Jones on Top of the World

It was the fight everyone wanted to see – the classic matchup between two fighters almost everyone said were the best of their class.
But the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight championship between Roy Jones Jr., and James Toney fell short of all the hype because Jones was so much better. The dominance the Pensacola, Fla., native displayed in defeating the previously unbeaten Toney finally brought the recognition he’s always wanted.
“The Toney fight was the fight that gave me an opportunity to prove that I was really one of the better boxers that have ever came along,” Jones said. “Without seeing me in the ring with somebody they consider great, people would not have known how to measure my talent.
“I think it put me on top of the boxing world, especially in my weight division, and basically in my career, too. Now, there’s not much question in anybody’s mind who, pound for pound, is the best. Even though some of them still say Pernell Whitaker, they really know what’s happening.”
Jones was interviewed by Kazuo Melvin, an associate of the music group Maree, during the group’s visit to his gym last week. Jones is expected to appear with two-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield at the Maree Drug-Free America Group Bowl-off for Charity at Dothan Lanes on Saturday.
“It’s very good for anybody to be in anything that’s fighting drugs, alcohol or abuse nowadays because those seem to be the major three problems with kids,” Jones said of the charity event. “It’s not just kids nowadays because adults are getting killed by the same type of things.
“I think anything like that will benefit the total community.”
The 24-year-old Jones, now with 27 wins and no losses with 23 knockouts, hopes to fight Vinnie Pazienza sometime in 1995. The disappointment of a decision loss in the 1988 Summer Olympics in a bout in which he seemed to completely dominate his South Korean opponent, seems a distant memory now.
He really began to make noise as a middleweight in 1992 when he scored first-round knockouts over former champions Jorge Vaca and Art Serwano and an eighth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Glen Thomas.
In a HBO bout against seventh-ranked Percy Harris, Jones floored Harris four times in the first round before he earned a fourth-round technical knockout win.
Glenn Wolfe met the same fate in Jones’ next HBO fight in 1993, but didn’t get past the first round. Jones won the IBF middleweight championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over Bernard Hopkins.
After impressive wins over Thulane Malinga, Fermin Chirino and Daniel Garcia, a second-round win over No. 1 IBF contender Thomas Tate set the stage for Jones’ most important bout to date.
As bright as Jones’ future was before, defeating Toney, 44-0-2 before the bout, seems to have completely changed his place in the super-middleweight division.
Some boxing experts, such as USA Network analyst Sean O’Grady, Boxing Illustrated editor Bert Sugar and boxing commentator and former trainer Gil Clancy, have compared him to names from the past such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and even heavyweight Muhammad Ali.
The accolades have been a long time coming, but Jones also plans to be careful in protecting the stature he’s achieved.
“The future looks very bright for Roy Jones because I’m finally starting to get a little bit of the recognition that I feel I’ve been deserving for a long time,” Jones said.
“Everybody out there really wants to fight Roy Jones now because that’s the money person. You fight Roy Jones, you make big money, but Roy Jones is not a fool or guinea pig, so I’m not going to go out there and put my head on a board and let everybody have a chop at it, either.”
Although he’s been boxing since the age of 5, Jones doesn’t see himself in the ring forever. He believes he will know when it’s time to step down. When that time comes, there will be no regrets. He’ll simply move his talents into another arena.
“Ten years from now, Roy Jones will not be inside the ring because hopefully it will be because he doesn’t have to be inside the ring,” Jones said.
“Outside the ring, Roy Jones should be somewhere enjoying life, whether it’s teaching youngsters, other people, or just being happy, healthy and not having to go to work unless he wants to.
“That’s the typical Roy Jones life.”