In the first fight of Saturday night’s Showtime tripleheader, Jermell Charlo scored a huge stoppage win over John Jackson. He needed it, too, because he was losing the bout up to that point.
Jackson came out and immediately was looking to box and circle, and work off his back foot. It was a surprise, given his typical fighting style, as well as his family lineage, and it was an effective plan as he was building up a lead on the scorecards.
Then it all went wrong. Charlo apparently talked to the announcers about his belief in his own power, and they thought that was contributing to him losing the fight. But then it bailed him out.
He landed a monster shot that basically left Jackson kayoed, standing on his feet, Mortal Kombat style. In the post-fight interview, Jackson said he was trying to adjust his mouthpiece, but in real time, it just seemed like he was KTFO, but still up, and pawed at his eye where he was hit and hurt.
Either way, after the initial shot, and with Jackson unguarded, Charlo threw in another shot at full force which sent Jackson to a position suspended between the ropes. The ref wisely called off the contest, and luckily after the bout Jackson seemed to be fine, and was in fact quite gracious about the opportunity and what the sport is all about.
Charlo’s KO over Jackson is added to an increasingly long list this year of potential Knockout of the Year candidates.
