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".Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers" . About.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18. 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.

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

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

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.

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.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes61Loss55–6Anthony JonesTKO9 (10), May 24, 199860Loss55–5Verno PhillipsKO9 (12), Jan 23, 199859Win55–4Eduardo GutiérrezTKO3 (10), Oct 31, 199758Win54–4Terry FordTKO2 (10), Jul 25, 199757Win53–4Augustine RenteriaUD10Dec 7, 199656Win52–4Leonardo AguilarUD10Sep 9, 199655Loss51–4Quincy TaylorTKO6 (12), Aug 19, 199554Win51–3Agostino CardamoneTKO2 (12), Mar 17, 199553Win50–3Luis BuitronTKO3 (10)Dec 17, 199452Loss49–3Gerald McClellanKO1 (12), May 7, 199451Win49–2Eduardo AyalaUD10Mar 4, 199450Win48–2Jaime MontanoTKO1 (10), Dec 15, 199349Win47–2Carlton HaywoodTKO1 (10), Aug 6, 199348Loss46–2Gerald McClellanTKO5 (12), May 8, 199347Win46–1Eddie HallTKO4 (10)Dec 13, 199246Win45–1Thomas TateUD12Aug 1, 199245Win44–1Ron CollinsTKO5 (12), Apr 10, 199244Win43–1Ismael NegronTKO1 (12), Feb 15, 199243Win42–1Dennis MiltonKO1 (12), Sep 14, 199142Win41–1Herol GrahamKO4 (12), Nov 24, 199041Win40–1Wayne PowellTKO4 (10), Jun 16, 199040Win39–1John McClendonKO2 (10)May 18, 199039Win38–1Terry NorrisTKO2 (12), Jul 30, 198938Win37–1Derwin RichardsTKO6 (10), May 13, 198937Win36–1Francisco de JesusKO8 (12), Feb 25, 198936Win35–1Buster DraytonTKO3 (12), Jul 30, 198835Win34–1Efren OlivoTKO1 (10)Jun 25, 198834Win33–1Reggie BarnesTKO1 (10)Apr 16, 198833Win32–1Baek In-chulTKO3 (12), Nov 21, 198732Win31–1Milton LeaksTKO10 (12), Apr 24, 198731Win30–1Khalif ShabazzKO1 (10)Dec 19, 198630Loss29–1Mike McCallumTKO2 (15), Aug 23, 198629Win29–0Derrick DraneTKO2 (10), May 20, 198628Win28–0Francisco Del ToroKO2 (10), Apr 19, 198627Win27–0Mark AllmanTKO1 (10)Mar 22, 198626Win26–0Lopez McGeeKO4 (12)Feb 28, 198625Win25–0Raúl HernandezTKO1 (10)Nov 15, 198524Win24–0José PadillaTKO3 (10), Aug 10, 198523Win23–0Rafael CoronaKO3 (12)Jul 12, 198522Win22–0Tim HarrisTKO8 (12), Nov 21, 198421Win21–0Santos SolisTKO2 (10), Nov 3, 198420Win20–0Curtis RamseyTKO12 (12), Aug 15, 198419Win19–0Ron Lee WarriorTKO3 (12), Jan 20, 198418Win18–0JJ CottrellTKO5 (10), May 16, 198417Win17–0Eddie GazoKO2 (10), Mar 17, 198416Win16–0Carlton BrownTKO1 (10)Jan 20, 198415Win15–0Jeff NelsonTKO3 (10), Oct 15, 198314Win14–0David PlowdenKO3 (10)Jun 25, 198313Win13–0Reinaldo RoqueTKO1 (10), May 18, 198312Win12–0Jake TorranceTKO5 (10)Mar 6, 198311Win11–0Dominic FoxKO2 (10), Feb 19, 198310Win10–0Mack HeimbaughTKO4 (8)Nov 17, 19829Win9–0Miguel SepulvedaTKO3 (8), Aug 18, 19828Win8–0Al CookKO2 (8), Jun 8, 19827Win7–0William Page6Mar 20, 19826Win6–0Dario De AsaKO3 (8)Sep 26, 19815Win5–0Edwin RodriguezKO1 (6)Aug 15, 19814Win4–0Reyes Escalera3 (6)May 15, 19813Win3–0Marcelino FloresKO2 (4)May 9, 19812Win2–0Rafael Ayala1 (4)Mar 5, 19811Win1–0Inocencio Carmona4Feb 2, 1981

References

External links

Q&A: Julian Jackson!