Roy Jones, Jr. is a man who defies definition. A five-time world champion boxer in four different weight classes, a world-class boxing promoter, a superb athlete in all arenas, a hit music performer and manager, and a television and motion picture actor. In short, Roy Jones, Jr. is a renaissance man for his era and a legend for eras to come.
Against a backdrop of battle-scarred mountains and Far East mysticism, Roy Jones, Jr. first burst upon the world following a shockingly controversial defeat in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Until then, he was just the best amateur junior middleweight in the world, a 156-pound kid from Pensacola, Florida with a great deal of promise but a limited recognition factor.
Jones returned home to begin a brilliant professional campaign that would carry him to six world championships, including the most radiant of them all, the heavyweight title. Jones spent the better part of a decade regarded as the premier pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Jones' only loss during the '90's came stunningly and surprisingly. Jones was victimized by a controversial late hit in a WBC light heavyweight defense against Montell Griffin in March 1997. Leading on all three scorecards and already having floored Griffin twice, Jones was anxious to finish him and had him in trouble near the end of the ninth round. Two glancing shots to an exhausted, kneeling Griffin as the bell sounded disqualified Jones.
Jones' character and sense of fair play triggered the following response to his lawyer/advisor Fred Levin after the fight. "Get me the rematch. Do it now. I want it to be my next fight. Give him anything he wants. I don't care what it costs."
Revenge was swift and devastating when Jones regained his WBC belt with a first-round thrashing of Griffin, decking him twice before mercifully ending it at the 2:31 mark.
"Losing that first fight to Griffin was nearly as disappointing as losing the Olympic gold medal," Jones said. "When I fought him the first time, I was just trying to beat him. When we fought the second time, I would not argue if people suggest that there was more than just winning on my mind."
In his professional debut in May 1989, fighting before a hometown crowd in Pensacola, Jones stopped one Ricky Randall in the second round. This time, when he stepped from the ring, instead of a trophy, they handed him a check. "I loved fighting," he remembers with a grin. "I just figured it was time I started to get paid to do it."
Quickly his record grew, four wins in 1989, seven in 1990, four more in 1991, and another five in 1992. Only one of his 20 victories went the distance. All but four of the wins came in Pensacola, a fact hammered by a small army of critics. Ignoring the cries for him to fight tougher opponents in larger arenas, Jones steadily honed the skills that would make him the most feared fighter in the world.
"I know where I am going and no one is going to hurry my getting there before I am ready," he told a small circle of friends. Jones began his assault of sitting world champions in May 1993. By then he had tested his blurring combinations, the dazzling jab and the brilliant footwork against such as Jorge Vaca, Jorge Castro, and Glenn Thomas and knew he was ready.
His opening target was Bernard Hopkins, who boasted (often) of a 22-1 record. They met in Washington, DC. The prize was the vacant IBF middleweight championship. When the last shot had been fired, all three judges voted for Jones.
Continued . . . Page 2
