March 29, 2009 — Virgin Islanders who turned out for Friday night's Boxing in Paradise II got to see all the fighters from the Jackson camp maintain their undefeated records.
The night started out with some great amateur bouts, leading up to the first professional fight of the night, between V.I. Olympian Julius Jackson and William "Little Bear" Ganes out of North Carolina. Two punches and 34 seconds later, Little Bear was on the mat and the territory had its first win of the night. Jackson improved his record to 2-0, while Ganes fell to 3-9.
Next up was Jackson's cousin, Samuel Rogers, taking on Mike "The Businessman" Thomas, making his professional debut out of Atlanta. This fight was the complete opposite of the first, going the complete four rounds. Rogers and Thomas seemed to be more evenly matched, trading shots for most of the fight. But it was Rogers who prevailed in the judges' unanimous decision of 40:36, 39:37, 39:37. While disappointed in the way he fought, Rogers was still happy to get the win.
The third fight of the evening had Aruba's Evan Nedd — who now trains with the Jackson camp in the Virgin Islands — taking on Florida's Reggie "The Regulator" Pena. The two had mixed it up at the weigh-in the day before.
"He has a mouth," Nedd said of Pena. "I like that — I have a mouth, too. But the difference is I'm actually going to go in there and shut him up."
Nedd, wearing fuzzy black-and-white shorts and entering the UVI Sports and Fitness Center to the theme from "Rocky," came into the ring Friday night very confident.
The tension between the two was evident as they touched gloves to start the fight. But this fight turned out to be pretty even, as Pena the southpaw traded blows with Nedd for four straight rounds. The two were going at it so intensely during the first three it was clear that both fighters had nothing left in the tank in the fourth round.
The first judge called it a draw, while the second ruled 39:37. The final judge ruled 40:36, giving Nedd the win.
"I really wanted to go in there and shut him up, so I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to do that," Nedd said after. "But I'm happy with the win."
The last member of the Jackson camp to fight was John Jackson, taking on newcomer Steve Grove out of York, S.C. Grove seemed to be an even match for John Jackson, but 1:28 later John dropped Grove to the mat after a solid shot to the gut, which appeared to knock the wind out of him. Grove tried to beat the 10 count, and even got to his feet, but the ref still called the fight off.
The night's card also featured a six-round bout between California's Fernando Quintero and Alberto Amaro out of Puerto Rico. The judges' unanimous decision had Quintero as the winner, 58:56, 60:54 and 59:56.
The final face-off, a WBA FEDELATIN welterweight bout, saw reigning champ Hector Saldivia keep his title after knocking down Indonesia's Daudy Bahari in just 52 seconds.
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