Roy Jones, Jr.

Infobox Boxer
name=Roy Jones, Jr.


caption=Jones in 2007
imagesize=
realname=Roy Levesta Jones, Jr.
nickname=Junior
height=height|ft=5|in=11
weight=Light Heavyweight
reach=in to cm|num=74|abbr=yes|spell=American|precision=1|wiki=yes|ft=no
nationality=American
birth_date=birth date and age|1969|1|16|
birth_place=Pensacola, Florida,
USA
death_date=
death_place=
style=Orthodox, occasionally Southpaw
total=56
wins=52
KO=38
losses=4
draws=0
no contests=0

Roy Jones, Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American boxer. Jones was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

As a professional he captured IBF championships in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He also won the WBA heavyweight title in his only fight in this weight class. He is also noted for holding the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NABF, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight championships at the same time. For many years, he was reagrded as the Ring Magazine pound for pound champion of boxing.

Amateur career

Jones had a very successful career as an amateur boxer: He won the 1984 United States National Junior Olympics in the convert|119|lb|abbr=on weight division, the 1986 United States National Golden Gloves in the convert|139|lb|abbr=on weight division and the 1987 United States National Golden Gloves in the convert|156|lb|abbr=on weight division.Jones lost a notable decision to Amateur rival Gerald McClellan who went on to become a 3 time world champion however they never managed to have fight each other as a pro due to McClellan injuries however many people said this would have been the greatest fight of the centuary if it hade of come off. As an amateur, Jones ended his career with a 121-13 record.

Jones represented the United States at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games where he won the silver medal. Jones dominated his opponents, never losing a single round en route to the final. His participation in the final proved to be hugely controversial when he lost a highly disputed 3-2 decision. Jones lost to South Korean fighter Park Si-Hun, despite pummeling Park for three rounds, landing 86 punches to Park's 32. Allegedly, Park himself apologized to Jones afterwards. One judge shortly thereafter admitted the decision was a mistake, and all three judges voting against Jones were eventually suspended. An official IOC investigation concluding in 1997 found that three of the judges were wined and dined by Korean officials, but the IOC still officially stands by the decision. Jones was awarded the Val Barker trophy as the best stylistic boxer of the 1988 games. The incident, along with another highly disputed decision against American Michael Carbajal in the same games, led Olympic organizers to establish a new scoring system for Olympic boxing.

Jones hopes that the committee will re-open his case and award him a gold medal, but no such action has been taken.

Professional career

By the time he turned professional, Jones had already sparred with many professional boxers in the gyms including NABF champion Ronnie Essett, IBF world champion Lindell Holmes and all-time great Sugar Ray Leonard. Jones began as a professional on May 6, 1989, knocking out Ricky Randall in two rounds in Pensacola at the Bayfront Auditorium. For his next fight, he faced the more experienced Stephan Johnson in Atlantic City, and beat him by a knockout in round eight.

Jones built a record of 15-0 with 15 knockouts before stepping up in class, when he met former world welterweight champion Jorge Vaca in a Pay Per View fight on January 10, 1992. He knocked Vaca out in round one, to reach 16 knockout wins in a row. After one more knockout win, Jones went the distance for the first time, against future world champion Jorge Castro, winning a ten-round decision in front of a USA Network national audience.

Three more knockouts in a row followed, after which Jones was given his first opportunity to fight for a world title: on May 22, 1993, he beat future undisputed world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision in Washington D.C., to capture the IBF's vacant middleweight title. All three judges scored the fight 116-112. For his next fight, he fought another future world champion, Thulane "Sugar Boy" Malinga, in a non-title affair. Jones beat Malinga by a knockout in six. Jones finished the year with another non-title fight, beating Fermin Chirino by decision.

In 1994 Jones beat fringe contender Danny "Popeye" Garcia by a knockout in six in another non-title bout, then retained the world title against Thomas Tate in two rounds at Las Vegas on May 27. By this point in his career, Jones was considered one of boxing's top four "pound for pound" fighters.Fact|date=December 2007 On November 19, he and IBF super middleweight champion, the undefeated James Toney, #1 ranked member of the "pound for pound" contenders, met in an anticipated bout in Las Vegas. Jones dropped Toney in round three, won virtually every round, and secured a unanimous decision to win the IBF super middleweight title. His impressive year in the ring was tainted when shortly after his fight with Tate, he was caught by police in the Bahamas and accused of carrying a gun at Nassau's airport.

In 1995, Jones defended his IBF super middleweight title successfully three times, knocking out Antoine Byrd in round one, former lightweight and junior middleweight champion Vinny Pazienza in round six, and Tony Thornton in round two.

