And there were plenty of fabulous fighters around back then in a variety of divisions. James Toney was the do-or-die destroyer at 160 and 168 pounds. The great Pernell Whitaker was on the way down. Oscar De la Hoya and Felix Trinidad were on the way up. Prince Naseem was front-flipping on both sides of the Atlantic. And there was a golden era at heavyweight involving Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis. You couldn’t ask for more.
But Jones was the one who consistently took your breath away.
Who can forget the final knockdown against Vinny Pazienza in June 95? Granted, Pazienza was out of his depth, and his weight class, but that finishing combination was pure Streetfighter 2: left uppercut, double-left hook, right hook, right uppercut, left uppercut. Who does that? Like Robinson, Ali and Leonard before him, Jones could give extreme violence an almost liquid grace but, incredibly, he was more imaginative than all of them.
The big moments of glory came against Bernard Hopkins; who Jones outpointed in 1993, Toney; who he completely outclassed, Griffin, who he annihilated in the first round of a rematch, Reggie Johnson, who he schooled en route to unifying the light heavyweight division and, of course, the WBA heavyweight title triumph against John Ruiz in 2003.
There were other quality wins but those, in my view, were Jones’ best.
When it all fell apart, thanks to a thunderous left hand from Jones’ old amateur nemesis, Antonio Tarver, in May 2004, the world felt different to me. Obviously, the fight wasn’t broadcast on UK television, but the internet had now arrived. I was notified of that stunning second-round knockout via a boxing forum and I was crushed. I remained in a daze for that entire weekend and can remember, at 29, feeling old for the very first time. How the hell could Jones lose like that?
Well, because he took a liberty with a 35-year-old body. Dropping from heavyweight back to light heavyweight took a toll, but so did the laws of physiology. Jones simply got old. And, let’s not deny it, Tarver was damn good and he could whack.
The ensuing years were heartbreaking to watch. An array of fighters, too long to list, made their bones on Jones’ decaying carcass. Some of them were quality world champions and others weren’t fit to, as Larry Holmes might say, carry Jones’ jockstrap.
As a fighter, though, he was far from flawless. Jones lacked the solid fundamentals of a Hopkins or Floyd Mayweather junior; fighters who could rely on pure boxing skills at an advanced age to prolong their hall-of-fame careers. Jones’ unmatched athleticism was the driving force to his success and when that began to deteriorate, so did his win-loss ratio. The other black mark against Jones was his testing positive for androstenedione, following an 11th-round stoppage of Richard Hall. The product was available over-the-counter in supplement form, but it was banned by the IBF. Fight fans can be unforgiving on this subject, and nobody can blame them for that.
In closing, I really hope this is it for Jones, and I would like to see him retire on a victory (sorry Mr Sigmon). It’s is not the ending that I would have liked, but we’ll just have to settle for it. Like the great fighters who preceded him, Jones found it as hard, if not harder, to let go. Was it ego? We’re talking about a guy who spoke about himself in the third-person as though that were normal. We’re talking about a guy who rapped into a microphone during a ring entrance and told the crowd he was a ‘superstar’. We’re talking about a guy who played semi-pro basketball before a world title fight.
Of course, it was bloody ego … and money too.
But Jones still remains the most amazing fist-fighter I have ever seen. Not the best. Not even close to the best. Other than the Griffin rematch, he didn’t exact enough revenge over his conquerors, and his resume simply isn’t strong enough. However, on sheer talent, Jones is unmatched in my opinion. He could do things that no other fighter could do – before or since.
If Jones’ legacy is that he was the most talented fighter ever, or even one of the most talented, then that is definitely a legacy worth remembering. All the best in retirement to a truly ‘great’ fighter. Ring magazine online article Tom Gray, ‘Roy Jones junior: The Most Talented Fighter Ever’
In his prime Roy Jones junior was a sight to behold. His otherworldly speed, reflexes and superior ability helped him procure world titles in four weight classes, and he was the first man in over 100 years to win a world title at middleweight and heavyweight.
Jones was born in Pensacola, Florida, and began boxing at a young age. He went on to represent the US at the 1988 Seoul Olympics where he received silver after being unapologetically robbed of gold against Korean representative Park Si-Hun.
