David Jaco

David Lee Jaco (born January 24, 1954[1]) is a retired heavyweight boxer. He spent his career as a journeyman, fighting boxers to build up their career records. He retired in 1994 with 24 wins (19 by knockout), 25 losses (18 by knockout), and 1 draw.[2] Although he lost bouts to Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Tommy Morrison, Carl Williams, Tony Tucker, Buster Douglas, Mike Weaver and Oliver McCall, he won bouts against the undefeated Donovan Ruddock, Rick "King Kong" Keller, and many more. [2]

David Jaco
Statistics
Real nameDavid Lee Jaco
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
NationalityAmerican
Born (1954-01-24) January 24, 1954
Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights50
Wins24
Wins by KO19
Losses25
Draws1

Jaco was once profiled on ABC's Prime Time Live as a "Palooka",[3] or someone who never refused a fight for the money.[4] Jaco later said, "I was a palooka, one of those guys who basically goes in there looking for a big payday. I made thousands when I fought, but I didn't consider myself a palooka. I was a decent fighter."[3]

Professional career

After winning a local amateur Toughman competition, Jaco trained for a year to turn pro.[1] His first fight was on January 6, 1981, and he defeated Vic Wallace by knockout in four rounds.[1] He went on to win his next eleven fights before a 1983 first-round knockout defeat at the hands of future title contender Carl "The Truth" Williams.[1]

Jaco continued to fight journeymen like himself for the next several months and won five more fights before his next defeat, a unanimous decision against Carlos Hernandez.[1] Jaco was dominated in that fight, losing all ten rounds on one judge's scorecard, eight on a second, and seven on a third.[5]

Jaco's first high-profile victory came against a young Canadian fighter and future title contender Donovan Ruddock, whom he beat on April 30, 1985 under controversial circumstances when Ruddock's corner threw in the towel in the eighth round.[1] According to the media, Ruddock later was found to have a respiratory illness that almost ended his career, which may have contributed to breathing problems that caused his corner to stop the fight. Regardless, Jaco won the fight and gained more publicity to further promote himself to fight big time opponents.

The victory over Ruddock was the last Jaco would see until 1988 as he was beaten in his next nine fights, seven times by knockout. Among the fighters he took on were contender José Ribalta, future titleholders Tony Tucker, Buster Douglas, and Mike Tyson, and former champion Mike Weaver.[1]

Jaco's losing streak was finally broken on March 11, 1988, when he knocked out previously unbeaten Zambian Michael Simuwelu in the first round. Again, it would be his last victory for an extended period. Six defeats followed, including fights against future champion Oliver McCall, an on-the-comeback trail George Foreman, and Tommy Morrison.

After his loss to Morrison Jaco went unbeaten in his next five fights, winning four times and drawing against former contender David Bey. After defeating Danny Sutton in the last of those five fights, Jaco never won again. His retirement fight resulted in him getting knocked out by Bey.[1]

Former manager Richard Conti said "David fought on guts. That was his biggest strength. He was never the quickest or the strongest fighter. He took a lot of beatings, but he always gave everything he ever had."[1]

Personal life

Jaco was born in Oregon, Ohio,[4] and grew up in Toledo where he worked at Interlaken Steel after graduating from Clay High School.[3][4] He was laid off in 1979, to earn money for his wife and two young sons he entered into an amateur "Toughman" competition.[3] He was so successful that he quickly turned pro and won every fight until his first loss to Carl "The Truth" Williams in June 1983.[3]

In 1986, Jaco used the money he made fighting Tyson to move to Florida where his twin boys lived from his first marriage.[6] He remarried and had an additional four daughters: Kaleigh, Brittany, Madison, and Sydney—all of whom grew up to be athletes. Today he is an independent contractor, transporting workers' compensation recipients to their doctor appointments.[6] He published a memoir of his boxing experiences titled Spontaneous Palooka and Mr. Mom (2012).[3]

Jaco's two sons also boxed.[2] His son Aaron runs a boxing gym in Sarasota, Florida; Aaron's first appearance on ESPN was in a fight against Hilario Guzman in 2004.[7]

In 2003, it was reported that Jaco ran a youth boxing program at the Manatee County Police Athletic League.[1] In October 2005, Jaco was fired from the position after he was arrested in a McDonald's parking lot for possessing 30 grams of marijuana.[8] Jaco said "I know the harm in taking medication in pills and painkillers, so I took to smoking marijuana to ease my pain and help me sleep at night."[8] The program head Michael Polin said Jaco was an "excellent" boxing instructor.[8]

