NEW YORK – Roy Jones Jr. has reached an agreement with HBO Sports and will rejoin the network as permanent expert analyst on the late-night HBO BOXING AFTER DARK series, it was announced today by Rick Bernstein, senior vice president and executive producer, HBO Sports.
“We were not searching for a permanent analyst on the BOXING AFTER DARK series, but Roy simply blew us away with his performance as a guest analyst last year and we decided it’s time to bring him back,” said Bernstein. “This will be a seamless transition for a person who has been a member of the HBO family since 1992 and will enhance our telecasts.”
The 42-year-old Jones previously served as a boxing analyst at the network from 1996 to 2005, working primarily on the late-night franchise. In returning to his former role, Jones will be teamed with HBO veterans Bob Papa and Max Kellerman on BOXING AFTER DARK.
Destined for the Boxing Hall of Fame, Roy Jones Jr. fought 32 times on HBO, tying Oscar de la Hoya for most appearances on the network while compiling a record of 54-7-0, 40 KOs. He burst upon the boxing scene as a light middleweight in 1988, winning the silver medal for the United States at the Seoul Olympic Games. After a promising amateur career, Jones became one of the great boxers of the era, meeting and conquering every challenge. Named Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America, Jones is a six-time world champion boxer in four weight classes: middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. Jones became the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in more than 100 years when he outclassed titleholder John Ruiz on March 1, 2003.
A native of Pensacola, Fla., Roy Jones Jr. returns to HBO on Feb. 19 for the season premiere of BOXING AFTER DARK as bantamweight stars Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire collide in the main event (9:45 p.m. ET/PT). He will join Papa and Kellerman at ringside in Las Vegas along with unofficial scorer Harold Lederman.