Tweet
Roy Jones Jr. is ready to get back in the ring.
Jones, attending a Wildlife Benefit at Will Call Sports Grille in downtown Pensacola, said he's planning on fighting again in Pensacola in September. But the four-time world champion isn't sure who his opponent will be or which weight class he'll fight in.
And the fight may not be his last.
"I'm just going to do a quick one to see how I feel," Jones said. "If I still feel like I got it, I might keep going on. If not, I might call it my last one."
Jones' last outing was a light heavyweight bout last April when he lost to Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The loss was the Washington High grad's sixth in 11 fights and second in a row. Jones, who won 49 out of 50 matches to start his career, was unsure at the time if he wanted to continue boxing.
Jones' last fight in Pensacola was in March 2009 against New Jersey's Omar Sheika. In front of a crowd of about 6,500, Jones took down Sheika in five rounds.
In August 2009, Jones defeated former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy in 10 rounds in Biloxi, Miss. But four months later, the 41-year-old defeated by a first-round TKO at the hands of Danny Green, who Jones' promotion company, Square Ring Inc., filed a lawsuit against last June for using illegal hand wrappings during the fight. The suit also claims that Green failed to follow a clause in the fight contract that would allow Jones a rematch and that Green's promotion company, Green Machine Boxing, still owes Jones proceeds from the bout.
On Monday, the Jones camp also filed a lawsuit against UFC fighter Roy "Big Country" Nelson and Zuffa LLC, the company behind UFC.
Nelson fought in an MMA fight, promoted by Square Ring Inc., last year before the Jones-Sheika bout at the Civic Center. Jones' company is alleging that in the contract Nelson signed was a "match clause" that gives Square Ring Inc. the right to match offers made by rival companies in order to keep Nelson's services. That clause allegedly was broken in 2009 when Nelson signed with UFC.
"The lawsuit with Green is about to get settled up," Jones said. "And the other one ... we'll just have to see how it plays out."
Jones was among 83 other people attending the benefit, the proceeds of which go to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida to help wildlife adversely affected by the oil spill.
Jones signed autographs at the event, which raised about $2,000, organizers said.
"I'm enjoying life and doing things like this to help benefit our area," Jones said. "And it's so wonderful to be able to help the Wildlife Sanctuary and help the animals that got messed up in the oil spill."
Jones also employed his 36-foot boat to help skim the Gulf for oil leaked following the April 20 explosion of the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon.
And until he gets back in the ring in September, Jones, an avid fisherman, said he'll continue to enjoy the outdoors.
"I love fishing," Jones said. "I go bass fishing, saltwater, freshwater — every type of fishing. I also like walking through the woods because I just like to see and observe things, like wild turkeys and everything. I love animals and seeing them in the wild because you learn so much from them. I don't think people realize that."
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100804/...341/1002/RSS02
Jones, attending a Wildlife Benefit at Will Call Sports Grille in downtown Pensacola, said he's planning on fighting again in Pensacola in September. But the four-time world champion isn't sure who his opponent will be or which weight class he'll fight in.
And the fight may not be his last.
"I'm just going to do a quick one to see how I feel," Jones said. "If I still feel like I got it, I might keep going on. If not, I might call it my last one."
Jones' last outing was a light heavyweight bout last April when he lost to Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The loss was the Washington High grad's sixth in 11 fights and second in a row. Jones, who won 49 out of 50 matches to start his career, was unsure at the time if he wanted to continue boxing.
Jones' last fight in Pensacola was in March 2009 against New Jersey's Omar Sheika. In front of a crowd of about 6,500, Jones took down Sheika in five rounds.
In August 2009, Jones defeated former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy in 10 rounds in Biloxi, Miss. But four months later, the 41-year-old defeated by a first-round TKO at the hands of Danny Green, who Jones' promotion company, Square Ring Inc., filed a lawsuit against last June for using illegal hand wrappings during the fight. The suit also claims that Green failed to follow a clause in the fight contract that would allow Jones a rematch and that Green's promotion company, Green Machine Boxing, still owes Jones proceeds from the bout.
On Monday, the Jones camp also filed a lawsuit against UFC fighter Roy "Big Country" Nelson and Zuffa LLC, the company behind UFC.
Nelson fought in an MMA fight, promoted by Square Ring Inc., last year before the Jones-Sheika bout at the Civic Center. Jones' company is alleging that in the contract Nelson signed was a "match clause" that gives Square Ring Inc. the right to match offers made by rival companies in order to keep Nelson's services. That clause allegedly was broken in 2009 when Nelson signed with UFC.
"The lawsuit with Green is about to get settled up," Jones said. "And the other one ... we'll just have to see how it plays out."
Jones was among 83 other people attending the benefit, the proceeds of which go to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida to help wildlife adversely affected by the oil spill.
Jones signed autographs at the event, which raised about $2,000, organizers said.
"I'm enjoying life and doing things like this to help benefit our area," Jones said. "And it's so wonderful to be able to help the Wildlife Sanctuary and help the animals that got messed up in the oil spill."
Jones also employed his 36-foot boat to help skim the Gulf for oil leaked following the April 20 explosion of the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon.
And until he gets back in the ring in September, Jones, an avid fisherman, said he'll continue to enjoy the outdoors.
"I love fishing," Jones said. "I go bass fishing, saltwater, freshwater — every type of fishing. I also like walking through the woods because I just like to see and observe things, like wild turkeys and everything. I love animals and seeing them in the wild because you learn so much from them. I don't think people realize that."
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100804/...341/1002/RSS02
Comment