Palooka: An incompetent or easily defeated athlete, especially a prize fighter.

In one sentence, Dave Jaco admits he was a boxing palooka. In the next, he wasn't.

Jaco, a 1973 Clay graduate who ended his pro boxing career with 55 fights, literally fought a who's-who of heavyweight boxers before he retired 17 years ago.

“I had a few doors open for me and people would call me on a day's notice (to fight),” said Jaco, 56, who now lives in Bradenton, Fla. “They called me on a Monday night and had me fight Tommy Morrison on a Tuesday night on ESPN. 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.”

Dave Jaco

Jaco said he was the first man to beat Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, in 1985, and that opened the doors for him to line up bouts with some of the best fighters in the world.

“I fought George Foreman on a six-day notice,” said the 6-foot-6 Jaco. “I was doing real good. He came at me real hard with a body shot and then he caught me on the spine. I went numb from the waist down. I went to a knee and asked the ref if he was going to call an illegal body shot. Then, I lost my head and I threw some combinations and I hit Foreman with three or four good shots. He got mad and came at me like a windmill. I felt like a ping pong ball. It's all in my book.”

Jaco's new book, called “Spontaneous Palooka and Mr. Mom: The Story Of A Man's Love For His Children And Prize Fighting,” was published by AA Printing out of Tampa, Fla.

“They did a beautiful job,” Jaco said. “With the introduction, the dedication and the table of contents, it's around 155 pages or so.”

The book recounts Jaco's life growing up in Oregon, having kids, getting divorced, losing his job and moving to Florida to raise his identical twin boys, Adam and Aaron, 34.

Adam, a super middleweight (168 pounds), and Aaron, a light heavyweight (178), still occasionally box. The brothers won a combined 11 Florida state AAU championships, according to Jaco, who has four daughters from his second marriage.

Jaco said it took him about two years to write the book.

“I've been to Europe five times and Africa three times,” he said. “I once fought in Nova Scotia, Canada, and I've been to Brazil. My last fight, I went to China in 1994 and fought David Bey. I've seen the world, but the only thing I never achieved was to make that big payday to take care of my family, to put it away for my family. It never happened.

“I thought, you know what, I'm going to write a book because I have a great boxing story. It's a triumph story. I never made a million bucks, but I'm living the good life. I have a nice home down here in Florida and my sons are running their own gyms. I started writing down things and it all started coming together for me. I wrote a beautiful book. I've had a couple people from movie studios telling me they loved the book. I have different people wanting to make a movie out of my book.”

Some of the fighters Jaco has stepped into the ring with include Tommy Morrison, Leon Spinks, Buster Douglas, Mike Weaver, Tony Tucker, Oliver McCall and Mike Tyson. Jaco said he fought Tyson in 1986, when the future heavyweight champ was 19 and Jaco was 31. Jaco lost via the three-knockdown rule in the first round.

“I made $5,000 fighting Tyson and then I went home to Toledo, fixed my car, got it cleaned up and jumped in that sucker and went down to Florida,” Jaco said. “I was divorced and my ex-wife had moved to Florida, and I came down to see if my boys were going to be raised right.

“By 1988 I got full custody of my sons. That chapter's called 'Time to Keep a Promise.' I was always a good father to my kids. I had good parents and I wanted to make sure my boys were raised right. I raised my kids in Siesta Key and I was probably the poorest guy living on Siesta Key. We stayed there for eight years and I met my new wife (Wynna) there. We'll be married 19 years in September.”

As a professional fighter, Jaco had 24 wins (19 by knockout), 25 losses (18 by knockout), and one draw. Many of Jaco's fights can be seen on YouTube, including bouts with Tyson, Morrison, and the win over Razor Ruddock.

Jaco will be in Toledo for a book signing at Ralphie's on Navarre Ave. Jaco will sign copies of his book on Saturday, Aug. 13 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed