JOHN DAVID JACKSON HIRED AS HEAD TRAINER AT THE HEAVYWEIGHT FACTORY

By Sharon Robb

John David Jackson has seen every side of boxing.

He has been involved in the sport most of his life as an amateur and pro boxer and is now one of the most well-respected and talented trainers in the country.

As a pro boxer, he was a two-division champion in the nineties. As a trainer he has worked with some of the sport’s biggest names including Nate Campbell, Allan Green, Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins.

At 47, Jackson will take on another challenge as the newly-hired head trainer of the Heavyweight Factory at the 20,000-square foot state-of-the-art training and tryout facility in Hollywood.

Jackson started on July 5th. He is working with some of the boxers who will be featured on the Aug. 24th Rise of the Heavyweights card at Hard Rock Live.

Jackson will work with former University of Miami and Louisville football player James Bryant, who at 3-0, is proving that the unique idea of turning elite athletes from other sports into heavyweight boxers may help produce the next world heavyweight champion from South Florida.

“The Heavyweight Factory is a great idea,” Jackson said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. If it’s done correctly there is no reason why it can’t work.

“The heavyweight division is in a sad state right now, it used to be the glamour division,” Jackson said. “You have these older guys trying to hang around when it should be a young man’s sport. There is no hunger right now in the heavyweight division.”

Jackson has been around boxing since he was a youngster watching the sport with his father.

He was born in Denver, Colorado and later moved to Seattle, Washington. While he was living in Ogden, Utah he stumbled into boxing by chance. He was on his way with a friend to play basketball at the recreation center when they walked past a boxing gym. He was 7 years old at the time

Jackson ducked his head in the door and said “Hey, I’d like to try that.”

So he climbed into the ring and got a “good butt-whipping.” His nose was bloody and he was bruised but he was happy he stuck with it and didn’t quit in the ring that day.

Jackson’s father took him back to the gym and told the boxing coach that his son could box if he spent six months training before he stepped in the ring again and learned the proper skills and technique. The coach agreed.

“I made sure the next time I got into the ring I wouldn’t get my butt kicked again,” Jackson said with a smile.

He was also intrigued when he watched the first Ali-Frazier fight and saw the attention it got on television and the media.

“I said I want to do that,” Jackson said.

With the help of his first trainer George Benton at the Tacoma Boys Club in Tacoma, Wash., Jackson honed his talent and skills.

“We really clicked,” Jackson said. “I remember always going over to his place and picking his brain and tapping into all that boxing knowledge he had. He would teach and show me all kinds of things. As I got older I realized just how much of his philosophy I incorporated into mine.

“A lot of what you learn from other fighters and trainers carries over to a degree,” Jackson said. “George Benton had the greatest influence on me. I am my own person, but a lot of what I learned came from him.”

Jackson, a southpaw, developed into a successful amateur with more than 200 fights and two national titles.

He turned pro in 1984. He won his first 32 pro fights and captured the vacant WBO light middleweight title in 1988 with a win over Lupe Aquino. He defended his title six times before moving up to middleweight in 1993 to challenge WBA middleweight title holder Reggie Johnson. Jackson won by decision but lost the belt in 1994 to Jorge Fernando Castro with a ninth-round TKO and $110,000, his biggest payday in boxing. The fight was named Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year.

In 1997 Jackson took on Bernard Hopkins for the IBF middleweight title but lost in a seventh-round TKO. He took a rematch against Castro in 1998 but lost on a decision. He retired in 1999 on a successful note with a second round TKO victory over Dave Boone and a pro record of 36-4 with 20 knockouts.

“I am satisfied with what I have done as a boxer,” Jackson said. “A lot of guys had more hype and more praise as amateurs but didn’t make it. I was able to win two world titles without a major promoter or major manager. It took a lot of hard work to get there like that.

“I didn’t make the money I thought I should have made. But you can’t cry about something you never had. I am content and happy with what I did. I came out of boxing unscarred. I can walk and talk. So I am happy and now I can give back and teach these young kids how to fight.”

After retiring as a boxer, Jackson turned to training where he has been successful since Day One and now is a potential Hall of Famer.

“George Benton always told me I would make a very good trainer but I didn’t want to hear it at that time because I was still boxing,” Jackson said. “That was the furthest thing from my mind back then.

“Now, I love teaching fighters,” Jackson said. “I love passing on what I learned in the early days and what I am still learning. I do miss the competition. Once you are a fighter, it’s hard to walk away. Any true fighter it never really leaves you.

“The competitive fire is still there. I do miss it but I know that this day in my life I am too old to do that. I am still in the sport and that’s what makes it so great. I have made the transition into being a trainer full-time. I don’t mind if I become more known as a better trainer than I was a boxer. The fact I will never fight again has settled in. I know my time is gone.”

Jackson identifies with the boxers he works with.

“During my amateur days it was great because all we did was fight,” Jackson said. “I just fought. I didn’t have any other things to worry about. Professionally, it wasn’t as much fun because I couldn’t enjoy the travelling to all the different countries or go sightseeing.”

Jackson is big on chemistry with his boxers. He doesn’t try to change them, he asks them what they want to do and they work on that.

“I tell them that whatever they did to get where they are is what we will work on,” Jackson said. “I simply want to improve on what they are trying to do. I want to work on their good points and give them longevity. For me it’s about hard training and hard work. I get them to where they need to be.”

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com