Virgin Islands professional boxer John Jackson, the son of former WBA light middleweight and two-time WBC middleweight champion Julius Jackson, scored a decisive and important win on Sunday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, bringing Jackson’s record to 20-2.
The unanimous decision was against Dennis Laurente of Manila, Philippines in the opener of a two-match super welterweight tournament. All three judges scored it 100-89.
Jackson, with his father in his corner, knocked down Laurente in the third round with an upper cut to the chin and countered Laurente’s speed by landing hard, mostly right-hand punches.
The St. Thomas native delivered hard hits to Laurente’s face in the eighth and ninth and had Laurente hurt in the 10th.
“I had to stay focused,” said Jackson, whose 20-2 record includes 15 knockouts. “I could have gone in for the kill and gotten overtired, but I stuck to the game plan.”
Laurente fell to 49-6 (30 KOs).
Jackson will face Jorge Cota of Mexico on an undetermined date. Cota upset 2004 Olympic silver medalist Yudel Jhonson in a unanimous 10-round decision.
Jackson’s win came as part of Premier Boxing Champions’ card before an announced sellout crowd of 500. The PBC match-ups were aired live on Bounce TV, an event created to showcase boxing’s “future stars and potential champions,” according to an article on Bounce TV’s website.
Feature Image:Â Super welterweight John Jackson, left, scored a unanimous decision against Dennis Laurente on Sunday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park.
Image Credit: Suzanne Teresa/PBC
Tags: boxing, Dennis Laurente, john jackson, st thomas usvi, usvi
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