by David P. Greisman

A quick look at the record of Phil Jackson-Benson shows the kind of gaps in activity that no prospect would want, never mind a prospect who is already older than nearly all up-and-comers.

He is 30 years old, according to BoxRec (though he said he was 29 when he spoke with BoxingScene.com nine days after his birthday). He is 14-1 with 13 KOs, a career that began back in 2008. The lone loss came in his fourth fight, and he’s gone 11-0 with 10 KOs since then.

Yet there was a 21-month period between 2010 and 2012 in which he didn’t fight, and even his last appearance this past August came after an 11-month layoff.

“It’s been kind of slow. I had management problems and promoter problems and fighters just don’t want to fight,” he told BoxingScene.com on Sept. 20. “And I didn’t have no backing, so I had to go the long way, where you just have to fight anybody.

“A couple months ago I signed with Al Haymon. Being signed to Al Haymon now, it couldn’t come at a better time, ‘cause like you said, it’s been going slow. They’ve been promising me that it’s going to pick up. Hopefully it picks up. I’m not rushing anything. I’m still in my prime. I can’t wait to see what they’ve got for me.”

Jackson-Benson said on Sept. 20 that he was told he’d be fighting on Oct. 8 in Mississippi, which is the ESPN2 card featuring a main event of Sam Soliman vs. Jermain Taylor and which features a number of other Haymon-signed boxers.

Jackson-Benson fought at about 180 pounds in August but says he’s a super middleweight. The short notice won’t hurt him, he said.

“It’s short notice if you’re part-time boxing. But I do this every day. This is my job. It’s the only thing I do every day. I’m prepared physically and mentally. This is what I do, so I’m always prepared.”

Jackson-Benson, who hails from the Jamaica in the New York City borough of Queens as well as from Brooklyn, now fights out of Washington, D.C. He describes himself as a puncher, though he believes he’s added more skill and slickness since relocating to the Nation’s Capital.

He’s hoping to be back in his hometown on one of those Barclays Center cards someday.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com