Matt Hamill’s tough, I tried to knock him out,” said Jackson, who claimed to have entered the bout with a fractured hand. “I did what I had to do, I scraped out the W.”
Scores were 30–27 across the board for Jackson.
Hamill fired off kicks to the head and legs before shooting for his first takedown, but Jackson pushed him off and fired a flurry in return. Hamill showed no trepidation about standing in the pocket with his hard-hitting foe, which was made easier because Jackson wasn’t being particularly busy outside of a quick uppercut that just missed the mark but still jarred Hamill. Hamill’s leg kicks kept him on the scoreboard, but whenever he got too aggressive, Jackson would fire off a few shots to keep the Ohio native honest. With 90 seconds left, Jackson began to increase his punch output, and he began adding knees to his arsenal to avoid takedowns. With 30 seconds left, Hamill’s legs looked to be unsteady, and Jackson sensed it, finishing the round strong and bloodying his opponent’s mouth.
Hamill wasn’t the only one showing the scars of battle, as Jackson was treated between rounds for a cut over his right eye. As the second frame began, Jackson stayed busy with his strikes while still not allowing Hamill to take the bout to the mat. In fact, he made it a point to punish his foe every time a takedown came up empty. But as Hamill eased off the gas pedal, so did Jackson, leading to a series of boos from the crowd. With under a minute remaining in the round, Jackson appeared to rock Hamill momentarily, and again he left his foe with plenty to think about between rounds.
A superman punch began the final round for Hamill, but barely produced an eye blink from Jackson, who again peppered his opponent and then rejected a takedown attempt with a knee to the body. The pace slowed again, as Jackson looked to counter and Hamill’s offense stalled. As the three minute mark approached, Jackson picked up his work rate briefly, and Hamill gamely fired back, but then the action dipped and brought the boo birds out again. With 20 seconds left, Jackson made a last ditch effort to finish, but it was not to be, and the crowd wasn’t happy about it.
With the win, Jackson ups his record to 32–8; Hamill falls to 11–3.