Professional boxing record
24 Wins (19 knockouts, 5 decisions), 25 Losses (18 knockouts, 7 decisions), 1 Draw
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 17-11-1 David "Hand Grenade" Bey TKO 8 17/09/1994 Macao, China
Loss 46-4 Adilson Rodrigues UD 10 31/07/1993 Sao Paulo, Brazil 89-99, 89-100, 89-99.
Loss 24-3 Melton Bowen TKO 2 29/01/1993 Columbia, South Carolina, United States WBFo Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:58 of the second round.
Loss 27-9 "Smokin" Bert Cooper UD 10 11/07/1992 Fort Myers, Florida, United States 89-100, 90-99, 91-99.
Loss 10-0 Alexander Zolkin PTS 10 12/06/1992 Columbus, Ohio, United States
Loss 18-2 Magne Havnå TKO 4 14/03/1992 Copenhagen, Denmark
Loss 18-2-2 Mike "The Bounty" Hunter TKO 3 14/02/1992 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 27-16 Danny "Smiley" Sutton TKO 3 16/10/1991 Bradenton, Florida, United States
Draw 17-8 David "Hand Grenade" Bey PTS 10 07/09/1991 Sarasota, Florida, United States
Win 11-2 Haakan "The Rock" Brock SD 6 11/06/1991 Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win 3-16-2 Greg Payne TKO 2 11/05/1991 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 13-34-2 Frankie Hines TKO 4 20/10/1990 Charleston, South Carolina, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:03 of the fourth round.
Loss 16-0 Tommy "The Duke" Morrison KO 1 19/09/1989 Jacksonville, Florida, United States Jaco knocked out at 0:37 of the first round.
Loss 19-0 Alex "The Destroyer" Stewart TKO 1 18/02/1989 Budapest, Hungary
Loss 58-2 "Big" George Foreman TKO 1 28/12/1988 Bakersfield, California, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:03 of the first round.
Loss 26-0 Gary Mason TKO 4 24/10/1988 Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the fourth round.
Loss 11-2 Oliver "The Atomic Bull" McCall UD 10 30/06/1988 Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States 92-97, 90-98, 91-98.
Loss 14-2-1 "Mighty" Mike Evans TKO 9 21/05/1988 Gary, Indiana, United States Midwest Heavyweight Title.
Win 17-0-1 Michael "Big Boy" Simuwelu KO 1 11/03/1988 Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Loss 28-2-2 Philipp Brown UD 10 20/02/1988 Trumbull, Connecticut, United States
Loss 28-13-1 Mike Weaver KO 2 29/07/1987 Yaounde, Cameroon
Loss 10-0 Johnny Du Plooy KO 2 22/11/1986 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Loss 17-3 Elijah "Phoenix Steel" Tillery KO 9 11/07/1986 Swan Lake, New York, United States
Loss 20-3-1 Jose "El Nino" Ribalta KO 5 13/05/1986 Bloomington, Minnesota, United States
Loss 21-3-1 James "Buster" Douglas UD 8 19/04/1986 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 15-0 "Iron" Mike Tyson TKO 1 11/01/1986 Albany, New York, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:16 of the first round.
Loss 28-0 Tony "TNT" Tucker TKO 3 19/10/1985 Monte Carlo, Monaco
Loss 12-1 Pierre Coetzer KO 6 08/07/1985 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Win 9-0-1 Donovan "Razor" Ruddock TKO 8 30/04/1985 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Loss 16-0 Dion "J.D." Simpson TKO 3 09/02/1985 Port Huron, Michigan, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the third round.
Win 14-8-1 Rick "King Kong" Kellar KO 3 09/01/1985 Saginaw, Michigan, United States
Loss 14-0 Carlos "Rocky" Hernandez UD 10 14/11/1984 New York City, United States 0-10, 2-8, 3-7.
Win 1-0 Cornelius Benson UD 8 24/10/1984 Saginaw, Michigan, United States 80-72, 80-70, 80-75.
Win 0-1 Ken Penn KO 1 21/09/1984 Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Win 7-26-1 Ron Draper KO 3 14/09/1984 Iowa, United States
Win -- Larry Landers KO 4 27/07/1984 Macon, Georgia, United States
Win 14-7-1 Rick "King Kong" Keller PTS 8 23/06/1984 Dubuque, Iowa, United States
Loss 10-0 Carl "The Truth" Williams TKO 1 30/06/1983 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win 1-13 Melvin "Dino" Hosey TKO 4 16/04/1983 Toledo, Ohio, United States
Win -- Jeff Burg TKO 1 05/03/1983 Bay City, Michigan, United States
Win 3-5 David Starkey TKO 3 12/02/1983 Lima, Ohio, United States
Win 2-5 Vernon Bridges PTS 8 19/08/1982 Bay City, Michigan, United States
Win 0-2 Harold Johnson KO 2 17/04/1982 Dayton, Ohio, United States
Win 1-2-1 Harold "Big Porky" Speakman KO 3 08/12/1981 Columbus, Ohio, United States
Win -- Doug Meiring KO 3 09/10/1981 Toledo, Ohio, United States
Win -- Otis Evans KO 2 08/08/1981 Pensacola, Florida, United States
Win 0-2 Vernon Bridges PTS 6 29/07/1981 Saginaw, Michigan, United States
Win 0-2 Stanley Dollison KO 1 20/06/1981 Findlay, Ohio, United States
Win 0-6 Hubert Adams KO 1 13/02/1981 Lima, Ohio, United States
Win 1-9 Vic Wallace KO 4 06/01/1981 Pontiac, Michigan, United States
gollark: Presumably via their alt on here, SoundOfSpouting.
gollark: It appears that palaiologos has in fact made the extremely obvious deduction that I am blatantly leaking many internal staff discussions here.
gollark: > what are we sulking about todayPalaiologistics.
gollark: * helper status
gollark: You realise that the entire server has something like 14 people who aren't us?

References
  1. Steven Ponall (June 22, 2003). "The Fights of His Life". The Bradenton Herald (Database: NewsBank Retrieved January 26, 2014).
  2. Graham, Tim (2005-06-09). "'Palooka' Jaco gained from suffering Tyson pain". ESPN.
  3. Mladinich, Robert (April 26, 2012). "Book Review: David Jaco, Spontaneous Palooka". Boxing.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  4. Monroe, Mark (August 12, 2011). "Oregon native has a story to tell". Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  5. "David Jaco - Boxer". Boxrec.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  6. Torre, Pablo (August 2, 2010). "life After Mike". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  7. Ryan Boyd (July 24, 2004). "Network Debut: Aaron Jaco, Whose Dad Fought 50 Pro Bouts, Gets First Televised Fight". The Bradenton Herald (Database: NewsBank Retrieved January 26, 2014).
  8. Roger Mooney (October 4, 2005). "Pot-Smoking PAL Boxer: I'm Sorry". The Bradenton Herald (Database: NewsBank Retrieved January 26, 2014).
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