Roy Jones Jr.

Biography

Date of Birth 16 January 1969, Pensacola, Florida, USA Nickname Jr. Height 5' 11" (1.80 m) Trivia Won IBF middleweight crown by beating Bernard Hopkins in 1993; moved up to super middleweight and won IBF title from James Toney in 1994; moved up to light heavyweight division winning WBC (in 1997), WBA (1998) and IBF titles. Became the 2nd Light-Heavyweight (first was Michael Spinks) to win a World Heavyweight Title on March 1, 2003 defeating WBA Champion John Ruiz. 1986 Golden Gloves Champion - Jr. Welterweight 1987 Golden Gloves Champion - Welterweight Abandons IBF Middlewight Title (August 1994) Became the second light heavyweight champion since Michael Spinks in 1985 and the second former middleweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1897 to capture a share of the heavyweight crown by beating John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title (1 March 2003) Children: twin boys DeShaun and DeAndre, Roy III. He is self managed and has steered his pro career without the aid of a promoter. Lost - some say robbed of - the gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea in a controversial decision to Korean Si-hun Park. Jones was presented the Val Barker Cup as the Olympics's Most Outstanding Boxer. Told Howard Stern on his radio show that he fights roosters. Wins IBF Super Middleweight Title (18 November 1994) Wins Vacant IBF Middleweight Title (22 May 1993) Wins Vacant WBC Light Heavyweight Title (22 November 1996) Stripped of the WBC Light Heavyweight Title for failing to meet Graciano Rocchigiani. Jones was "reinstated" as Champion the following May while Rocchigiani was delegated to "Interim Champion" status (5 November 1997) Played 15 minutes and scored 6 points for the United States Basketball League's Jacksonville Barracuda hours before defeating Canadian Eric Lucas in 11 rounds (15 June 1996) Voted the "Fighter of the Decade" in the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Released a record, "Round One, The Album" Attended Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Florida. Personal Quotes "Roy Jones don't play that 'You hit me and I'll hit you.' I hit you and you don't hit me back. I'll fight toe-to-toe, to the death if I have to, but only if I have to. So far I've never had to." "One thing I learned from the '88 Olympics: It's not a question of if they can screw you over; it's a question of if they will. It's not the gold medal they took away from me. The medal doesn't mean anything. It's that they said I lost. That experience is well and alive in my mind."