- 5/21/2025
Roy Jones Jr makes the first defense of his IBF Middleweight title against Thulane "Sugar Boy" Malinga on HBO Boxing
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00:00to it? Well I'm not sure. That's a different level of opposition. I'm not
00:07sure how good Hernandez is but I understand that he's undefeated. He was
00:12very impressive in his last fight. I don't know still what the rush is with
00:17De La Hoya. He's still 20 years old, nine professional fights. Perhaps all the
00:23amateur fights he has really means he has had much more experience than a man
00:28with nine professional fights. My own view is to let him grow into his body
00:32and fight it lightweight but he's their man and they haven't done anything wrong
00:39yet so maybe they're right. The blue sky feeling is that because of the sparkling
00:44personality, the style in the ring, the Latino American appeal, the ability to
00:49appeal to two cultures that in terms of stardom the sky is the limit. You agree?
00:53Well the sky probably is the limit for him but I would remind him that they're
00:58there have been many great fighters who have just been great in one division. You
01:02don't have to win five titles to be a great fighter and that seems to be some
01:08spur to his ambition. The idea of winning a whole lot of titles even if in my view
01:15anything between 130 and 140 is lightweight anyway. All right let's turn
01:19our attention now to the next fight and another red-hot rising superstar Roy
01:23Jones. You said in Washington a few months ago before his IBF middleweight
01:28title winning performance against Bernard Hopkins that it was time to
01:32temper the expectations lower them a little bit for Roy Jones and sure enough
01:36he lived down to those lower expectations in that fight. I didn't
01:40realize he would but I said that because obviously nobody hits a home run every
01:46time in baseball or in boxing and Roy Jones had been raised to a point where
01:53everybody was expecting him to do such great things in every fight or every
01:59round or every minute of every round that it really was something that
02:04couldn't be realized every time out. Having said that by his own admission he
02:11didn't fight his best fight in his biggest fight and that's not a good sign.
02:16He himself says he fought tentatively. Why does a fighter fight tentatively in
02:22the big fight when that's supposed to be the time to fight your best? We don't
02:27know. One of the things I've observed about him is that he seems to be a young
02:32man with that rare combination of great power and great quickness inside a body
02:40that really wants to be a boxer and so he he'll only punch when he thinks he
02:46has the man at a tremendous disadvantage. He'll box otherwise. The fact that he's
02:51knocked out 20 fairly easy opponents and gone the distance twice with the
02:57good opponents is some kind of anomaly that we can't explain so far. Tonight he
03:04has a different problem. The problem tonight is to look good against a
03:08fighter with a style it's almost impossible to look good against that
03:13could be an opportunity for him. All right let's get ready to learn more. As
03:16you may know Roy Jones jr.'s professional career got off to a slow
03:20start. It kick-started into rapid motion after a midstream decision that he made.
03:25It may be the toughest choice that Roy Jones jr. will ever make in his life.
03:35Sometimes people are remembered more for what wasn't than for what was. It's the
03:40central element in Roy Jones jr.'s identity. At the 1988 Olympic Games in
03:47Seoul, Jones's phenomenal talent burst across America's television screens as
03:52he overwhelmed his Korean finals opponent. Jones was the second coming of
03:56Ray Leonard but then came the decision.
04:05Though corrupt judges robbed him of his gold medal, Jones was the governing
04:09Federation's choice as most outstanding boxer of the Olympics. I was like well if
04:14I'm the best boxer here how come I'm not wearing a gold medal? And you know it
04:19didn't really give me any consolation though because I was crushed for two
04:23days about that medal. Then I thought about it you know and I said well I
04:27think God bless me with something more valuable than a gold medal because right now
04:31today people still remember me from the Olympics. More so than they do the guys who
04:36won gold medals. But the trauma of losing seemed to knock Jones off course for
04:40years. He thought about quitting for several months then turned pro choosing
04:45his father, himself a former boxer, as his manager. Roy Jones senior was intensely
04:50suspicious of the boxing establishment and after two quick fights on national
04:54television he forced his son into a holding pattern of obscurity for nearly
04:58four years. Jones jr. was matched against a parade of inept opponents in and around
05:04his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. While several of his Olympic teammates were
05:08winning world titles, critics and fans were writing off Roy Jones jr.'s
05:13apparently lost career. I could see where they were saying that I wasn't moving
05:18fast enough. I could understand that but my father just didn't think that I was
05:23ready to move like that yet. Roy jr. was a little more anxious to to get his
05:28career moving than Roy senior. Roy senior said he could train his son for 10 years
05:33for a fight and he'd want to train him 10 years in a day. Father-son teams have
05:37bad karma. Joe Frazier pushed Marvis too fast. Howard Davis jr. never won a title
05:43under his dad. Robert Chez senior committed suicide and by early last year
05:49Roy Jones jr. was becoming increasingly miserable under his father. My will to
05:55get up every morning and go jogging and to train hard every day was just
05:59starting to depreciate because I didn't see any title shot coming anytime soon.
