Obviously both of them played to their strengths of granite jaws, silky skills and worked around their weaknesses of making Maxie Rosenbloom look like Gerald McClellan but I think Jackson was better and greater.
Very close IMO. To me I always thought that Rosario and Jackson were similar fighters in terms of style. Both seek and destroy boxer-punchers with scary power, and also sneaky counter punchers. I think another fighter I would add that had similar characteristics is Rafael Marquez. Rosario has wins over Ramirez, Viruet, Davis Jr, Randall, Bramble, Jones, Garza Jackson has wins over Norris, Graham, Drayton, Tate, Milton, In-Chul Might have to pick Rosario. He was more skilled technically and had more potential to be greater had it not been for his drug use and inconsistency.
It should be Rosario, but I just don’t feel right about it. I don’t see Jackson coming off second best in slugging wars to a Jose Luis Ramirez level fighter in the heart of his prime. That could simply be down to underrating Ramirez, of course. But I think Jackson just had more killer instinct. Both were vulnerable due to their somewhat shaky chins, but Rosario’s poise might’ve actually hurt him in this comparison. He was more likely to shell up when hurt. Jackson was more likely to lash out. That fundamental difference in mindset made Jackson more consistently dangerous, in my opinion.
Jackson skills are a bit underrated imo. He absolutely annihilated a good solid figjter in Drayton, and it wasnt only because of his power
Agreed. Drayton was really durable, too. Just went the full 15 with Matthew Hilton prior to Jackson turning him into the victim of my all time favorite KO. Jackson had strong technique and kept things tight in combination. Precise puncher, too.
It was actually In Chul Baek that was the more impressive Jackson performance. Baek was better than Drayton and would go on to win a belt at 168. Jackson destroyed him, and really showed all his skills in that fight.
After putting a lot of thought into this, I think I'd give the edge to Rosario on both counts. Not only do I think he was a more skilled and talented fighter, but I think he came away basically as accomplished as Jackson in his career while competing against consistently better opposition IMO. And for whatever it's worth, I also think he performed better in losses than Jackson - whereas Jackson primarily seemed to be an "I take you out or you take me out" kind of fighter, Rosario showed he could compete on even terms over the distance with as talented a boxer as Camacho and also showed surprising durability in withstanding an extended beating from Chavez.
I don't think there's really a wrong answer either way. I would agree, I think everyone would agree, that Rosario was a better talent. But it does count for something that Jackson had greater intangibles - more heart, and mental toughness than Chapo. It's hard to imagine, but if they were the same natural size, I would pick Jackson to survive getting hurt early to blast Chapo out by the mid rounds.
