Hudson returns to past promise

When Jacob Hudson reached his corner after the first round of his Sept. 2000 fight, the North Augusta native was in agony.

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He couldn't breathe, he had no mobility, his power was gone.

It had nothing to do with his opponent. Instead, the cause of his discomfort was his own broken-down body.

"From then on, I had to fight the rest of the fight off nothing but pure guts and heart," Hudson said.

That was more than two years ago. That was before he had two cracked vertebrae fused together with part of his hip bone and four pins. That was before the spurs in his elbow required three surgeries, before the hellish pain - physical and psychological - wracked his body and mind during rehabilitation.

For Hudson, today is a celebration. When he headlines a seven-bout card at Club Malibu at 7 p.m. by fighting Bruce Smith, he'll breathe again. His mobility and power will have returned.

His life - all he was meant to do - will have meaning again.

"This is what I know," said Hudson, who will enter the ring at about 135 pounds. "It's what I've been doing all my life. I feel I was born to box."

It almost ended for Hudson during that Sept. 2000 bout when the pain in his back became almost unbearable.

A loss at that point in his career - after more than 300 amateur fights, he was boxing just his fifth professional bout - would have been devastating. Hudson wasn't having any of it.

"I had no stop in me," said Hudson, who fought last September for the first time in two years. "To lose in my pro career, I don't want that. I can't have it. I'm going out with everything."

After the fight, Hudson - who's 6-0 with four knockouts - was to face an even tougher opponent: his body.

Hudson - who had gained 25 pounds - underwent back surgery, and after he recovered, he focused on restoring his elbow and his confidence.

"It was a slow process to get him to come back," said trainer Pat Burns, who, along with Mark Vaz, also trains middleweight prospect Jermaine Taylor and lightweight contender Lamar Murphy. "He's not as sharp as I want him to be yet. But in two or three fights, he should be doing real well."

Hudson has bigger plans. In the next six months, he and Burns want to start fighting 10-round bouts, and in the next year-and-a-half, they plan to be ranked in the top-10.

"He needs a fight like (tonight's) for confidence," Burns said. "When you have a racehorse, you don't want to leave him in the barn."

The duo's positive attitude is understandable.

After all, Hudson is used to fighting the world's best. In Burns' Miami gym, he spars with Murphy on a regular basis.

In 1996, he performed well against Floyd Mayweather - considered, by many, to be the top lightweight in the world - and knocked him down while they sparred in preparation for the 1996 Olympic Trials.

He dominated current lightweight prospect Nate Campbell and beat him 24-2 when they were amateurs.

All of it leads George Peterson, the promoter of tonight's card, to one conclusion.

"He's one of the best prospects to come out of Augusta since Vernon Forrest," he said. "He's been outstanding for a long, long time."

Reach Josh Katzowitz at (706) 823-3216 or josh.katzowitz@augustachronicle.com.