Last weekend a true legend of boxing hung up the gloves for the final time as Roy Jones Jr called time on his incredible career. So with that in mind I will be looking back on his career to see what he will be remembered for.
After an amazing amateur career which culminated in him winning a silver medal in the 1988 Olympic Games, however his gold medal fight wasn’t without controversy with many people believing he won the fight but the judges gave it to the North Korean Park Si- Hun. Although he was awarded fighter of the games.
He made his professional debut the following year in 1989 against Ricky Randall, a fight he won with a second round knockout. He then went on a quite unbelievable run winning his next 15 fights by knockout. In 1993 just four years after turning professional he took on Bernard Hopkins for the vacant IBF Middleweight title. This fight was both men’s first shot at a world title. Little did we know then the career both men would go on to have. He came into the fight ranked number 2 with the IBF and with an undefeated record. Hopkins was ranked number 1 with the IBF having only lost once. The pair went toe 2 toe for 12 hard rounds. However from the opening bell it was clear that he wasn’t going to be denied as he put in a punch perfect performance to win the fight by unanimous decision 116-112 on all three of the judges cards.
After winning the title he decided to step up in weight to Super Middleweight where he had his next 3 fights winning 2 of them by knockout. Then in May 1994 he came back down to Middleweight to defend his title against the number 1 ranked challenger Thomas Tate. Many people thought this would be one of the hardest fights of his career so far, but he had other ideas knocking out Tate in the 2nd round in front of a packed out MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
After beating Tate he decided to vacate the Middleweight title and move up to Super Middleweight full time. In November 1994 he took on James Toney for the IBF Super Middleweight title. It was another boxing masterclass from him as he won the fight with a very wide unanimous decision 119-108, 118-109 and 117-110 on the judges cards to become a two weight world champion. He then went on to make 5 successful defences before deciding to move up in weight once again.
He had his first fight as a Light Heavyweight when he took on Mike McCallum a fight he won by unanimous decision 120-107 on all 3 judges cards. In his next fight he took on Montell Griffin it was a close fight but then disaster struck as he was disqualified in the 9th round for hitting Griffin when he was on the floor, he said that he didn’t realise Griffin was down because the referee wasn’t counting. Upset with the loss to Griffin which was his first loss as a professional an immediate rematch was made. In August 1997 the pair went to war again this time he left the result in no doubt knocking out Griffin in the very first round to win the WBC Light Heavyweight title and become a 3 weight world champion.
In July 1998 he unified the division when he took on Lou Del Valle for both the WBC and the WBA titles. Once again he put on a boxing masterclass winning the fight with a wide unanimous decision 118-109, 119-109 and 118-109 on the judges cards. He made two successful defences of his title before once again he was in another unification fight. In June 1999 he stepped into the ring with Reggie Johnson for the WBA, WBC and the IBF titles. He out boxed Johnson for 12 rounds winning the fight by unanimous decision 106-120 on all 3 cards. He went on to make two successful defences of these titles, and was named fighter of the decade for the 90s.
In October 2000 he was involved in yet another unification fight against Eric Harding for the IBF, IBO,WBA and WBC titles, it was a good hard fight before he stopped Harding in the 10th round. At this point in his career he looked unstoppable. In July 2001 he fought Julio Cesar Gonzalez for the undisputed Light Heavyweight championship of the world. He came into the fight a big favourite and the fight didn’t disappoint from the opening bell he took Gonzalez to school winning a unanimous decision 119-109,118-107 and 109-106 on the cards.
He went on to make two defences of his titles before in March 2003 he made the questionable decision to move up to Heavyweight and challenge John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title, many people questioned if he would have the punch power or resistance at the heavier weight. On fight night however he proved all the doubters wrong by out fighting the champion for 12 hard rounds and winning a unanimous decision, 116-112,118-110 and 117-111 to become the WBA Heavyweight champion and a 4 weight world champion.
In November 2003 he moved back down to Light Heavyweight to fight Anotonio Tarver for the IBO, WBA and the WBC Light Heavyweight titles it was a very close fight but he managed to win a tight split decision, 114-114,117-111 and 116-114 to once again become Light Heavyweight world champion. Due to how close their first fight was the rematch was made. In May 2005 the pair fought again this time however the result was very different with Tarver scoring the knockout in just the 2nd round.
