Roy Jones Jr. has sealed his place among the greatest boxers of all time. The Pensacola native and Booker T. Washington High graduate, who went from a spartan Boys Club boxing gym off DeSoto Street, into a historic world champion in four different weight classes during his incredible career, was voted Tuesday into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Jones, 52, who always touted Pensacola in his fights, was a first-ballot selection and easy choice to headline an eight-member class into the Boxing Hall of Fame.The induction ceremony will be held June 12 in Canastota, New York, located 25 miles from Syracuse. The formal induction ceremony will be part of a four-day, series of events in that community to celebrate boxing’s history.
“This is an absolutely marvelous feeling,” said Jones, speaking to boxing media members after his selection. “I’m so honored that I get this opportunity and I can’t wait to go to Canastota and see it come to fruition.”
He will be joined in this Hall of Fame class by James Toney, who Jones defeated by unanimous decision in an epic bout for the International Boxing Federation super middleweight title on November 18, 1994 at the MGM Grand Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Toney was 44-0-2 at the time; Jones was 26-0 in the prime of his career.That fight was considered one of Jones’ all-time greatest bouts.
Other members of the 2022 Boxing Hall of Fame Class are welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, along with female fighters Regina Hamlich and Holly Holm, plus Tod Morgan in the Old Timer category, boxing publicist Bill Caplan, ring announcer Chuck Hull in the non-participant category, long-time boxing writer Ron Borges and historian/producer Bob Yalen.
Jones rose from humble beginnings in Pensacola into a Golden Gloves youth champion, then became the world’s choice in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, after being denied the 156-pound gold medal in a widely-panned, judges’ decision against a South Korean fighter.
The decision was later overturned and Jones was recognized as the winner.As a professional, he became known as the best pound-for-pound fighter of his generation.After making his pro debut on May 6, 1989 at the Pensacola Bay Center, Jones rose from junior middleweight to super middleweight champion.
His only loss in his first eight years of fighting was a controversial disqualification in 1997 against Montel Griffin for the World Boxing Council Light Heavyweight title. He then avenged that decision by quickly knocking out Griffin in a rematch five months later and won his next 15 fights, including a heavyweight title against John Ruiz in 2003. That win made Jones the first boxer in 100 years to go from a middleweight to heavyweight champion. Essentially, Jones did not lose a fight from 1989 until 2004 in a TKO lost against fellow Floridian Antonio Tarver.
Jones finished with a record of 66 wins, nine losses – and all of those losses after turning 30.
His final fight occurred at the Pensacola Bay Center on August 2, 2018 when he defeated Scott Sigman for a cruiserweight title despite breaking his hand. It was part of the Island Fights series.
Jones always shouted “Pensacola In The House” after each of his victorious fights and made sure that several of his world title bouts, including ones on HBO to a world-wide audience, were held in Pensacola.
His Hall of Fame induction will put Jones on a mantle of greatness with fellow Pensacola athletes – running back Emmitt Smith and linebacker Derrick Brooks — both enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and pitcher Don Sutton, who is enshrined at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, not far from the Boxing Hall of Fame.
These four men all grew up in Pensacola, graduated from local high schools, and provide Pensacola a rare distinction in America sports history as respective Hall of Famers from a community this size.