Career from 1996 to 2002

In 1996, Jones maintained his winning ways, defeating Merqui Sosa by a knockout in two, future world champion Eric Lucas in round 11, Bryant Brannon in round two, and former multiple world champion and eventual hall of famer Mike McCallum by a decision in twelve rounds to become a member of boxing's exclusive group of world champions in three weight divisions by winning the interim WBC light heavyweight championship, then upgraded to full champ. When he boxed Lucas, he became the first athlete to participate in paid basketball and boxing events on the same day. He had played a game in Alabama in the morning and defended his title in his hometown that evening. He also held a press conference in the ring just before the fight started where he would take questions whilst on his own on a chair in the middle of the ring.

1997 saw Jones suffer his first professional loss, against Montell Griffin, via disqualification. Jones was ahead on the scorecards and had Griffin on the canvas early in round nine. As Griffin was on the canvas, Jones hit him twice. Subsequently, Jones was disqualified and lost his title. Jones sought an immediate rematch and regained the world light heavyweight title easily, knocking Griffin down within the first 20 seconds of the fight, then ending the fight by knocking Griffin down again just over two minutes in.

In 1998, Jones began by knocking out former light heavyweight and future cruiserweight champion Virgil Hill in four rounds in a non-title bout at Biloxi, Mississippi with a sharp right hook to the body that broke one of Hill's ribs. He followed that with a win against the WBA light heavyweight champion, Puerto Rico's Lou Del Valle, by a decision in 12 on July 18, to unify the WBC and WBA belts. Jones had to climb off the canvas for the first time in his career, as he was dropped in round eight, but continued to outbox and punish Del Valle throughout the rest of the fight and gained a unanimous decision. Jones then followed with a defense against Otis Grant. He retained the crown in which he knocked Grant out in ten rounds.

Jones began 1999 by knocking out New York City police officer Rick Frazier. After this, many boxing criticsWho|date=December 2007 started to criticize Jones for fighting overmatched mandatories who few had ever heard of. Roy Jones continued a career of low PPV numbers. He was also criticized for never fighting Dariusz Michalczewski, an unbeaten Polish fighter who had been stripped of the WBA & IBF championship belts in 1997 without losing them in the ring. In Jones' only other fight that year, on June 5, he beat the IBF's world champion, Reggie Johnson, by a lop-sided 12-round decision to add that belt to the WBC and WBA belts he already owned in the division.

2000 began with Jones easily beating the hard-punching David Telesco via a 12-round decision on January 15, at Radio City Music Hall to retain the light heavyweight world championship. Jones reportedly fractured his wrist a few weeks before this fight. He entered the ring surrounded by the famous group of dancers, The Rockettes. His next fight was also a first-time boxing event for a venue, as he traveled to Indianapolis and retained his title with an 11-round TKO over Richard Hall at the Conseco Fieldhouse.

A post-fight drug test showed Jones and Hall both tested positive for androstenedione, which is a banned substance by the IBF. Androstenedione is a natural steroid hormone that was commonly available over the counter as a supplement until 2004 when the FDA made the over the counter sale of androstenedione illegal. Jones admitted to taking the product "ripped fuel" which was sold at GNC and other nutritional supplement outlets. Jones was able to keep his titles and was not fined or suspended for the positive test by the IBF. The Commissioner of Indiana Boxing, Jacob Hall stated that Indiana did not have a law on drug testing and that an agreement was made with Jones to send his next two pre-fight drug tests to the Indiana commission. Both of those tests came back negative. [ [http://www.boxinginsider.net/news/stories/61774588.php Boxing Insider : News : Exclusive: Roy Jones did test positive, steroids ] ] Jones has not tested positive for illegal substances on any other occasion. Jones ended the year with a 10-round stoppage of undefeated Eric Harding in New Orleans.

In 2001, Jones released "", a rap CD, his most noticeable song on it being "Y'all Must've Forgot", probably referring to the fact that some critics who used to point him out as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound were now criticizing his quality of opposition.Fact|date=December 2007 That year, he retained the title against Derrick Harmon by a knockout in ten, and against future world champion Julio César González of Mexico by a 12-round unanimous decision.

In 2002, Jones retained his title by knocking out Glen Kelly in seven rounds. Jones then defeated future world champion Clinton Woods by technical knockout.

Heavyweight Champion

On March 1, 2003, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Roy Jones defeated John Ruiz by a 12-round unanimous decision for the WBA heavyweight championship. Jones officially weighed in at convert|193|lb|abbr=on and Ruiz at convert|226|lb|abbr=on. Jones became the first former middleweight title holder to win a heavyweight title in 106 years. Jones also became the first fighter to start his career as a jr. middleweight and win a heavyweight title. Jones decided to keep campaigning as a light heavyweight and eventually relinquished the WBA heavyweight title without ever defending it.

Jones vs. Tarver I & II

On November 8, 2003, Jones regained his old belt by beating Antonio Tarver. Jones looked weak after coming down from heavyweight to light heavyweight losing 25 plus pounds. Jones won by majority decision, the judges giving him 117-111,116-112 and 114-114.

On May 15, 2004, Jones faced Tarver in a rematch. Jones was heavily favored to win, but Tarver scored a KO at 1:41 of the second round. Jones had won the first round, but in the second, as Jones tried a combination, he was caught by a big counter-hook left from Tarver. Jones got on his feet by the count, but for the first time in his career was ruled unable to continue by referee Jay Nady.