06:05Someone of Roy Jones jr.'s talent should have been in the ring with somebody that
06:09could really teach him something but when you knock a guy out in 46 seconds
06:13how much do you learn? So he basically said I love my father but I don't want
06:18him as a trainer or a manager. Basically they haven't talked for at least a
06:22year which is very sad. It's not a good relationship but with time it'll
06:26probably get better. I think he's starting to realize why I had to do what
06:31I had to do. Liberated from his father, Roy jr. took charge. Since bringing the
06:37widely respected Alton Merkerson on board as his trainer, Jones has won a
06:41slice of the middleweight title and under the business guidance of two local
06:45attorneys he has signed a multi-million dollar television deal. There's a
06:50four-person roundtable in the sense that every time there's a big decision to be
06:54made they say the bottom line decision is Roy's but they all three of all four
06:58of them discuss it. Blessed with a marketable hot dog style and sensational
07:04boxing skills, Jones finally seems on the verge of his superstar destiny.
07:08Ironically, his father's decision to hold him back for so long seems to have
07:13achieved its purpose. Roy jr. has had the time to mature and put the precarious
07:18life of a celebrity into perspective. Though he's a huge hero in Pensacola,
07:22Jones has remained accessible and down-to-earth. He lives modestly on a
07:27small farm and has no plans for the moment to leave his hometown.
07:33I feel very good about Pensacola. You can hunt, you can fish. I can sit here and entertain myself in my own
07:39backyard all day. Never would have to leave the house. But first, it appears Roy
07:45Jones is going to be entertaining a lot of other people for a long time to come.
07:52And as we bring it back live at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,
07:58Roy Jones Jr. prepares to try to entertain against an opponent who has
08:03Larry Merchant suggested might present a difficult style against which to
08:08entertain. Tulani Sugar Boy Malinga has seen his last 10 fights go the distance,
08:1421 of the last 24. He is almost entirely, Larry, a defensive fighter.
08:20And not only that, but he's been promised a fight against the winner of the Van
08:27Eubank fight, which is a very big fight in Great Britain in the fall, if he goes
08:33the distance tonight. So this is a fight he could have been trained
08:38by an accountant, because all he wants to do is survive, not thrive.
08:43And to further complicate the dilemma for Malinga, he acknowledges, as does his
08:49manager trainer, Nick Durant, that he's not a heavy puncher. Yet on the other
08:53hand, he says that he would never expect to get a decision against Roy Jones here
08:57on the Gulf Coast. So he believes that in order to win the fight, he would have to
09:01score a knockout. Curiouser and curiouser. Like the record, 35 wins, 8 losses.
09:08All 35 wins in South Africa against South African opposition. Every time he's
09:13ventured outside the country, he's lost. The four times he fought against world
09:17heavyweight champions, he lost decisions to all four. Among them, Nigel Ben,
09:22Chris Eubank, Lindell Holmes. None of those men, however, all of whom have
09:26punching power, none of them were able to knock Malinga out. And now here comes
09:32perhaps the most powerful puncher to come along in years in these weight
09:37classes. IBF world middleweight champion Roy Jones Jr. Last fight, as we told him,
09:43against Bernard Hopkins, Washington, D.C. Under guard of Bo Ferguson. Won a 12-round
09:48decision against Hopkins. And although it was a unanimous decision and a fairly
09:54easy one, it raised as many questions as it answered. But not for his followers from Pensacola.
10:03About 700 of them have followed him three or four hours up the road to Bay St. Louis.
10:13There he is, a man who loves to lead his own parade.
10:32This is the fourth appearance for Jones on HBO. In each of his three preceding
10:38appearances, he was relatively sullen and taciturn in pre-fight meetings and
10:43in the days leading up to the bout. Here he has been ebullient, almost to the
10:48point of being giddy. And he said that he would put on a show tonight.
