Julian Jackson KO4 Herol Graham

Considering that Julian Jackson was only a marginally popular fighter during his prime, it's all the more impressive that this fight, and this KO, have become almost mythical in boxing circles. It is easily one of the most fondly remembered and often discussed knockouts on the internet, and it has provided Jackson with at least some of the recognition that he mysteriously lacked while an active fighter.
Coming into this fight on November 24th, 1990 with a gaudy record of 41-1 (40), Jackson was a feared puncher but also a surprisingly under-appreciated one, considered to be both erratic (an earlier fight with little known Francisco De Jesus was tougher than expected before Jackson finished him in the 8th round) and more than a little bit sheltered by manager Don King. Despite having the scalp of a young Terry Norris on his record, Jackson found himself still paying the price for his second round TKO loss to Mike McCallum four years earlier. Writers also questioned the quality of his victories, considering them little more than King-sanctioned cannon fodder (Norris, it should be noted, had yet to gain his now legendary reputation for high-quality viciousness). After McCallum left the Junior Middleweight division, Jackson stepped up and took over, but many critics found this route unimpressive. An exciting fighter - sure, they said, but also one who was bound to be exposed whenever he faced a skillful boxer.
So when Jackson eventually decided to move up to the Middleweight division it was considered a major crapshoot. Two newcomers, James Toney and Roy Jones Jr. were already making waves at 160lbs. Chris Eubank had a title, but with a granite chin and a hard punch himself he was quite a risk, as was his fellow Brit Nigel Benn, a hard charging brawler who might easily walk into a Jackson punch and turn to jelly or who might well bludgeon the smaller Jackson out in one or two rounds, as he did with the gigantic Iran Barkley in 1990. McCallum was there for a possible rematch, but few thought the outcome would be different. British contender Herol Graham seemed a good but safe choice for Jackson to test the middleweight waters.
An awkward southpaw with a wide stance and lightening fast reflexes, Graham (who was 45-2 with 29 KO's at the time of the fight) was almost a stereotypical lefty. Lacking one-punch knockout power of his own (though he was by no means feather-fisted), he frustrated his opponents into near madness with his quick, in-and-out jabs and counter shots. And while his unusual stance made it look as if his balance was precarious at times, his footwork was in fact excellent. Don King, among others, surely thought that while Graham might outbox Jackson, he was unlikely to offer any physical danger.
And for the entire first round, Graham outboxed Jackson beautifully and methodically. Almost immediately after the opening bell Graham performed as expected, ripping off flurries of combinations, popping jabs and straight lefts into Jackson's face before easily ducking and dodging his much feared right crosses. Though Jackson was the one moving forward he was completely unable to find any rhythm at all, looking flatfooted and confused. In round two, however, it got worse.
Much worse.
Starting out no differently than round one had, Graham seemed cautious of Jackson's power yet fully in charge, and though his hands seemed dangerously low at times he nevertheless bobbed and weaved his way around the relatively few punches Jackson threw. And then, less than a minute into the round, Graham landed the punch that turned the fight into overdrive, a picture-perfect hybrid of left cross/uppercut that blasted Jackson's left eye, closing it instantly. Jackson backed off against the ropes, badly hurt, and Graham jumped on him.
Jackson had already experienced serious trouble with his right eye in the past, suffering a detatched retina. In fact, this fight with Graham took place in Spain because the British boxing commision refused to allow Jackson to fight in England due to the injury. Now, Jackson's other eye was closed so tightly he looked as if he were doing a Popeye impersonation.
Graham quickly became the essence of controlled aggression, pummeling Jackson from one side of the ring to the other. Every so often Jackson would fire off a scary looking right hand, but he hit nothing but air. Within seconds Jackson turned to a southpaw stance himself, desperate to have his left eye as far from Herol Graham's punches as possible. It did little good. Graham, looking like a power puncher himself, repeatedly backed Jackson against the ropes and unleashed shots with laser accuracy.
By the time the second round ended it was clear that Jackson was in serious trouble.
Round three became a nightmare for Jackson, the kind of one-sided beatdown he hadn't experienced since the closing moments of his loss to McCallum. Jackson, still fighting with his right hand in front of him and clearly not accustomed to throwing it as a hook, looked solemn as he swung at the air time and time again, finding nothing there. A minute and a half into the round Graham fired off a right-left combo directly onto Jackson's swollen eye that sent the American back on his heels, and once again Graham managed to push Jackson against the ropes and score at will. The boxer had become the aggressor, pursuing the knockout with the cold-blooded mentality of a killer. The puncher, on the other hand, had become little more than a heavy bag.
