Nelson off balance. He does not appear to be hurt though. Jackson doing a good job of going to the body and the head. At times, both fighters seem to land solid blows, but Jackson’s punches move Nelson. Jackson leaves himself open at times. Hard to say if this is a defensive flaw or a lack of respect for Nelson’s power. Whatever the case, Jackson remains much busier and first to land.

Round Four: Nelson lands a solid right cross early. Jackson responds in kind and with more. You can really hear Jackson’s hands land. Nelson is trying, but his mouth is open and he does not look confident. Jackson couldn’t be more comfortable if he were sitting on his couch at home. Nelson picks up the pace, but Jackson lands a hard left that briefly leaves Nelson off balance.

Round Five: Jackson backs Nelson against the ropes. Nelson does a solid job of fighting off and backing Jackson up for a moment. Jackson pushed Nelson back to the ropes. Jackson is clearly the physically stronger guy in the ring. Hard straight right sends Nelson backwards. Jackson seems largely unconcerned with defense. So far, it has not hurt him. Jackson switches to southpaw. He is doing work on Nelson. Through 5, Jackson has 3 times as many blows and is connecting on 50% of his power shots.

Round Six: Jackson’s left jab is sharp and consistent. Nelson gets Jackson against the ropes and loses the exchange. Nelson lands a hard right that appears to have stung Jackson, but he quickly bounces back. Nelson lands a couple of good counter shots. He’s having his best round. Nelson lands a solid right against the ropes and Jackson backs up for what might be the first time in the fight. Nelson gets Jackson back against the ropes and finally wins an exchange. Nelson’s right hand has consistently found a home this round. I don’t think Jackson was hurt, but Nelson should be able to say he won his first round of the fight.

Round Seven: Nelson seems to have found some confidence now. While he looks worse than Jackson by far, he is starting to hold his own consistently. Jackson is now showing some respect and being more cautious. When Jackson sticks with this jab, he controls the fight. A big right backs Nelson against the ropes and his facial expression changes. Good bounce back round for Jackson. He dominated the second half of the 7^th.

Round Eight: Jackson walked into and through a right hand from Jackson. Jackson coming forward, putting together combinations. Looking smooth and strong. It’s starting to look like Nelson emptied his tank in the 6^th. He’s just not throwing enough to discourage Jackson at all. Jackson drops Nelson again with a straight right that clearly has him hurt. Nelson once again barely beats the count and is saved from further punishment by the bell.

Round Nine: Jack Reiss the fight at 2:33 when a combination by Jackson sends Nelson wobbling backwards. Excellent stoppage by Reiss.

Jackson looked good tonight throughout. He has good hand speed and is very strong. He doesn’t always sit down on his punches and his defense could definitely use some work, but he can both box and punch with some skill. I would expect Jackson to continue to move up in class. A possible title fight is in his future, but his camp would do well to pace him through another 3-4 fights against better competition.

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