People thought that this loss would be the end of his career but he continued to box on however his career went on a downward spiral as he went on to lose his next 2 fights and his career looked all but over. However he refused to quit. In July 2006 he stepped back into the ring against Prince Badi Ajamu for the WBO title in this fight he finally started to look back to his best winning a unanimous decision 119-106 on all three cards. He then went on a 3 fight winning streak, and he was starting to look like his old self.
In November 2008 came the fight that boxing fans where really looking forward to as he took on Joe Calzaghe, people thought this was going to be a hard fight for both men, but the fight itself was very different Calzaghe took him to school for 12 rounds winning a unanimous decision 118-109. After the fight he admitted that Calzaghe was just too good for him on the night. Once again it looked like his career was over.
However he came back again in 2009 winning his next two fights against Omar Sheika and Jeff Lacy both by knockout it looked like his career was back on track, but by the end of 2009 his career was on the slide again as he lost to Danny Green. The start of the new decade didn’t start to well for him as he continued to lose, this time in the much anticipated rematch against Bernard Hopkins, after losing two in a row it looked like it was time for him to hang it up but he continued to fight this time taking on Denis Lebedev however he was knocked out in the final round, just 2 seconds before the final bell, although he was well behind on the cards.
Finally in 2011 over 2 years after his last win he finally got back to winning ways when he stepped in the ring with Max Alexander winning a unanimous decision 100-90, 100-90, 99-91 on the judges cards. He went on an 8 fight winning streak. He didn’t taste defeat again until 2015 when he was knocked out in the 4th round by Enzo Maccarinelli, this was the last loss of his career. He continued to box at a high level for the rest of his career.
This past weekend he walked to the ring for the final time and he rolled back the years to put on a boxing lesson for 12 rounds beating Scott Sigmon by a wide unanimous decision, in front of his hometown crowd it seemed like the perfect way to end an amazing career. His final record is an unbelievable 66-9 with 47 knockouts.
I started this post by asking what will he be remembered for, I think he will be remembered as a 4 weight world champion and fighter who was never in a boring fight and someone who never gave up even when it looked like there was no were for him to go.
Comment below and let me know your thoughts
Last weekend a true legend of boxing hung up the gloves for the final time as Roy Jones Jr called time on his incredible career. So with that in mind I will be looking back on his career to see what he will be remembered for.
After an amazing amateur career which culminated in him winning a silver medal in the 1988 Olympic Games, however his gold medal fight wasn’t without controversy with many people believing he won the fight but the judges gave it to the North Korean Park Si- Hun. Although he was awarded fighter of the games.
He made his professional debut the following year in 1989 against Ricky Randall, a fight he won with a second round knockout. He then went on a quite unbelievable run winning his next 15 fights by knockout. In 1993 just four years after turning professional he took on Bernard Hopkins for the vacant IBF Middleweight title. This fight was both men’s first shot at a world title. Little did we know then the career both men would go on to have. He came into the fight ranked number 2 with the IBF and with an undefeated record. Hopkins was ranked number 1 with the IBF having only lost once. The pair went toe 2 toe for 12 hard rounds. However from the opening bell it was clear that he wasn’t going to be denied as he put in a punch perfect performance to win the fight by unanimous decision 116-112 on all three of the judges cards.
After winning the title he decided to step up in weight to Super Middleweight where he had his next 3 fights winning 2 of them by knockout. Then in May 1994 he came back down to Middleweight to defend his title against the number 1 ranked challenger Thomas Tate. Many people thought this would be one of the hardest fights of his career so far, but he had other ideas knocking out Tate in the 2nd round in front of a packed out MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
After beating Tate he decided to vacate the Middleweight title and move up to Super Middleweight full time. In November 1994 he took on James Toney for the IBF Super Middleweight title. It was another boxing masterclass from him as he won the fight with a very wide unanimous decision 119-108, 118-109 and 117-110 on the judges cards to become a two weight world champion. He then went on to make 5 successful defences before deciding to move up in weight once again.
He had his first fight as a Light Heavyweight when he took on Mike McCallum a fight he won by unanimous decision 120-107 on all 3 judges cards. In his next fight he took on Montell Griffin it was a close fight but then disaster struck as he was disqualified in the 9th round for hitting Griffin when he was on the floor, he said that he didn’t realise Griffin was down because the referee wasn’t counting. Upset with the loss to Griffin which was his first loss as a professional an immediate rematch was made. In August 1997 the pair went to war again this time he left the result in no doubt knocking out Griffin in the very first round to win the WBC Light Heavyweight title and become a 3 weight world champion.
