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David Lee Jaco (born January 24, 1954) 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. 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.

Jaco was once profiled on ABC's Prime Time Live as a "Palooka", or someone who never refused a fight for the money. 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."

Professional career

After winning a local amateur Toughman competition, Jaco trained for a year to turn pro. His first fight was on January 6, 1981, and he defeated Vic Wallace by knockout in four rounds. 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.

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. Jaco was dominated in that fight, losing all ten rounds on one judge's scorecard, eight on a second, and seven on a third.

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. 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.

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.

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."

Personal life

Jaco was born in Oregon, Ohio, and grew up in Toledo where he worked at Interlaken Steel after graduating from Clay High School. He was laid off in 1979, to earn money for his wife and two young sons he entered into an amateur "Toughman" competition. 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.

In 1986, Jaco used the money he made fighting Tyson to move to Florida where his twin boys lived from his first marriage. 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. He published a memoir of his boxing experiences titled Spontaneous Palooka and Mr. Mom (2012).

Jaco's two sons also boxed. 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.

In 2003, it was reported that Jaco ran a youth boxing program at the Manatee County Police Athletic League. 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. 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." The program head Michael Polin said Jaco was an "excellent" boxing instructor.

Professional boxing record

24 Wins (19 knockouts, 5 decisions), 25 Losses (18 knockouts, 7 decisions), 1 Draw Archived 2015-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	24-25-1	David Bey	TKO	8	17/09/1994	Macao, China
Loss	24-24-1	Adílson Rodrigues	UD	10	31/07/1993	São Paulo, Brazil
Loss	24-23-1	Melton Bowen	TKO	2	29/01/1993	Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.	WBFo Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:58 of the second round.
Loss	24-22-1	Bert Cooper	UD	10	11/07/1992	Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
Loss	24–21–1	Alexander Zolkin	PTS	10	12/06/1992	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Loss	24–20–1	Magne Havnå	TKO	4	14/03/1992	Copenhagen, Denmark
Loss	24–19–1	Mike Hunter	TKO	3	14/02/1992	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	24–18–1	Danny Sutton	TKO	3	16/10/1991	Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Draw	23–18–1	David Bey	PTS	10	07/09/1991	Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Win	23–18	Haakan Brock	SD	6	11/06/1991	Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
Win	22–18	Greg Payne	TKO	2	11/05/1991	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Win	21–18	Frankie Hines	TKO	4	20/10/1990	Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:03 of the fourth round.
Loss	20–18	Tommy Morrison	KO	1	19/09/1989	Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.	Jaco knocked out at 0:37 of the first round.
Loss	20–17	Alex Stewart	TKO	1	18/02/1989	Budapest, Hungary
Loss	20–16	George Foreman	TKO	1	28/12/1988	Bakersfield, California, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:03 of the first round.
Loss	20–15	Gary Mason	TKO	4	24/10/1988	Windsor, England	Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the fourth round.
Loss	20–14	Oliver McCall	UD	10	30/06/1988	Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Loss	20–13	Mike Ronay Evans	TKO	9	21/05/1988	Gary, Indiana, U.S.	Midwest Heavyweight Title.
Win	20–12	Michael Simuwelu	KO	1	11/03/1988	Düsseldorf, Germany
Loss	19–12	Phil Brown	UD	10	20/02/1988	Trumbull, Connecticut, U.S.
Loss	19–11	Mike Weaver	KO	2	29/07/1987	Yaoundé, Cameroon
Loss	19–10	Johnny Du Plooy	KO	2	22/11/1986	Johannesburg, South Africa
Loss	19–9	Elijah Tillery	KO	9	11/07/1986	Swan Lake, New York, U.S.
Loss	19–8	Jose Ribalta	KO	5	13/05/1986	Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S.
Loss	19–7	Buster Douglas	UD	8	19/04/1986	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	19–6	Mike Tyson	TKO	1	11/01/1986	Albany, New York, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:16 of the first round.
Loss	19–5	Tony Tucker	TKO	3	19/10/1985	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Loss	19–4	Pierre Coetzer	KO	6	08/07/1985	Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	19–3	Donovan Ruddock	TKO	8	30/04/1985	Dartmouth, Canada
Loss	18–3	Dion Simpson	TKO	3	09/02/1985	Port Huron, Michigan, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the third round.
Win	18–2	Rick Kellar	KO	3	09/01/1985	Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Loss	17–2	Carlos Hernandez	UD	10	14/11/1984	New York City, New York, U.S.
Win	17–1	Cornelius Benson	UD	8	24/10/1984	Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Win	16–1	Ken Penn	KO	1	21/09/1984	Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Win	15–1	Ron Draper	KO	3	14/09/1984	Iowa, U.S.
Win	14–1	Larry Landers	KO	4	27/07/1984	Macon, Georgia, U.S.
Win	13–1	Rick Keller	PTS	8	23/06/1984	Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Loss	12–1	Carl Williams	TKO	1	30/06/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	12–0	Melvin Hosey	TKO	4	16/04/1983	Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Win	11–0	Jeff Burg	TKO	1	05/03/1983	Bay City, Michigan, U.S.
Win	10–0	David Starkey	TKO	3	12/02/1983	Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Win	9–0	Vernon Bridges	PTS	8	19/08/1982	Bay City, Michigan, U.S.
Win	8–0	Harold Johnson	KO	2	17/04/1982	Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Win	7–0	Harold Speakman	KO	3	08/12/1981	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Win	6–0	Doug Meiring	KO	3	09/10/1981	Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Win	5–0	Otis Evans	KO	2	08/08/1981	Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
Win	4–0	Vernon Bridges	PTS	6	29/07/1981	Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Win	3–0	Stanley Dollison	KO	1	20/06/1981	Findlay, Ohio, U.S.
Win	2–0	Hubert Adams	KO	1	13/02/1981	Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Win	1–0	Vic Wallace	KO	4	06/01/1981	Pontiac, Michigan, U.S.

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. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. 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. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
6. ^ Torre, Pablo (August 2, 2010). "life After Mike". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. 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).

External links

• Boxing record for David Jaco from BoxRec (registration required)

• 1954 births
• American male boxers
• Boxers from Ohio
• Heavyweight boxers
• Living people
• People from Oregon, Ohio
• Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio
• 20th-century American sportsmen