Boxing: Gunnar Jackson in drawn result against Shay Brock

Tauranga's Gunnar Jackson had his 40th pro bout on Friday night. PHOTO/FILE

Tauranga boxer Gunnar Jackson showed all of his technical skill and array of punches in Friday night's bout against highly touted 25-year-old middleweight Shay Brock.

But despite looking in charge for a big part of the eight-round bout, shown live on Sky TV, the decision from the three judges was a majority draw.

Jackson will rue not making more of his total dominance in round seven when he rocked Brock with a succession of heavy left hooks, but not for the first time in his long career he lacked the knockout punch.

It was Jackson's 40th pro bout and there was much to like about how he took the fight to his younger, aggressive opponent who looked decidedly sheepish when the decision was announced in the ring.

As is often the case in boxing, the television camera angle only gives a narrow view of the points scoring going on as the judges clearly saw much more from Brock than was evident on screen.

Jackson's trainer and owner of TGA Box, Chris Walker, thought his man had won but had few complaints with the judges' decision. Between rounds he could be heard ringside imploring Jackson to up the intensity and throw more punches.

"I actually thought Gunnar was a little off the mark to be totally fair. I think it was a close fight. The rounds Gunnar won, he won clearly and all the other rounds were close. A lot of people thought it went Gunnar's way and I think I saw it that way too that he did enough to nudge it but it was a relatively close fight," Walker said.

"Obviously the judges saw it that way. Gunnar came on strong in the last part of the fight. In the first part of the fight I thought it was relatively even and the last part Gunnar won a lot of the later rounds."

The excellent commentary team of former champions Mike Angove and Monty Betham were full of praise for Jackson over his long career but wondered what might have been had he a knockout punch.

Walker agreed with those sentiments but said Jackson had other qualities that made him such a respected fighter over the years.

"Gunnar has always been a very durable fighter and can go the distance with world-class fighters. He always trains well considering he works long hours but to be fair, he does lack that one punch with knockout power and it has always been the case.

"He is gutsy and gives it his all. He stunned Brock numerous times but couldn't quite finish him off."