Roy Jones Jr. was outmatched against a much younger opponent. And to the pleasant surprise of many, he didn't end up on the receiving end of a brutal knockout.
Jones took on Anthony Pettis in the main event of Gamebred Boxing 4 Saturday night at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee. It was the boxing legend's first fight since his exhibition bout with Mike Tyson back in 2020.
Unlike Tyson, Jones, 54, was facing someone not close to his age at all in the form of former UFC lightweight champion Pettis who turned 36 earlier this year.
We had seen this script before. A boxing legend far beyond their prime fighting a younger, former UFC champion in the ring only to lose bad.
Instead, Jones performed better than he did against Tyson as he looked more agile and even landed more punches. That said, he couldn't put Pettis away and eventually lost a majority decision with two judges scoring it 77-75 and 78-74 to the latter, while the other had it a 76-76 draw.
The fact that he lasted the distance was a win in itself, but having a competitive fight with one judge scoring it a draw was an even bigger win for Jones who was proud of the fact that he got down to 200 pounds for the fight.
“I want to go out on my shield and be able to do it again as many times as I want to,” Jones said (via ESPN). “So at 54 years old, that's a beautiful thing.”
As for Pettis — fighting in front of his hometown — it was an honor to share the ring with Jones in what was his pro boxing debut.
“He's a legend of the sport,” Pettis said. “I'm going to take it one fight at a time. I'm 1-0 as a pro so I'm excited to see what the future holds. I had a great team behind me and I wanted this.”
Gamebred Boxing 4 was promoted by Jorge Masvidal and featured a number of ex-UFC stars. Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo fought Jeremy Stephens to a majority decision draw on the undercard.
In the co-main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort outpointed Jacare Souza in a contest that saw him earn two knockdowns.
Follow Us
Subscribe