Weights from Thursday’s weigh in for the “Skill vs. Will” Pay Per View card featuring future Hall of Famer Roy Jones, Jr. taking on Bare Knuckle Legend Bobby Gunn. The show will be televised LIVE ON PAY-PER beginning at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT
Bobby Gunn 197.4 – Roy Jones, Jr. 199
(WBF Cruiserweight title)
Kanat Islam 154.2 – Robson Assis 154.6
There was a time when defeat, let alone a nasty KO defeat, was an utterly unthinkable fate for the sublime Roy Jones Junior when he was doing his stuff in the ring. Not any more. Sadly, and no longer shockingly, a stoppage defeat has become a regular occurrence for the man with the once blurring fists and the chilling power.
For reasons only the future Hall of Famer knows (and yes, Jones is still absolutely guaranteed to be enshrined when the time comes, despite his late career embarrassments; ones that cannot erase his former brilliance) Jones continued to risk his health by carrying on fighting after taking that nasty and disturbing KO hammering at the heavy hands of cruiserweight Denis Lebedev in late 2011. Jones should arguably have called it a career even before his Russian disaster – maybe after his KO loss to Glen Johnson, way back in 2004 – but instead the 48 year-old has fought a further 11 bouts since the Lebedev defeat.
Bare Knuckle Boxing Legend Bobby Gunn is ready for his opportunity of a lifetime, when he takes on all-time great Roy Jones, Jr in a bout scheduled for 12 rounds for the WBF Cruiserweight title that will take place on Friday night, February 17th at The Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The bout can be seen LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW.
Gunn of Hackensack, New Jersey has been preparing for this fight, and is ready for the biggest fight of his career. “
As their showdown nears to determine the WBF cruiserweight title, Bobby Gunn boldly offered Roy Jones Jr. via twitter the opportunity to make their fight a winner take all bout.
Gunn wrote yesterday, “Happy Birthday Roy. Fair play to you. God bless you, look forward to seeing you on February 17. Do you fancy winner take all?”
Call them The Fabulous Three if you like, or maybe even Champions Forever. For between them, James Toney, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Junior dominated the middleweight/super-middleweight divisions in the 1990s. A great trio of fighters who rivalled one another for supremacy (Jones and Hopkins fought as did Jones and Toney; what a shame Toney and Hopkins never got it on) each former middleweight king fought on into their forties.
Below are quotes and the video from Tuesday’s press conference announcing the legendary Roy Jones, Jr. taking on Bobby Gunn for the WBF Cruiserweight title.
That bout will take place on February 17th at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
Forget his last twenty or so ring performances, compiled over the last dozen or so years, but it is undeniable how Roy Jones Junior was once a very special fighter indeed. During his prime years of 1993 to 2003, when Jones really did sparkle, the former multi-weight king was the King of Kings, appearing to be all but unbeatable.
If only Jones had retired on top, say after his historically brilliant win over heavyweight titlist John Ruiz. Still, as much damage as Jones has done to his reputation and legacy – did he really get stopped by the likes of Glen Johnson, Danny Green and Enzo Maccarinelli – his extraordinary talent was once undeniable.
Q&A With Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Jones Jr Prepares Isaac Chilemba to Face Oleksandr Gvozdyk on November 19
Pensacola, Florida: As Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) prepares to attempt to reclaim the NABF Light Heavyweight Title from Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs) live on the Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” HBO Pay-Per-View undercard from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada he will have former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. in his corner for the first time. Below Jones assesses the match-up and his observations of the young Malawi native:
Last night in his home town of Pensacola, living legend Roy Jones Junior won a ten-round shutout over fellow veteran, “Rockin'” Rodney Moore. The 47-year old won every round on all cards, emerging with a 100-90 tally on the judges’ sheets. Now 64-9, Jones may have won via a clean mile but he is nothing like the sublime talent he once was.
Jones looks soft physically these days, if not fat; certainly nothing like the chisseled athlete he was in his prime. Finding opponents Jones Jr can beat is no easy task – Moore fit the bill though, having last picked up a win in 2002! If Jones steps up even a little, he runs the risk of losing via nasty KO (see his recent hammering by Enzo Maccarineli).
Roy Jones Junior, now aged 47 and last seen being brutally KO’d by Enzo Maccarinelli is his adopted Russia in his most recent bout of any meaning, will box again on August 13. Set to face fellow veteran Rodney Moore in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida, Jones Jr will reappear after his winning curiosity bout against competition winner and debutant Vyryon Phillips in March.
Jones Jr, 63-9(46) has been shot or close to it for years, certainly nothing like the once untouchable boxing master he was in the 1990s and early 2000s, yet he cannot, for whatever reason, walk away and retire. Against Moore, 17-11-2(7) will be attempting to defeat a 40-year-old cruiserweight who has not won a fight since way back in 2002. “Rocking” Rodney of Houston, Texas has faced a number of good fighters during his 20 year pro career (that saw a gap of inactivity between 2006 and 2011) – including Richard Hall, Darnell Wilson, Andrey Fedesov and, more recently, in June of 2015, Murat Gassiev. But Moore has lost to the names he has faced. Moore has only been stopped once, by the rising Gassiev, but it is unclear how much he has left to offer today.