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DOING JUST ENOUGH:
JACKSON BY U.D. IN YOKOHAMA
Monday 1 April 2002
Australia's #6 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament Peter Jackson improved his record to 3-0(1) today with a workmanlike six round unanimous decision victory against Germany's Heinz Neuhaus.
Jackson was always in control against an active opponent, showing once again that he is blessed with some impressive defensive skills. The Aussie landed 148 of 242 punches (61%), while Neuhaus could only connect with 87 of 330 (26%).
Following the tougher nature of his two opening bouts, the relative ease of tonight's contest was a welcome relief for Jackson. Each judge scored the bout 59-55 for Jackson.
"He was throwing a lot of punches, but I was really seeing them well," Jackson said. "Maybe he was too predictable, I'm not sure, but I felt like I knew what he was going to do, two and three punches in advance."
The Australian received enthusiastic support from the Pacifico Yokohama arena audience. He is one of the most (if not the most) popular of all the HBF's boxers amongst the Japanese, and they came up with a number of inventive chants during the bout.
Overall, it was an unspectacular performance from the #6 seed, although most of that was due to the swarming style of his opponent.
"It's difficult to look good against a guy like Heinz," said Jackson. "He was very aggressive and even though I didn't have too much trouble avoiding his shots, he was throwing a lot of them, so I didn't have as much time to put together some strong combos. But I'll take it, man. It's another win, not a loss, and that's the most important thing."
Although the HBF has employed a policy to have their top contenders fighting where they are most popular, they also realise that exposing the "International" contenders to the American public is very important. It's almost certain that Jackson's Group Six will fight their next series of bouts in America, before another Australian fight card during series five.
(Coming up ... The Yokohama Undercard)
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