Welcome back fight fans to another video here on The Fight Game.
The 1990s was an incredible decade for boxing, after the retirement of some 1980s legends
such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, the sport graced
the rise of new upcoming superstars.
Two prominent figures were Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez who bootstrapped the
decade and boxers such as De La Hoya and Trinidad continued the momentum,
but there's one figure who seemed to defy the conventional means of fighting, Roy Jones
Junior.
Jones started his career at 154 pounds with a second round stoppage.
Already in his first fight we see his footwork, as his opponent leans in with his head Jones
steps around to set up a new angle.
Quite like how Mike Tyson would angle himself around his opponent.
A testament to the fast footwork of Roy Jones Junior.
With a successful pro debut and a past Olympic pedigree to his name, Jones was a promising
prospect before he even had his first fight.
Jones portrayed a particular panache.
He was flamboyant, he had great footwork and
ring generalship, Jones's footwork was a form of dance.
Leonard: I think Roy Jones has his own style, Roy Jones is a young man with extraordinary
talent, incredible hand speed, foot speed.
He's a boxer first and foremost, but his power solidified himself as a knockout artist.
Leonard: I think his power is very deceptive, and not really appreciated.
He won his first 17 fights by knockout.
Jones's hand-speed was another key quality that allowed him to rise through the ranks
in such a spectacular fashion.
The epic combination of speed, power and skill is a blend that allowed Jones to make his
career one of the most noteworthy.
Power and skill is great, but it's his supersonic speed that makes him one of the flashiest
and exciting American boxers of the last few generations.
Roy wasn't just fast with his hands, but quick with his mind.
The devastating duo of speed and power made Roy Jones a force of nature in the ring.
He's widely regarded by many fans to be one of the greatest boxers
in the history of boxing, and that's no small claim.
He's a boxer of breaking records and dazzling displays of his dancing prowess.
Welcome to this video here on The Fight Game, where we take a look at Roy Jones Junior in
the first half of his highly acclaimed boxing career.
Before being a title-holder Roy Jones took on Glenn Thomas.
Thomas who at the time had a record of 24 wins and zero losses.
Thomas: His defense is running, I could sit right there in the pocket and make you miss.
That's the difference between a fighter.
Me?
I feel I'm an all-round better fighter.
Jones on the other hand had a record of 19 wins and zero losses.
Jones: He could be a better fighter but he can't beat me anyway.
So, you know there's people that are better fighters and people that are better boxers
sometime, there's nobody that's gonna beat me I don't care what you
are.
Both fighters were undefeated with a commendable amount of fights, putting their records on
the line before ever getting a title shot, which made
the clash that much more exciting.
The fight started with Jones landing a pretty clean left hook in the opening minute.
There is an old saying in boxing that says a good right hand can take you around the
block, but a good jab can take you around the world,
and that's never been as true as it was for Roy Jones Junior.
He used his jab the way a jab should be used, not to only land, but to
establish distance and rhythm.
More often than not the pace of a fight often goes the pace of the jabber.
Jones's defense was less conventional however, relying mainly on reflexes.
Commentator: Thomas says he works off of other fighters' mistakes, Jones who likes to dazzle
the crowd doesn't make too many of them.
As Jones's jab was well established going into the mid stages of the fight, he felt
comfortable letting go of more power shots.
After this fight some even compared Jones to Sugar Ray Leonard, with regards to his
exuberant fighting style.
After breaking Thomas down with consistent movement, jabs and power-punches, Jones secured
a technical knockout victory in the 8th round.
[CROWD CHEERING] Commentator: Oh and now it's Jones!
All over Thomas, looks like it's ending here in the 8th.
But Thomas, seconds remaining, how is he standing up?!
Jones had garnered quite a lot of attention in the boxing scene even without being a world
title holder.
Jones: See I'm paying attention to what's going on.
And I see him come right here, I got him where I can see him, missed him there, missed him
again, boom!
That's the one I was trying to catch him with all the time.
Jones would go on to win 2 more fights before the sound of the final bell, then after that
Roy Jones would challenge for his first world title in the middleweight division of 160
pounds, against no other than Bernard Hopkins.
The fight was for a vacant world title, and Hopkins was a crafty boxer who posed a big
threat to Roy Jones.
Some feel this fight was close, but others see it as a clear Roy Jones win.
It was an impressive performance from Jones, but not just because of the skills he showed,
but considering that Roy Jones's right hand was supposedly badly
hurt in this fight.
