Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, junior middleweight dynamo John “Dah Rock” Jackson (18-2, 15 KOs) will return to action on Saturday, November 15, 2014, at the Quorum Córdoba Hotel in Cordoba, Argentina, against hometown veteran Carlos Adan “El Malevo” Jerez (40-17-3, 18 KOs).
Presented by Sampson Boxing, Maravillabox, Tello-Box and J.E.B. Boxing, Jackson vs. Jerez will serve as one of the main supporting bouts for a night of boxing headlined by Carolina Marcela Gutierrez (22-4-1, 13 KOs) taking on Yulihan Luna Avila (11-2, 1 KO) for the vacant IBF World female super bantamweight title.
25-year-old Jackson says his fight against Jerez will serve two purposes: First, Jerez was the first fighter to pin a loss on his cousin, Samuel Rogers and so some family-style revenge is on the menu.
Secondly, this will be Jackson’s first fight since his shock KO loss to Ireland’s Andy Lee last June at Madison Square Garden. Fighting on the PPV-broadcast undercard of Martinez vs. Cotto, Jackson dominated every minute of the first four rounds against the highly rated Lee before running into perfectly timed right hand at 1:07 of round five. Jackson had put Lee down in round one and battered him around the ring non-stop, but got careless against the dangerous puncher as he was moving in for the kill.
“John knows he got careless against Lee,” said Jackson’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz. “He knows what he did wrong and paid a heavy price for it. He was beating Andy Lee all over the ring and forgot about his defense. It’s something that will never happen again.”
Lewkowicz says Jackson is still young and will be able to recover from the surprise loss quickly.
“He’s a very strong, good young fighter and he learned a very important lesson against a fighter with a lot more experience. But before the lucky punch, it was apparent that John Jackson is a top fighter who can handle other highly rated contenders in his division very well. Once he gets his revenge for his cousin Samuel against Jerez, he will continue to rebuild by taking on tough foes to regain his position in the rankings. This is far from the last of John Jackson. It was just a learning experience on his way to the championship.”