‘It was the worst judging ever in the history of Olympic boxing,’ Jones junior told The Ring. ‘To me, it’s why boxing in the Olympics in this country has gone down. How can you beat someone so bad and don’t get the gold medal, and they don’t go back and fix it?’
After going 121-13 in the amateurs, Jones made his way to the professional ranks. By mid-1993, the future hall-of-famer had worked himself into position to fight for the vacant IBF middleweight title against a then-unknown Bernard Hopkins. Jones won a 12-round unanimous decision on the undercard of Olympic teammate Riddick Bowe’s heavyweight title defense against Jesse Ferguson in Washington.
After demolishing the highly-respected Thomas Tate in his sole defense, Jones stepped up to super-middleweight to face IBF titleholder James Toney, who was thought by many to be the finest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Toney proved no match for Jones who comprehensively outboxed his rival. While waiting for his next big challenge, the new pound-for-pound superstar made five successful defenses and barely lost a round. Such was his dominance that in the morning of his bout with Eric Lucas, Jones played professional basketball before defeating the future world titleholder that night.
When fights with rival titleholders Nigel Benn and Steve Collins didn’t pan out, Jones elected to step up to a third weight class and in short time won the WBC title.
In March 1997, Jones was matched against the unbeaten Montell Griffin who proved to be technically troublesome. The fight was close until the ninth when a Jones assault forced Griffin to take a knee. Instead of stepping back, Jones tagged Griffin twice and was disqualified for the infringement.
The defeat lit a fire under Jones, who ripped through Griffin in the opening round of a direct rematch. The former champion considers that to be the best win of his career.
Jones added WBA and IBF light heavyweight titles to became recognized as undisputed champion (Dariusz Michalczewski held the then-lightly regarded WBO belt) and made 11 defenses over the next five years. He became a household name, appearing in films and commencing a rap career.
In March 2003, Jones made a bold step up to heavyweight and easily defeated WBA titleholder John Ruiz.
Looking back, Jones is exceptionally proud of two standout moments in his illustrious career.
‘The night I beat the man (James Toney) to be the man,’ he said. ‘Then when I defied history and was the first man ever to turn pro at junior middleweight and win the heavyweight title.’
Jones decided against staying at heavyweight and dropped back down to 175 pounds. However, losing the muscle he had packed on seemed to have a detrimental effect on the then-34-year-old veteran. He was fortunate to receive a majority decision against Antonio Tarver but was sensationally stopped in the second round of a return fight. In his next outing, Jones was brutally knocked out by Glen Johnson and Tarver was victorious in a rubber match.
The once invincible Jones had lost three fights in succession.
‘Tarver fought me at the right time after I lost all that weight,’ Jones explained. ‘He had an uncoordinated style, it’s not like he had a high IQ. He closed his eyes (when he delivered the knock down punch in fight two) – what’s that tell you? Caught me at the right time.’
Jones went on to outpoint former three-weight world titleholder Felix Trinidad in early 2008 and later that year met Joe Calzaghe for The Ring and lineal light heavyweight championships. Calzaghe recovered from a first-round knockdown to win a wide decision over the faded ex-champion.
‘Joe was the busiest guy I fought,’ Jones recalled. ‘I never met anyone more busy than Joe. He just stayed busy. He didn’t have the fastest hands, he didn’t have the strongest punches, he was just busy as hell. You don’t find a fighter who stays as busy as Joe Calzaghe – ever.’
Jones maintains that if they met years earlier he’d have won: ‘I dropped him with a shot that wasn’t even that clean,’ he said. ‘If I’d fought him in the 90s, I think I’d have knocked him out.’
Jones continued his career up at cruiserweight until earlier this year, although he only ever showed flashes of his once-brilliant form in that weight class. He retired with a record of 66-9, 47 knockouts.
‘Best I’ve ever seen,’ said Jones when asked how good he was in his prime. ‘I’ve never seen anybody do the things I did in a boxing ring: hands behind my back knocking people out, 13 left hooks (in a row). I hit Reggie Johnson with a left hook and straight right hand so fast that they landed on the same side of his face. How do you do that? Who do you ever see do that? Nobody. Go back and watch the highlights yourself.’ The Ring online article, ‘Best I Faced: Roy Jones junior’