| Born: January 16th, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida |
| Nationality: American |
| Famous For: Being “Fighter of the Decade” in the 1990’s |
| Awards: Olympic silver medal, 8 major world titles |
Roy Jones Jr. certainly established a place for himself in the Boxing Hall of Fame. In the early 1990’s, he quickly was recognized as one of the most exciting fighters. He achieved the astounding accomplishment of winning the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles.
Early Life and Career
Jones was born in Pensacola, Florida in 1969. He father ran a boxing gym and was a strict disciplinarian who was very tough on his son. To a degree, Jones’ father was extremely rough with him. Despite the issues between the two, his father did play a major role in starting his son down a career in boxing.
His amateur career showed enormous promise, even at a young age. In 1984, he was able to score a win at the United States National Junior Olympics event. In 1988, he would go on to win a silver medal in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. Controversies surrounded the decision in the Olympics and it is believed he truly was deserving of the gold medal as the judges had been wined and dined by his opponent’s country. He was also awarded the Val Barker trophy after the event – a honor that almost always goes to the gold medalist.
On May 6th, 1989, he won his debut pro fight via knockout. His next fight was also a victory via knockout. He was on a roll and quickly compiled a 15 – 0 record. All 15 fights were won via knockout.
Legendary Career
On December 5th, 1992, Jones beat Percy Harris to win his first professional title as the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight champion. The title was vacant at the time and awarded to the winner of the bout. Not very long after this match, Jones would add the IBF Middleweight title to his resume. As his fighting career progressed, he would move into other weight classes and win the top crown in each category.
March 21st, 1997 saw him lose his first match. Montell Griffin defeated Roy Jones Jr. for the WBC Light Heavyweight title. The loss was a controversial one as it ended with Jones being disqualified after hitting Griffin when he was down.
Jones would go on to win 15 bouts in a row and then shockingly lose three in a row. It would seem his best days as a fighter were over. He made a solid comeback winning five out of his next six matches. Then, another three match losing streak occurred. Jones fought two more times after this, winning both bouts. He then retired.
His overall fighting record was 56–8. He is in the record books as the only boxer in the history of the sport to begin his career as a light middleweight and then go on and win a heavyweight title.
Retirement
Jones stayed active when he retired. He went on to become involved in the entertainment industry. He would start a career as a rap artist. He does have his rap fans, but it is his boxing career people will remember him most for. Jones’ career is certainly one of the most memorable in boxing history.