Howard E. Jackson (June 27, 1951 – March 7, 2006) was a former World Kickboxing Champion (W.K.A), a World Muay Thai Champion (W.K.B.A), a world rated Karate point fighter, and a world rated boxing contender.

Biography

He was born in 1951 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, the oldest of four children; two brothers died violent deaths, and his parents died early as well, leaving only Howard and his sister Corliss. He began studying

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

in 1967, switching to

Tang Soo Do Tang Soo Do (Hangul: 당수도, Hanja: 唐手道 ) refers to a Korean martial art based on Karate and may include fighting principles from subak (as described in the Kwon Bup Chong Do), as well as northern Chinese martial arts. Before the Ni ...

soon after, and earning his black belt in 1970 from

Hwang Kee Hwang Kee (; ''Hwang Gi''; November 9, 1914 – July 14, 2002) was one of the most important and influential figures in the Korean martial arts.U.S. Soo Bahk Do (Tang Soo Do) Moo Duk Kwan Federation > History. URL accessed on February 11, 2010. ...

. According to

Paul Maslak Paul Maslak is an American independent movie producer, book author, newsstand magazine editor and kickboxing historian. Early life Paul Maslak was born in Washington, District of Columbia in the United States of America. He competed in high scho ...

in the November, 1984 issue of ''Official Karate Magazine'', Jackson originally received his black belt in

from Harold Williams. However, he later retested under

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championshi ...

. He began his point fighting career while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. His speed earned him the nickname "California Flash". In 1973 he won every major tournament on the karate circuit making him the sport's biggest money-winner on record at that time, as well as being the first African-American fighter to be ranked number one in the United States. He frequently trained with such individuals as

, Bob Wall, and

Pat E. Johnson Pat E. Johnson (born in 1939) is a 9th degree black belt in the art of American Tang Soo Do. He is the president of the National Tang Soo Do Congress, which was originally created by Chuck Norris in 1973. Johnson is famous for the martial ar ...

. Later, Joe Lewis was a great influence on his fighting style. In 1974, The California Flash, as Jackson was nicknamed, was invited to participate in the first PKA world Full-contact championship promoted by Mike Anderson and Don and Judy Quine. It was celebrated in The Los Angeles Arena on September 14. Jackson was one of four elite American fighters invited to the event, along with Jeff Smith, Bill Wallace, and Joe Lewis. Jackson, as well as his fellow Americans, was the overwhelming favorite in the Light-Weight division, where he fought Dominican Tae-Kwon-Do fighter, Ramón Smith, who had been invited to the tournament with a two-week notice as a replacement for Mexican José Luis Olivares. In what commentators labeled 'The Upset of the decade', Ramón Smith defeated Howard Jackson on points in a very explosive fight. This loss was singularly significant, since it prevented the Americans from winning all four categories. After the fight, Jackson alleged that he had gone into the fight with a hurt knee. Following a 1974 knee injury that sidelined him for two years, he returned in 1976, now as a full-contact fighter. In 1980 he won the WKA full-contact welterweight title, and would later become the sixth-ranked WBA boxer in his class. In kickboxing, Jackson defeated among others, Ricci Wynn, Miguel Sanders, Sam Montgomery, Ray McCallum, Jerry Galarza, Tabata, and Toshio Arima to become the 1980 number one world contender in both the WKA and the PKA. In March, 1980 on NBC-TV, Jackson defeated Japan's Yoshimitsu Tamashiro to win the WKA World Welterweight Championship. In 1981, Jackson went to Tokyo, Japan and knocked out Masayo Chiba to win the WKBA World Muay Thai Championship. In a non-title bout, Jackson decisioned Joe Marciano who was 12-1. On April 21, 1984, Jackson lost his WKA World Welterweight Title to Andre Brilleman by 12 round decision. Following his defeat, Jackson retired from competition with a 23-2-1 (12 knockouts) record, and worked as a bodyguard and personal trainer for Chuck Norris and as a bodyguard for

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, as well as doing seminars. He has appeared in a number of films and TV shows (often courtesy of Chuck Norris), both as an actor and as a fight coordinator and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

Personal

Howard Jackson had three children: Howard Jr., a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

with the

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

; Jeremy, a minor-league

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(Western Hockey League), and hip-hop artist; and Amber, a visual arts teacher.

Death

He was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in February 2002, and died March 7, 2006 at 11:36 am at the City of Hope hospital in

Duarte Duarte may refer to: * Duarte (surname), person's surname (or composed surname) and given name * Duarte, California, United States * Duarte Province, Dominican Republic * Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on th ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Filmography

Notes

External links

Howard Jackson's web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Howard 1951 births 2006 deaths American male kickboxers Kickboxers from California Kickboxers from Michigan Welterweight kickboxers American chun kuk do practitioners American male karateka American tang soo do practitioners Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people