Online sports betting circles were going wild at the prospects of a battle between two 50+ boxing legends. Roy Jones Jr. was an underdog, sporting +170 odds to beat Iron Mike Tyson. It was to be what many thought would be a boxing match, albeit exhibition, similar to when Floyd Mayweather playfully embarrassed the Leprechaunian MMA fighter Conor McGregor a while back. I even had my expert betting predictions for this epic fight done and published.
But now? Well, now 2020 strikes yet again. This exhibition will now have no official winner, no official judges and, not even really a true ‘fight’ will be allowed. The California State Athletic Commission has stated the fight will be stopped if either fighter suffers a cut, and there is a no knockout rule. Pretty iffy proposition to spend fifty bucks on now.
You can still bet on boxing with us, just not on this no-longer ‘fight.’
Regardless, learn more about one of the greatest fighters of all time, and one of the participants in this coming cash-grab exhibition.
Roy Jones Jr. AKA “Captain Hook”, is generally accepted to be one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in history. Born on January 16, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida, Jones Jr. was thrown into the fire by his father immediately. Jones Jr. had to survive Jones Sr.’s taunts and trials daily, and these difficulties sculpted him into the man he is.
Captain Hook spun his childhood challenges into a remarkable boxing career, winning the title in four different weight classes. Jones Jr. won as middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight, compiling a 66-9 record (47 KOs). On Nov 28, Jones Jr. will come out of retirement for what seemed like an intriguing exhibition bout with Mike Tyson.
Roy Jones Sr.’s Sink Or Swim School Of Hard Knocks
Roy Jones Sr. employed a brutal, unforgiving, sink-or-swim mentality when dealing with his son. From a very young age, Jones Sr. tormented Roy Jones Jr. in just about every facet of life. Roy Sr. gave his six-year-old son a shotgun at Christmas, and forced him to drive a tractor at seven.
The hulking, ex-boxing father-figure terrorized young Roy at every turn. Roy Sr. tossed Jr. into the Gulf of Mexico to teach him to swim at age eight, and forced him to ride horses, bulls, whatever. The terrified young man was close to suicide on a regular basis growing up. Jones Jr. knew he had to get tough or die, and used his fear of his father as a tool.
Golden Gloves Glory, Getting Robbed Of Gold in Seoul
When Jones Jr was 15 years old, he won the 1984 National Junior Olympics in the 119 lb weight division. Jones Jr won the 1986 National Golden Gloves award at 139 lbs, repeating his dominance in 1987 at 156 lbs. It seemed that the gifted young Floridian was capable of winning in virtually any boxing weight class.
Jones Jr was selected to box for the U.S. in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Roy cruised through the early matches, making his way to the finals easily. Jones Jr fought hometown hero Park Si-Hun in what would become one of the most controversial Olympic bouts in history.
The young Captain Hook outboxed his South Korean opponent, landing nearly three times the number of punches as his counterpart. After clearly winning the fight, Jones Jr lost the gold medal on an inexplicable 3-2 decision by the judges. An investigation nine years later discovered that three of the judges had been wined and dined by South Korean officials. The result was still somehow not overturned, but at least the Olympic scoring system has since been amended. Roy was robbed of gold in broad daylight.
“Fighter of the Decade” In the Making
The first professional fight of Jones Jr’s career was on May 6, 1989 against Ricky Randall, and he won by KO. There would be 16 straight knockouts to follow, before beating Jorge Castro by unanimous decision on June 30, 1992. Jones Jr was 21-0 when he fought Bernard Hopkins in May 1993 for the IBF middleweight belt.
Roy won by UD in 12 rounds, overcoming a pre-existing fracture in one of his knuckles to take the title. In 1996, Jones Jr achieved an amazing feat by holding three titles at the same time: middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight. This demonstrates Jones Jr’s legendary pound-for-pound capabilities, no matter the weight class.
Jones Jr. won 34 consecutive bouts before getting disqualified against Montell Griffin in March 1997. It was ruled that Jones Jr hit Griffin after a knockdown, but the DQ was a questionable call at best. The revenge match took place on August 7th, billed as “Unfinished Business.”
‘Jones Jr. reclaimed the belt in 151 seconds, knocking out Griffin before the first round ended. It was a quick display of a hunter stalking its prey relentlessly. Jones Jr wouldn’t lose another fight until May 15, 2004, in his second fight with Antonio Tarver.
It’s Better To Burn Out, Than to Fade Away
After starting his illustrious career with a record of 49-1, Jones Jr. lost three straight fights. Jones Jr lost to Tarver twice during that stretch, and would lose another three consecutive bouts between 2009-2011. By 2012, Roy Jr was mainly boxing guys that weren’t the same caliber as he was.
Jones Jr won his final fight by UD against Scott Sigmon on February 8, 2018, finishing his career 66-9. Captain Hook hasn’t been out of the fight game too long, and that is his primary advantage vs Mike Tyson. As long as he doesn’t hit Mike too hard, scratch his forehead and have the fight end after one swing.
