Best I’ve Faced: Julian Jackson

Hopkins?.. I think he is THE mw champ post hagler Depends on your criteria on how you rate fighters. Hopkins defended his title 20x (one of which was a NC to Allen), but out of those 20 defense, only Trinidad was considered a contemporary great. In fact if you look at the top 5 MW fights Bernard fought in: Roy Jones, Felix Trindiad, Jermain Taylor 2x, Keith Holmes - he lost 3 of them, two of those clearly. As for the rest, he fought good MW's, but not great. Judging how Bernard looked in his first fights with Allen & Echols, I think he would've took some L's had he fought in the generation before him (Nunn, McCallum, Toney, Kalambay). I rate McCallum, Toney, and Nunn all well ahead of Bernard, because they all had multiple wins over serious talent at MW. Toney beat a peak Nunn, Reggie Johnson, and McCallum (with a draw) McCallum beat Graham, Watson, Kalambay (traveled to Europe to do it), Collins (in Boston), and the draw with Toney. Nunn beat Kalambay, Tate, Barkley (a prime version), and Curry.

Agree completely. My biggest issue with McLellan was he fell in love with his power and just abandoned his defense. I almost wish McLellan had some slick defense...but he didn't. at all. well, mcclellan could box. all kronk fighters could box and i dont think you could win a decision over RJJ in the amateurs without being able to box. slick may not be the way to describe him but to say he didnt have any defense at all is insane. like you say he would abandon it at times, but not against jackson. JJ clipped him in the very first round and gerald was very respectful of his power after that, showing some damn good defense as a result. im still somewhat surprised he picked gerald for defense. how about graham? i mean jackson couldnt touch him until he damn near killed him. i guess its hard to say someone had this great defense when you knocked him out cold for 5 minutes. mccallum is quite evidently the best defensive fighter he faced, but the way that fight went mike didnt really show his defensive prowess much. so i can somewhat understand jackson overlooking him.

Thought he was going to say Mike McCallum how he was bigging him up? But I thought he also might mention Herol Graham as being the best at something but no. Wow Nigel Benn beat McCellan he should be proud of that victory, but also sad because of the outcome obviously.

I love the Best I Faced column. There's always a lot of interesting information to be learned.

Biggest srprise for me was McClellan as best defence Me too,,, I was like wtf,, would have never guessed that After Hagler, I don't think there's been an as accomplished MW as McCallum, maybe Toney (just because he beat Mike convincingly in the rematch and had the upset over Nunn). Personally I rate Julian as the 11th best MW in the post-Hagler era. Had a good run there, which is more impressive given he was a small (skinny) MW. Hopkins?.. I think he is THE mw champ post hagler McCallum>McClellan Yeah, totally agree

McCallum>McClellan

Pretty cool. When I hear Knock you dead type of punching power, The Hawk rates.

P4P the hardest hitter of all times. I was watching some fights of JJ last night, that KO against Herol Graham was pure sickening.

Cool interview on the Hawk.

After Hagler, I don't think there's been an as accomplished MW as McCallum, maybe Toney (just because he beat Mike convincingly in the rematch and had the upset over Nunn). Personally I rate Julian as the 11th best MW in the post-Hagler era. Had a good run there, which is more impressive given he was a small (skinny) MW.

Wonder what Julian thought of my friend fro Dallas Quincy Taylor ?? He stopped Julian to take the WBC title. Then Don King Carl King Richard Steele conspired to rob Quincy of the title With Keith Holmes. That stop I agree Taylor Holmes BS stoppage by Steele

Wonder what Julian thought of my friend fro Dallas Quincy Taylor ?? He stopped Julian to take the WBC title. Then Don King Carl King Richard Steele conspired to rob Quincy of the title With Keith Holmes. That stop[age was pure robbery

Good read. Where did you get this from? The Ring mag do them. go to ring tv .com they have heaps on there.

McClellan with out a doubt was a talent... I would have to say was given a gift and squandered those gifts. Unfortunately his career was ended shortly but I do have fond memories of his ability and power

Good read. Where did you get this from?

Biggest srprise for me was McClellan as best defence

Best Skills – Mike McCallum – he was very seasoned. At that time he was the most experienced boxer that I had met. He was already a champion. I felt he was also very technical. He had all the tools as a boxer and I felt I had the power to knock him out but it turned out to be the opposite. Best Jab – McCallum – When I look back I would say Mike McCallum probably had one of the best jabs. He was tall; his height had a lot to do with his jab. I guess his timing and his experience, all of that played with that scenario. Best Defense – Gerald McClellan – In my first fight with Gerald McClellan I didn’t get to hit him like I really wanted to. I was getting to him but somehow my punches weren’t landing clean enough. He was always able to defend and move. His defense was fairly strong and instead of me getting the knockout, which I really believe I would have, I got caught from him and I was the one who got knocked out. Best Chin – Thomas Tate – I can’t say it was Mike McCallum or Gerald McClellan. I fought this guy in Las Vegas, Thomas Tate. As a matter of fact, I remember the referee, Richard Steele, I literally heard him tell the guy to move because it seemed as though he was giving up. I was not able to end the fight and he was able to survive but I did knock him down but he got back up and we went the distance. There was a guy I fought in a very cold place but I can’t remember his name. I don’t know if the fight was recorded but I remember fighting this white guy and I hit him with the sink and he wouldn’t go down. Best Puncher – McClellan – Definitely Gerald McClellan. He was a natural puncher like myself. I knew it and he knew it. I said the one who gets hit first is gonna go down and I guess I was the one that got hit first (laughs). Fastest Hands – Terry Norris – Terry Norris was naturally quick. Harold Graham was fast but Terry Norris was naturally quick. It was amazing. It seemed as though he was gonna throw one jab and the next thing you know you’re getting hit by two or three jabs. His hand speed to me was the best. My timing was the key to combat his speed. I wasn’t as fast, I was quick, but I wasn’t as fast, my timing was the key, putting on the pressure to combat that speed. Fastest Feet – Norris – I believe hand and foot speed is something that comes as a package. I would say Terry Norris. His hand speed had to match his foot speed and he had good footwork as well. Smartest – McCallum – He knew he was in a fight and I had a puncher’s chance and he was afraid of me ‘cause just the way he was fighting and what he did in the fight to try to stop me from knocking (him) out. He thumbed me. I got about two or three low blows the referee didn’t see. You might say that’s not smart it’s dirty but he was able to throw me off my game plan because of that. I was really upset because of that. Strongest – Francisco De Jesus – I hit this guy with punches, even though I stopped him, it was amazing the strength this kid had. He just had power and I could feel the brute strength of this kid. He was stronger than McClellan or McCallum as far as what I felt in that fight. You can be strong, even though McClellan was a very strong puncher his strength may not have been as strong as this guy. When we clinched I could literally feel his power and I was like “woo.” Best Overall – McClellan – I would say Gerald McClellan had tremendous talent, he had speed, power, especially power, he could box and I feel overall Gerald McClellan was the best fighter I faced. Who are you ? Iceman ?

Everyone who faced JJ would say he was the hardest puncher they ever faced. Gifted by God himself to have power that unbelievably supernatural.