In July 1998 he unified the division when he took on Lou Del Valle for both the WBC and the WBA titles. Once again he put on a boxing masterclass winning the fight with a wide unanimous decision 118-109, 119-109 and 118-109 on the judges cards. He made two successful defences of his title before once again he was in another unification fight. In June 1999 he stepped into the ring with Reggie Johnson for the WBA, WBC and the IBF titles. He out boxed Johnson for 12 rounds winning the fight by unanimous decision 106-120 on all 3 cards. He went on to make two successful defences of these titles, and was named fighter of the decade for the 90s.
In October 2000 he was involved in yet another unification fight against Eric Harding for the IBF, IBO,WBA and WBC titles, it was a good hard fight before he stopped Harding in the 10th round. At this point in his career he looked unstoppable. In July 2001 he fought Julio Cesar Gonzalez for the undisputed Light Heavyweight championship of the world. He came into the fight a big favourite and the fight didn’t disappoint from the opening bell he took Gonzalez to school winning a unanimous decision 119-109,118-107 and 109-106 on the cards.
He went on to make two defences of his titles before in March 2003 he made the questionable decision to move up to Heavyweight and challenge John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title, many people questioned if he would have the punch power or resistance at the heavier weight. On fight night however he proved all the doubters wrong by out fighting the champion for 12 hard rounds and winning a unanimous decision, 116-112,118-110 and 117-111 to become the WBA Heavyweight champion and a 4 weight world champion.
In November 2003 he moved back down to Light Heavyweight to fight Anotonio Tarver for the IBO, WBA and the WBC Light Heavyweight titles it was a very close fight but he managed to win a tight split decision, 114-114,117-111 and 116-114 to once again become Light Heavyweight world champion. Due to how close their first fight was the rematch was made. In May 2005 the pair fought again this time however the result was very different with Tarver scoring the knockout in just the 2nd round.
People thought that this loss would be the end of his career but he continued to box on however his career went on a downward spiral as he went on to lose his next 2 fights and his career looked all but over. However he refused to quit. In July 2006 he stepped back into the ring against Prince Badi Ajamu for the WBO title in this fight he finally started to look back to his best winning a unanimous decision 119-106 on all three cards. He then went on a 3 fight winning streak, and he was starting to look like his old self.
In November 2008 came the fight that boxing fans where really looking forward to as he took on Joe Calzaghe, people thought this was going to be a hard fight for both men, but the fight itself was very different Calzaghe took him to school for 12 rounds winning a unanimous decision 118-109. After the fight he admitted that Calzaghe was just too good for him on the night. Once again it looked like his career was over.
However he came back again in 2009 winning his next two fights against Omar Sheika and Jeff Lacy both by knockout it looked like his career was back on track, but by the end of 2009 his career was on the slide again as he lost to Danny Green. The start of the new decade didn’t start to well for him as he continued to lose, this time in the much anticipated rematch against Bernard Hopkins, after losing two in a row it looked like it was time for him to hang it up but he continued to fight this time taking on Denis Lebedev however he was knocked out in the final round, just 2 seconds before the final bell, although he was well behind on the cards.
Finally in 2011 over 2 years after his last win he finally got back to winning ways when he stepped in the ring with Max Alexander winning a unanimous decision 100-90, 100-90, 99-91 on the judges cards. He went on an 8 fight winning streak. He didn’t taste defeat again until 2015 when he was knocked out in the 4th round by Enzo Maccarinelli, this was the last loss of his career. He continued to box at a high level for the rest of his career.
This past weekend he walked to the ring for the final time and he rolled back the years to put on a boxing lesson for 12 rounds beating Scott Sigmon by a wide unanimous decision, in front of his hometown crowd it seemed like the perfect way to end an amazing career. His final record is an unbelievable 66-9 with 47 knockouts.
I started this post by asking what will he be remembered for, I think he will be remembered as a 4 weight world champion and fighter who was never in a boring fight and someone who never gave up even when it looked like there was no were for him to go.
Comment below and let me know your thoughts.
What a long and glittering he had well done and good luck Roy cheers Chris.