Roy Jones Jr., who once was the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world for about a decade, is long past his best days but will continue to fight on at age 47.
His next fight, a cruiserweight bout announced by his promotional company, Square Ring Promotions, will come against journeyman "Rockin'" Rodney Moore on Aug. 13 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Jones' hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Jones turned pro in the city in 1989. The fight will headline the "Island Fights 38" card, an ongoing series that combines boxing matches and MMA bouts on the same show.
"I'm always excited to be fighting in front of my hometown fans who have shown me so much support during my career, and I am looking forward to giving them an action-packed fight," said Jones, who last fought in Pensacola in March 2015, when he knocked out Paul Vasquez in the first round.
Jones (63-9, 46 KOs), who dominated boxing between 1993 and 2004, has fought three times since, including a crushing, fourth-round knockout loss to Enzo Maccarinelli in Moscow in December 2015. Jones is coming off a second-round knockout of former MMA fighter Vyron Phillips, who incredibly was allowed to make his professional boxing debut against Jones on March 20 in Phoenix.
Jones, who won world titles in four weight classes -- middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight -- does not figure to face much of a test against Moore (17-11-2, 7 KOs). The 40-year-old from Houston, who did not fight between 2005 and 2012, has lost nine consecutive fights, although only one of them came by knockout. That was a second-round stoppage to top cruiserweight contender Murat Gassiev 13 months ago.
Whether Jones plans to keep fighting beyond the fight with Moore is unclear, but McGee Wright, Jones' manager, said Jones wanted to fight at home again before he retires.
"He wants to end his career in Pensacola at some point," Wright said. "I'm not saying this is his last fight, but he started here and he wants to end it here."
Article courtesy of ESPN
His next fight, a cruiserweight bout announced by his promotional company, Square Ring Promotions, will come against journeyman "Rockin'" Rodney Moore on Aug. 13 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Jones' hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Jones turned pro in the city in 1989. The fight will headline the "Island Fights 38" card, an ongoing series that combines boxing matches and MMA bouts on the same show.
"I'm always excited to be fighting in front of my hometown fans who have shown me so much support during my career, and I am looking forward to giving them an action-packed fight," said Jones, who last fought in Pensacola in March 2015, when he knocked out Paul Vasquez in the first round.
Jones (63-9, 46 KOs), who dominated boxing between 1993 and 2004, has fought three times since, including a crushing, fourth-round knockout loss to Enzo Maccarinelli in Moscow in December 2015. Jones is coming off a second-round knockout of former MMA fighter Vyron Phillips, who incredibly was allowed to make his professional boxing debut against Jones on March 20 in Phoenix.
Jones, who won world titles in four weight classes -- middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight -- does not figure to face much of a test against Moore (17-11-2, 7 KOs). The 40-year-old from Houston, who did not fight between 2005 and 2012, has lost nine consecutive fights, although only one of them came by knockout. That was a second-round stoppage to top cruiserweight contender Murat Gassiev 13 months ago.
Whether Jones plans to keep fighting beyond the fight with Moore is unclear, but McGee Wright, Jones' manager, said Jones wanted to fight at home again before he retires.
"He wants to end his career in Pensacola at some point," Wright said. "I'm not saying this is his last fight, but he started here and he wants to end it here."
Article courtesy of ESPN
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