Jackson escaped the third round, but was blind in one eye, badly dazed and had offered up nothing that even remotely suggested he could continue successfully against the 'Bomber'. As had happened with McCallum four years before, it seemed as if Jackson was about to go down in flames against a technically superior opponent.
Before the fourth round began the ringside doctors spent an inordinately long time looking at Jackson's injuries. The commentators who were calling the fight for television stated that there was to be only one more round permitted before the fight was stopped and they went to the scorecards, which would have been a very moot point since Jackson had landed virtually no punches at all for the entire fight while being battered by Graham. This was as uncompetitive as a title fight could get.
Though Jackson was allowed to continue it was clear that the end was near, and again Herol Graham dominated the match. Though Jackson made a slight effort to bull-rush him and try and overpower Graham, he was met with still more flurries that he simply couldn't answer. Graham spun Jackson around at one point, sending him to the canvas on all fours. Though he got up, his body language was that of absolute bewilderment. He simply had no idea what to do. Graham continued on, landing quick shots from all angles, busting Jackson's eye every chance he got.
And then it happened - the moment that KO lovers know all too well.
After Graham tied Jackson up again, spinning him around once more, referee Joe Cortez seperated them. Graham then landed several more punishing blows and Jackson backed up against the corner ropes. Some have questioned Graham's choice to follow him there, but Graham had repeatedly walked right into Jackson's range for the entire fight with no consequences at all. They have also accused Graham of greedily seeking a knockout when he should have simply boxed until the round was over. But again, Jackson was so hurt and so seemingly out of it that any fighter with a killer instinct in them would have found wounded prey like this too tempting to ignore. Keep in mind that Graham was already part of a long line of Britain's 'loveable losers' - boxers who were very talented but always seemed to come up just a hair short when it came to world titles (Graham had, incidentally, also lost a title shot to McCallum previously). To take out the much feared Julian Jackson would have increased the value of his stock considerably. Jackson looked helpless and ready to go, and Graham was merely trying to send him there. He can't be blamed for that.
With approximately thrity seconds left in the round, half a minute away from being awarded the WBC Middleweight title, Herol Graham again walked into Jackson's range - and was hit with a counter right hand every bit as gruesome as the punch Marciano landed against Walcott, every ounce as devastating as the shot Lennox Lewis took out Hasim Rahman with in their 2002 rematch.
But those were heavyweights, you say. Yes, they were.
It was that kind of punch.
Jackson threw the shot purely by instinct, and the replay showed that it caught Graham very close to the tip of his chin. Had he kept his distance only slightly Graham might well have been able to pull away from Jackson's 'Hail Mary' swing.
But he didn't, and the sight of Graham's eyes rolling back into his skull, his unconscious body crashing to the canvas like a department store mannequin being pushed over, remains an image that no fight fan will soon forget. Chilling in the extreme, it has been the main piece of evidence for those who claim that Julian Jackson, pound for pound, was the greatest one-punch KO artist in boxing history. Seeing a boxer knocked out is a common sight: seeing a boxer knocked out the way so many of Jackson's opponents were knocked out is much more rare. 'The Hawk' had a unique gift for inflicting deep sleep on his opponents, and Graham was only the most memorable in a long, long line of victims.
Herol Graham would fight on for a while after this bout, but this was a close as he would ever come to the Middleweight championship, and one can only wonder if the pain of having the belt slip right out of your hands isn't far greater than the bruised jaw he felt the morning after.
You hear it said about a lot of fighters that they can 'change the fight with one punch'. Sometimes that's true, other times it's more hype than reality. Julian Jackson was an extremely exceptional breed - and one that, frankly, hasn't really been seen since. Perhaps Kelly Pavlik might turn out to be as special - we'll see. But for now, Jackson stands almost in his own catagory of KO artist, one who possessed a mind-numbing amount of destructive power in both hands, and carried with him one of the greatest right crosses ever to be found on a pugilist.
Jackson would fight on long past his better days, with his last truly competitive bout coming three years after Graham, when he took on the younger (and much bigger) Gerald McClellan. Though hurt almost immediately, Jackson would nail McClellan with a left hook that shook the challenger badly, and they'd trade massive shots back and forth for five rounds. In the end however Jackson succumbed to a vicious knockout that, ideally, should have led him to hang up the gloves.
While the career of Julian Jackson ended in less-than-stellar circumstances, the legacy of broken, battered, and unconscious victims he left at his feet will not only refuse to fade away from the public's memory, but will in fact - as this incredible fight shows all too well - merely grow more awe-inspiring with age.