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"Because his character is the star, he won the fight," Jackson says. "But when we got ready to do it, logic told me that (Jones's character) was a desk jockey and (my character) was still out there in the field.
"And when you're a field marine, even if you're 50 years old and it's time to do your physical test every year, you've got to run a mile in under five minutes. This guy is in that kind of shape, so there's no way a desk jockey can beat up a guy like that."
The fight is more of a draw in the final cut of the movie, which Jackson says is a tribute to Jones, whom he refers to as "T.L." Contrary to Jones's prickly reputation, Jones says he was easy to work with.
"T.L. is a guy's guy. He just does not tolerate bullshit of any sort. He doesn't like inane conversation. He doesn't like wasting your time," he says.
"Anyway, if we didn't like each other, that (scene) would have been a perfect opportunity to take care of some business with each other," he laughs.
Jackson himself is no pushover. Anyone who doubts he's a serious actor should probably check out the 1991 movie Jungle Fever, in which he plays Wesley Snipes' crack-addict brother. Jackson himself was just weeks out of cocaine rehab when he made the movie, and his performance is real and terrifying.
It was also a career turning point after he won a best supporting actor award at the Cannes Film Festival (which doesn't usually acknowledge supporting actors).
Jackson's reputation grew, but his roles didn't necessarily follow suit. That's partly because Jackson loves movies so much, he will often take smaller roles to serve the project. His appearance in last summer's Deep Blue Sea was simply to provide a hell of a surprise at the film's halfway point. He took the tiny role of Jedi Knight Mace Windu in The Phantom Menace out of love for the Star Wars franchise.
But when it was time to get big, Jackson took on the role of Marine Col. Terry Childers in Rules of Engagement with enough enthusiasm to subject himself to a grueling "boot camp" experience under the tutelage of Capt. Dale Dye, the military adviser who helped Oliver Stone recreate the Vietnam experience in Platoon.
Jackson, 51, says it was kind of like being a kid again.
"As a kid, you always used to play war. That was the game. Go play war."
That's just what he and Jones did. Each actor was given their own company to command in the wilds of South Carolina.
"(Dye) dropped us in there like we were second lieutenants going to Vietnam, and we had to earn the respect of those men and be leaders and survive," he says. "We went on forced marches and we looked for 'Charlie' and Charlie looked for us.
"We had to find ways to learn our company guys' names, how to approach them and ingratiate ourselves to them," he says. "I think I did a pretty good job of that. All my guys liked me.
"I don't know about T.L."
This summer, he'll also be seen as the cat who won't cop out when there's danger all about in John Singleton's remake of the black private eye flick Shaft.
Jackson says the character is more or less the same, except the part where he's, as Isaac Hayes described him, "a sex machine to all the chicks."
"It was all the things that I thought it would be, except for the sex part," Jackson says. "I look good, I sound tough, I act tough, I shoot people, I beat people up ... It's Shaft."
By the time Shaft hits theatres in June, Jackson will probably be back at work on the next Star Wars movie. Will Mace have more to do this time? Jackson says Lucas hasn't told him.
"Nobody really knows," he says. "Everybody just knows there's this huge search for the 18-year-old Anakin (Skywalker) ... some blond Aryan-looking kid trying to get a job."
Jackson laughs again. At least that's something he's not likely to have to worry about in the foreseeable future.