When it comes to the sport of boxing, I will always be grateful to the crew at Contender?s Gym in Hollywood, Florida for accepting me with open arms.
Before moving to Las Vegas in late 2009 I spent a few memorable years covering trainer John David Jackson and his unique stable of fighters, which then included the likes of former lightweight champion Nate Campbell, super-middleweight contender Allan Green, former champion Randall Bailey, and several other notables who came and went over the months.
A two-division champion during his fifteen-plus years as a professional, Jackson has a wealth of knowledge as both a trainer and a man who also witnessed his share of shady dealings during his days as a prizefighter. And while the Denver, Colorado native is far from outspoken, seeming to prefer the role of a fly on the wall at times, I have always paid attention whenever he has something to say about the sport because of his great insight.
On Friday, January 13th, Jackson could be found ringside at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas he intently watched the actions of one of his recent charges, Cuba?s Yordenis Ugas, as he pounded out an eight-round decision over Esteban Almaraz.
Jackson is the type of boxing figure that will always be able to find work because of his pedigree and Ugas and a handful of emerging talents are his latest projects.
After the team?s victory I spoke with Jackson to catch up on how exactly the scene in Florida has changed, got his thoughts on some of his former fighters, and took in what he had to say about his future as a trainer?
This is what Jackson had to share in the first part of our interview?
Working with Yordenis Ugas? ?Actually a friend of mine who co-manages him brought me to him about a year and a half ago. He had defected from Cuba and went to Mexico for a while and I guess he had to hang out there to get to American. But once he got here his people brought him to me because I had worked with the Cuban fighters in the past and we gel real well together.?
The landscape has changed? ?A lot of guys are no longer with me. [Allan] Green is gone. Nate [Campbell] isn?t really fighting much anymore. A couple of guys have gone their own way. Randall Bailey is still around, he?s going to fight for the world title, I believe sometime in April. I think they had a purse bid on it for him and Mike Jones. So, you know, most of the landscape has changed.?
The short-lived success of the promotional group The Heavyweight Factory? ?They died out, they?re done. They weren?t doing business properly in the first place and that hurt them. We a couple of local promoters back home that are trying to resurrect boxing. They?re doing a pretty decent job at it. Boxing isn?t dead in Florida but it?s on the down low right now, trying to make its way back to the top. The [Heavyweight Factory] gym operates every once in a blue moon, other than that it?s not open every day.?
Trying to work things out with unbeaten lightweight Hylon Williams Jr?. ?We?re trying to get it together. Him and I talk almost every day. He wants to work and I want to work with him. He?s a hell of a talent. He may be down [in Las Vegas] as of tomorrow. The Rigondeaux fight is next week and he?s been working with him. Instead of him staying home, he might come down here to work for a while. I don?t know if he?s going to stay here or what. I got other guys fighting and I have to head back home. I don?t know what?s going on, it?s kind of a mess. The kid?s working hard, I got to give it to him. He?s focused. It?s not an ideal training camp for him but I?ve seen him a few times and he?s doing what he has to do. Hopefully he can come across in a way in which he can win the fight in a real good manner to raise his marquee value.?
Witnessing Guillermo Rigondeaux train down in Highland? ?I went there one day. As a matter of fact I went to the gym, the Heavyweight Factory, that?s where they were at, in Highland. My kid Ugas was sparring with Ed Paredes back then. Rigondeaux can fight. I?m not going to talk bad about his trainer, but I didn?t see anything special about his workout. The kid can fight though and he?s special. That?s what makes him such a good talent, what he does, not so much what they?re showing him in the gym. He wasn?t shown a lot.?
The art of working with Cuban fighters? ?Like Ugas, who was a decorated amateur in the amateur boxing world. But as a pro, what he did wasn?t conducive to being a very good pro. So we had to sit him down and kind of slow his punches down. He was more like points type of scorer, because amateur boxing is all about points, no power, just points. So most of these world-class amateur fighters, that?s what they have, the points scoring. They?re not sitting down on their punches to hurt their opponent. And that?s what I want to do with Ugas, take him back and explain to him how the professional game is played. Now he?s doing a whole lot better.?
Disappointment in never seeing Allan Green win a championship? ?I?m the type of trainer, I fight for my fighters. And I fought for Allan. To see him not get to the top is disappointing, because I want to see every fighter that I train get a taste of that championship belt around his waist. Unfortunately for him, here was a guy with a ton of talent, who couldn?t do it for whatever reasons. He fell short on the big fights. To me, I always tell people, once he had that operation with his colon, he was never the same. I don?t care what he says or what anybody else says, he was never the same fighter. And that?s been, I guess, his biggest problem.?
Why he hopes that Nate Campbell will stay away from the sport? ?We still talk. He?s preaching, I would rather he do that. He still wants to fight again. They offered him a couple of fights but I told him “At this stage of your career, why become an opponent??. You might win the fight but you?re not going to win the fight. Why become an opponent for a few dollars? Because every time you lose a fight, your dollar value goes down. So, eventually they?re going to try to get him for next to nothing.?
The best memory from training Campbell? ?Ah man, listen here. The greatest was when he won the title down in Cancun against [Juan] Diaz. That was his dream and that was the greatest moment ever. There?s a lot of stories about Nate but that was the best. Because he had finally had his chance to realize his dream and become a world champion against the number-one lightweight in the world at the time.?
His daily grind at his personal facility, Contender?s Gym? ?I always kept that gym, even when I was the Heavyweight Factory because I knew one day I would end up going back there anyway. I get there about 9:30. And it depends who floats in, and the last guy I usually train is Kimbo Slice. I train him about 3:30 til about almost 5 O?clock or 5:30. Got some good fighters in there, got a couple of my Cuban kids, couple of my Russian guys will be in this weekend. I got a pretty nice stable of fighters that I?m still working with. Most of my talent is still young that I?m grooming to become world champs.?
Unbeaten welterweight Brad Solomon, the future of the sport? ?I got a kid, Brad Solomon. He?s having a managerial problem and his managerial contract, but I believe that should be up this week and he should be free and ready to go back to work. It has to be [frustrating], because here is a kid who will be world champion once he gets his shot at it. As long as the cards are stacked even, not in his favor but not against him heavily. As long as they are stacked even, he can become a world champion. There?s no doubt. He has to be frustrated, he sees all these guys fighting, he has to take a backseat and watch guys with lesser talent win world titles. At 147, trust me, he?d beat anybody at 147. Brad?s the future.?