The fight was not filled with mass volumes of punches, it was rather technical and Jones
did well to remain disciplined for all 12 rounds.
Commentator: He moves so naturally.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Jones beat Hopkins when he was in his prime, and it's crazy to think that these two undercard
fighters would both go on to become future hall-of-famers.
Jones showed sublime skills against a top-tier opponent, and won a
unanimous decision victory.
The following fight saw Jones manoeuvre as if he was from the Matrix, his movement was
so unusual it left fans and fighters bemused.
At just 24 years old Roy Jones had been widely acclaimed by many in the sport to be
the pound for pound number 1.
Commentator: Straight left hand was spectacular!
[CROWD CHEERING]
He established his own style of fighting which depicted seamless unorthodox movements.
After a successful run in the middleweight division Roy Jones
would move up a weight division to fight James Toney at 168 pounds.
If moving up a whole weight division wasn't enough of a problem for Jones, then the fight
night weight surely was.
Because from the weigh in the day before, to fight night, James Toney had
gained a monster 17 pounds to re-hydrate to 184 pounds.
With a weight disadvantage Jones would have to remain elusive, and luckily for Jones that
was his forte.
Jones ran rings around Toney with his footwork, his speed was too much
for Toney to handle and Toney struggled to let his shots go effectively.
A true boxing masterclass.
And then in round 3 we saw this amazing sequence.
[CROWD CHEERING] Commentator: Left hook, and down goes Toney!
Jones was quick to the mark with his attacks and Toney was simply overwhelmed with the
quickness.
Jones's tempo of fighting was indecipherable, Jones was better on so many levels
Commentator: Toney was hurt a couple of times during the fight Larry, not seriously, but
hurt.
Commentator 2: How about now, how about right now!
And those who doubted Jones were eating their words.
The narrative of the fight remained rather unchanged and Jones cruised to an easy decision
victory.
Analyst: This guy is a super-middleweight Willy Pep, he makes move that I haven't seen
in a long long time.
He could make anybody look bad.
Roy Jones, now being a 2-weight world champion continued to defend his belt with a number
of knockout victories at the super-middleweight division.
Jones soon defended his belt against Vinny Paz, Jones started the fight with a quick
clean combination.
[CROWD CHEERING]
But then towards the end of the round Vinny Paz would come back and bully Jones on the
ropes.
Commentator: Crowd going wild!
And there goes Jones with some speed coming off the ropes!
Pazienza trying to pin him in there.
[BELL RINGS]
In the next round Vinny showed Roy that he wasn't the only one that could move, and then
continued to build the momentum.
And by the end of round 2 it looked like Vinny was going to
take a lead.
[CROWD CHEERING] [BELL RINGS]
Then Jones landed a clean left nearly dropping Vinny.
Now it was Jones who took the reigns and looked the better boxer.
Commentator: What handspeed right now!
He's got Pazienza ready to fall through the ropes!
Jones's lead hand was incredible, picking Vinny off with lightning speed.
As the rounds rolled by Jones broke Vinny down.
The quick start from Vinny quickly lost it's relevance in the fight as Jones got going
landing his shots.
Commentator: All the years of watching boxing and calling boxing this is the fastest jab
I have ever seen!
That's includes Muhammad Ali.
Soon Jones would drop Vinny Paz for the first time.
Commentator: Now a left hook, a right!
Pazienza hurt, holding onto the ropes, he's down!
Vinny got up, but Jones put him down again quickly after.
Commentator: He's down again!
Vinny like a true warrior got up one final time.
[CROWD CHEERING] Commentator: That's gonna be it!
A truly spectacular win for Roy Jones Junior.
Both fighters showed what boxing was all about, great character.
Jones's time at super-middleweight didn't end there, he continued to defend his belt
and scored more knockout victories.
Knockout after knockout, fans watched a Roy Jones fight expecting that at any moment,
Jones would end the show.
We haven't seen many boxers reign so definitively through the ranks like Jones did.
He established himself as a very impressive super-middleweight, and amazingly he carried
his power effectively up in weight.
So far, we're only half way through Roy Jones's incredible career.
He would go on to win world titles in 2 more weight divisions to join an elite class by
becoming a 4-weight world champion.
If you'd like to see us make a Part 2 to this video looking at the rest of Roy Jones's Career,
let us know in the comment section below.
Thanks for watching, if you enjoyed the video consider giving it
a like as it helps us grow the channel.
We'll see you in the next video here on The Fight Game.