There is a long, long way to go, but the junior middleweight got that career off to a blistering start in front of a hugely enthusiastic hometown crowd at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday night, with a second-round stoppage of overmatched Italy's Alessio Mastronunzio.

After taking a minute or so to assess what he was dealing with, Jones opened up and was soon landing right hands almost at will; a pair of sharp rights about halfway through the round stiffened Mastronunzio, 14-6 (4 KOs), and had him retreating rapidly across the ring, Jones in pursuit and referee Luis Pabon paying close attention.

Mastronunzio survived the round, but a series of punches from Jones landed cleanly on his chin to open the second and, despite Mastronunzio's protests, prompted Pabon to intervene. Time was 22 seconds of the second round.

“What we saw tonight is a future superstar of American boxing,” exulted Hearn afterward. “I believe over the next couple of years, he’ll be filling not just this place but stadiums as well. Orlando should be very proud of him.”

Hearn announced that the 22-year-old will have his second pro bout on the undercard of Jaron “Boots” Ennis vs Eimantis Stanionis in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on April 12.

Former two-time world title challenger Jamaine Ortiz scored a wide unanimous decision win over Yomar Alamo, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, in a junior welterweight 10-rounder. It was Ortiz's second fight since falling short in a challenge of WBO 140lbs titlist Teofimo Lopez Jnr in February last year. He previously dropped a decision to then-lightweight belt holder Vasyl Lomachenko in October 2022. Ortiz, 19-2-1 (9 KOs), styles himself as “The Technician,” but he was on the front foot and on offense from the opening bell, using his southpaw jab to back Alamo to the ropes repeatedly before opening up with ripping flurries.

Alamo, though, fired back, periodically cracking Ortiz with counters when the action shifted to center ring. A lead right hook and a trilogy of uppercuts from Ortiz snapped back Alamo's head at the end of the fourth, but Alamo appeared untroubled and one round later was smiling to himself as he returned to the corner following a furious exchange.

Despite Alamo’s bravery and bravado, however, Ortiz’s punches were clearly sharper and harder, even if Alamo, 22-4-1 (13 KOs), showed good head movement to blunt the effectiveness of some of his opponent’s offense.

By the final couple of rounds, Alamo’s punches had lost whatever sting they might earlier have carried, but he remained resilient in the face of Ortiz’s consistent offense, and by fight’s end had succeeded in almost closing Ortiz's right eye.

Even so, the scores of 99-91 twice and 98-92 in Ortiz’s favor were no surprise.

In the opening bout of the evening, junior lightweight Carlos de Leon Castro moved to 4-0 (3 KOs) by stopping Carl Rogers in the third round of a scheduled four-rounder. Rogers dropped to 3-2.

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.