Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones Jr.
Jones in 2012
Born
Roy Levesta Jones Jr.

(1969-01-16) January 16, 1969 (age 55)
Nationality
  • American
  • Russian
Other names
  • Superman
  • Junior
  • RJ
  • Captain Hook
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
Reach74 in (188 cm)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights76
Wins66
Wins by KO47
Losses10
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
National Junior Olympics
Gold medal – first place 1984 Florida Bantamweight
Golden Gloves
Gold medal – first place 1986 Iowa Light Welterweight
Gold medal – first place 1987 Tennessee Light Middleweight
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Nebraska Light Middleweight
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul Light middleweight
Goodwill Games
Silver medal – second place 1986 Moscow Light welterweight

Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship.[2] He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight, and is the only boxer in history to start his professional career at light middleweight and go on to win a heavyweight title. As an amateur boxer he represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a light middleweight silver medal after one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history.[3][4]

Jones is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, pound for pound, and left his mark in the sport's history when he won the WBA heavyweight title in 2003, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in 106 years. In 1999 he became the undisputed light heavyweight champion by unifying the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. During his prime, Jones was known for possessing exceptional hand speed, athleticism, footwork, explosiveness, punching power, movement and reflexes.

As of February 2018, Jones holds the record for the most wins in unified light heavyweight title bouts in boxing history, at twelve. He is ranked by BoxRec as the 29th greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.[5] The Ring magazine named Jones the Fighter of the Year in 1994, and the World Boxing Hall of Fame named him the Fighter of the Year for 2003. He is also a three-time winner of the Best Boxer ESPY Award (1996, 2000, and 2003). The Boxing Writers Association of America named him as the Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s.

Jones currently has the longest professional career of any heavyweight boxing champion, having boxed for over 33 years since 1989 (12,384 days). This record was held previously by Jack Johnson, who also boxed for 33 years between 1897 until 1931 (12,231 days).

  1. ^ a b HBO Sports tale of the tape prior to the John Ruiz fight.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Graham1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Olympic Triumph!". Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "BoxRec ratings: world, pound-for-pound, active and inactive". BoxRec. Retrieved December 30, 2021.