Roy jones biography
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Born Roy Levesta Jones on January 16, 1969. Boxing out of Pensacola, FL. Jones won the Val Barker Trophy for best boxer following a controversial silver medal win at the 1988 Olympics.
He turned pro in 1989 and would win world titles in four weight divisions from middleweight to heavyweight. He defeated Bernard Hopkins (W 12) for the vacant IBF middleweight title in 1993 and vacated the next year to top James Toney (W 12) for the IBF super middleweight crown, which he defended five times before vacating to again go up in weight, capturing the interim WBC light heavyweight title from Mike McCallum in 1996 and subsequently attaining full recognition as champion. He unified with a decision over WBA champion Lou Del Valle in 1998 and a decision over Reggie Johnson for the IBF strap in 1999. His 175-pound reign lasted until 2003 when he vacated to campaign as a heavyweight and make history as the first middleweight champion in 106 years to win the heavyweight crown and just the second
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Roy Jones, Jr. won the omröstning Barker Award at the 1988 Olympics as the most technically proficient boxer in Seoul. It was given to him as a sort of apology for what was the worst decision in Olympic boxing history. In the final of the light-middleweight class, Jones faced Korean Park Si-Hun, and punished him. There was no doubt that Jones had won every round, and won each convincingly, but at the end the referee raised Park’s hand. Park even apologized, later saying, “I am sorry. I lost the fight. inom feel very bad.”
One of the judges later revealed that he felt so badly for the Korean, fighting in front of his hometown fans, that he gave him the vote, feeling it would make the result only 4-1 for Jones. Unfortunately, two other judges did the same thing, given the decision to Park, 3-2.
This did not stop Roy Jones, Jr., who went on to a superb professional career over the next 15 years. He is one of those fighters who held, for a time, the unofficial crown of “best pound-for-pound fig
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Steve’s Boxing Substack
Name: Roy Jones Jr
Nickname: Captain Hook
Date of First Fight: 6th May 1989
Date of Retirement: 8th February 2018
Titles: World titles at middleweight, super-middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight
Biography:
Roy Levesta Jones Jr was born on 16th January 1969 in Pensacola, Florida. His father, Roy Jones Sr, was a disciplinarian who had fought in the Vietnam War. Jones Sr boxed as a middleweight in the 1970s but ended his short career on a losing streak.
He took control of his son’s prospects early on and young Roy excelled as an amateur, winning the Golden Gloves and a gold medal in the 1984 US National Junior Olympics. The Olympics would later cause Jones Jr heartbreak as he lost in the final of the 1988 Seoul Games in what was described as one of the worst decisions of all time.
Turning professional in 1989, Jones raced to 21-0 with 20 KOs before securing a vacant IBF middleweight title shot in 1993 against future great Be