Howard Jackson, a very talented champion

Introduction :

Howard Jackson, 5'5'', 145 lbs, was born in 1951, in a poor family of the USA, and very quickly becomes an orphan. He practices Tang Soo Do. He joins the Marines and trains with Chuck Norris and Bob Wall's team.

Traditional Karate :

1973 : US Open Professional. Ocean City. Jeff Smith beats Howard Jackson 7-6, in the finals. Video of the fight : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOjqz2SWdls

Jackson wins the Top Ten Grand Champion, in St. Louis in 1973, beating Johnny Lee for the Grand Champion. He twice wins the Grand Champion of the Battle of Atlanta, in 1973 and 1974. In 1973, Jackson beats Glenn Keeney and Bill Wallace, in the semi-finals and Jeff Smith in the finals. In 1974, Howard Jackson beats Fred Wren 8-5 and Jeff Smith by 4-3. In the final, he beats Mike Warren.

Atlanta, 1973. Jackson, on the canvas, beats Jeff Smith.

In 1974, he wins the US Championships in Dallas, beating Larry Carnahan and Fred Wren.

In July 1974, he loses against Gordon Franks at the Top Ten Nationals. During that match, Howard Jackson is already suffering from a knee injury, suffered during the Rocky Mountain Championships, after rolling on an waste, during a match.

Professional Karate :

In 1974, at the United States Professional Championships in Dallas, Howard Jackson beats Larry Carnahan.

During the tour of the USA team in Europe, to select opponents for Los Angeles, Howard Jackson beats Frank Knittel by 4/0, in Berlin, in May 1974.

Semi-contact or points-karate :

We do not know anything of his career in this sport, few distinct from other at the time. Here is the link to a fight, certainly in semi-contact, disputed by Howard Jackson. Http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=YWv03e99IxM

Full-contact :

During the first full-contact World Championships, on Sept. 14th 1974, in Los Angeles, Howard Jackson is announced as the big favourite in his category, the lightweights. His opponent in the semi-final is Ramon Smith, 22 years old, of the Dominican Republic. He is hired two weeks before the championships, to replace Jose Luis Olivares, Mexico. The latter is a practitioner of Taekwondo. With Ramiro Guzman and Isaias Duenas, he wins the team bronze medal, at the first World Championships, in Seoul, in 1973.

Ramon Smith also practices Taekwondo, but his name does not appear among those of the medallists, at any World Championships.

Howard Jackson is still injured with his knee. He loses on points against Ramon Smith, in 3 rounds. Throughout the match, the two opponents are trying to put themselves to the ground.

Howard Jackson (left) against Ramon Smith

After a return to the competition in 1976 with a points victory over Sam Montgomery, Howard Jackson beats Ricci Wynn, kenpo, in Hawaii. In the first round, Wynn sent Jackson through the ropes. At the end of the round, Jackson connected with a left hook that knocked Wynn out.

Howard Jackson loses by tko in the 4th, against Benny Urquidez, in the lightweights, in Las Vegas, on 04.23.1977. Short video : http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDYP1qPJ1M.

Howard Jackson beats also Ricci Wynn, Miguel Saunders, Sam Montgomery, Ray McCallum, Jerry Galarza, Tabata and Toshio Arima. He becomes the no 1 challenger, for the WKA and the PKA.

In 1979, Howard Jackson beats on points Richard Jackson.

In 1980, Howard Jackson wins the WKA World Champion title, in the welterweights, beating the Japanese Yoshimitsu Tamashiro, on points, in Las Vegas.

Kick-Boxing :

In 1981, he beats Miyaso Chiba and becomes WKA Kick-Boxing World Champion, in the light middleweights.

He also fights against Toshio Tabata, Arima and Ozaki, without further specification.

Howard Jackson (left), during a match kick-boxing

On 04.21.1984, Jackson meets the Dutch Andre Brilleman and loses his WKA full-contact title on points in 12 rounds. At this time, Jackson is unbeaten since 4 years. Http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7269965542845058107.

Jackson is sent to the canvas in the 1st round, after a hook from his opponent, and in the 2nd, after a low-kick.

Andre Brilleman, practicing kick-boxing in the Mejiro Gym, is part of the drugs market and is assassinated in 1985.

Howard Jackson as a record with 23 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw, and 12 ko, according to the Ok's Full Contact Report 1984.

Boxing :

Howard Jackson also practices boxing, with a record of 15 wins (8 kos), 12 losses and 3 draws, from 1977 to 1982, according to boxrec.

One of his opponents, Pete Ranzany, is well known. Jackson loses against him by ko in the 8th. Ranzany disputes and loses, meanwhile, fights against the future or former World Champions, Pipino Cuevas, Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benitez and Milton McCrory.

Howard Jackson boxer (left)

Howard Jackson disputes the title of Nevada Champion, in the welterweights, in 1979. He beats Jimmy Jackson, on points, after 12 rounds, before losing the title on points, also after 12 rounds.

Once, he was ranked No. 6 in the WBA rankings, for the welterweights.

Conclusions :

With his very fast execution, Howard Jackson could beat opponents larger and heavier than him. Many excerpts from his fighting are available at : http://www.howardjackson.net/

He was announced as having won major titles (except World Champion Title), both in karate, semi-contact, full-contact and kick-boxing.