Glen Johnson

On September 25, 2004, Jones attempted to win the IBF light heavyweight title from Glen Johnson in a match in Memphis, Tennessee. Johnson knocked out Jones 49 seconds into the ninth round. Jones lay on the canvas for three minutes after being counted out. Johnson was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the knockout (77-75, 77-75, 78-74) and had landed 118 punches to Jones’s 75. Jones used the ring's canvas that night as a billboard for his upcoming rap CD, which came out on November 1.

Jones vs Tarver III

After almost a year away from the ring, focusing on training and working as an analyst for HBO Boxing, Jones scheduled a third fight with Antonio Tarver, on October 12005 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, which aired on HBO PPV. For only the second time in his career, Jones was considered an underdog going into the fight. Tarver won by unanimous decision (117-111, 116-112, 116-112). In the post fight interview, Jones stated that he was still one of the best fighters in the world, and the fight was a warm-up for more fights to come.

Fallout with HBO

After the loss in the third Tarver bout, Jones resumed his duties as commentator for "HBO World Championship Boxing", calling the Floyd Mayweather Jr-Sharmba Mitchell fight on November 19, 2005, and the Jermain Taylor-Bernard Hopkins rematch on December 3, 2005. His return to the network was short lived, as Jones was fired from his ringside analyst role in January 2006. HBO cited his reported lack of commitment to attending the network's production meetings.

Comeback Trail

Back to winning ways

On December 23, 2005, it was announced that Jones would face Bernard Hopkins on March 11, 2006, in a rematch 11 years in the making. However, due to monetary issues, this fight did not take place.

Instead Jones took on Prince Badi Ajamu on July 29, 2006, at the Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho. Jones defeated Ajamu by a unanimous decision.

Next up for Jones was the undefeated and promising , Anthony Hanshaw, on July 14 2007, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. Jones won the bout by unanimous decision and in doing so won the IBC light heavyweight title.

Felix Trinidad

On January 19, 2008, Jones faced five-time world champion Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout was fought at a catchweight of 170 lbs. Jones had a noticeable size and speed advantage, and in round seven, a short right hand to the temple dropped Trinidad to his knees. Jones fired a combination in the tenth round to send Trinidad down once more. In the end, it was clearly Jones' night. The scorcards read 117-109 and 116-110 (twice) all in favour of Jones.

Joe Calzaghe

Following Joe Calzaghe's split-decision victory over Bernard Hopkins, Jones expressed his interest in fighting Calzaghe. However Frank Warren was guarded over his intentions, refusing to commit to anything until his fighter had taken a holiday [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/boxing/story/0,,2275259,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=7] . On July 8, 2008, it was officially announced that Roy Jones and Joe Calzaghe had agreed to fight for the Ring Magazine Light-Heavyweight championship. The fight would take place at Madison Square Garden, New York, on September 20 2008 with HBO PPV televising the event. Leading up to the fight Calzaghe suffered a hand injury and the fight was postponed until November 8 2008. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7521428.stm BBC News Article] ]

Professional boxing record

Music career

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Roy Jones, Jr.
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Roy Lavesta Jones, Jr.
Origin = Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
Born = birth date and age|1969|1|16
Genre = Hip hop, Southern Hip Hop, Crunk, Dirty South
Occupation = Boxer, rapper, actor
Years_active = 2001 – present
Label = Body Head EntertainmentJones started his rap music career in 2001 with his successful album, titled ' and the debut single, "You all Must've Forgot". In 2004, Jones formed a group - Body Head Bangerz and released an album. The album, ', featured B.G., Juvenile, Bun B of UGK, Petey Pablo, Lil' Flip, and Mike Jones among others.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson used Body Head's song "Can't Be Touched" at UFC 75.

Discography

Album

Body Head Bangerz

olo singles

*2001: "Y'all Must've Forgot"
*2001: "And Still"

Featured singles

*2004: "I Smoke, I Drank" (Body Head Bangerz featuring YoungBloodZ)
*2004: "Can't Be Touched" (Body Head Bangerz featuring Trouble Tha Truth)

Filmography

* "The Devil's Advocate" (1997) - uncredited
* "New Jersey Turnpikes" (1999) - unknown
* "The Wayans Brothers", Rope-a-Dope (1999) - himself
* "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) - Captain Ballard
* "Enter The Matrix" (2003) - Captain Ballard

ee also

*List of boxing triple champions‎
*List of boxing quadruple champions

External links

* [http://boxing.about.com/od/records/a/royjones.htm Roy Jones Jr. Fight-by-Fight Career Record]
*
* [http://www.boxen-artur.de/eng_page_jones_jr1187 Boxing-Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.royjonesjr.com Roy Jones Jr's Offical Website]
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006753/1/index.htm "One Tough Bird"] - a 1995 "Sports Illustrated" feature article by Gary Smith.