10:54The record, 20 wins by KO, two more wins by decision against Jorge Castro and
11:02Bernard Hopkins. Of Castro, he simply says that was a tough opponent. Of Hopkins,
11:08he says, hey, the most important thing was to win the fight. It was for my first
11:13championship. It was a big showcase. I was a little bit nervous. Maybe I could have
11:18done better, but I was satisfied to get the decision. And we take a look at the
11:22tail of the tape. You'll see that Roy Jones is nine years younger than his
11:27opponent, Sugar Boy Malinga. They are identical in height. Jones weighed in at
11:31166. Some speculate he will never be back down to 160 again, although he says he's
11:36going to defend that title. Punch stat numbers, Larry. And our punch stat numbers
11:41are identical, which proves that they don't prove anything in that respect. But
11:47perhaps they do prove something where the power punches are concerned. Jones is
11:52much more powerful. Rules for the bout from Harold Lederman. Harold. Roy Jones Jr.
11:59and Sugar Boy Malinga will box tonight using the rules of the Mississippi State
12:03Athletic Commission. Ten rounds. The standing eight count is in effect. The
12:07three knockdown rule is in effect. Only the referee can stop the fight. You can
12:11be saved by the bell in the last round only, and in case a cut is caused by an
12:15accidental headbutt, and that cut causes the fight to be stopped, we go to the
12:19scorecards if the three rounds have been completed. Before that, it's a technical
12:23draw. Jim? All right, let's go to the sport's most famous dinner jacket, Michael
12:27Buffer, for the pre-fight introductions. Ladies and gentlemen, Top Rank
12:31Incorporated and Square Ring Golden Gloves, in association with Budweiser,
12:36proud to be your bud, present the featured bout of the evening. Once again,
12:41this bout is sanctioned by the Mississippi State Athletic Commission,
12:44Chairman Billy Lyons. All the officials at ringside shall remain the same, except
12:49for the judges and referee. The three officials assigned to ringside to score
12:53this bout on a ten-point must system are Chester Como, Martin Casino, and Freddie
12:59Steinwinder. And when the bell rings, the man in charge of the action, referee
13:04Elmo Adolph. And now, ladies and gentlemen, from the boxing capital of the Deep South,
13:10Casino Magic, here in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,
13:16let's get ready to rumble!
13:23Ten rounds of boxing in the super middleweight division. Introducing first,
13:28fighting out of the blue corner, wearing the red, gold, and black trunks, and
13:33weighing in at an even 165 pounds. This master boxer has a professional record
13:38of 35 and 8, including 13 KOs, and he's ranked number eight in the world by the
13:44WBC. He comes to us tonight from Transvaal, South Africa. Ladies and
13:49gentlemen, let's welcome Tulane Sugarboy Malinga!
13:59And his opponent across the ring, fighting out of the red corner, wearing
14:04the gold trunks, and weighing in at 166 pounds. This 1988 Olympic silver medalist
14:12is now undefeated with a professional record of 22 and 0, 20 by KOs. He
14:18currently holds the IBF middleweight title. Ladies and gentlemen, from Pensacola,
14:23Florida, presenting the IBF middleweight champion of the world, Roy Jones Jr.
14:42Sugarboy. Hi, Roy. Hi, Roy Sugarboy. I've given both of you instructions in your
14:49dressing rooms. I expect you to obey the rules. I expect you to listen to my
14:53commands at all times. Let's have a good fight. I'm out fighting.
15:00This could be an ugly one, Jim, unless Roy Jones decides to make it something
15:06better. It's up to him. And that is what Tulane Malinga's people suspect is Roy
15:13Jones's frame of mind, and they think he's going to attack early to try for a
15:18sensational knockout. Any knockout against Malinga is sensational. Remember,
15:23Sugarboy has seen his last 10 fights go the distance, 21 of the last 24, a lot of
15:28them against heavy punchers like Nigel Benn and Chris Eubanks.
15:38Jones said that he would have to get a look at Malinga early to see how he would
15:41target him, but then at another point in our discussion, he promised early in the
15:45bout to throw nine straight left hooks to the body at some point. He said, I
15:50really believe the left hook to the body can work. I want to throw nine in a row
15:54of them. And there's a solid left hook to start things off for Jones.
16:01Malinga counts among his weapons, to the degree that they are weapons, an extended
16:18left jab. Sometimes he paws with it, sometimes he snaps it, but it's really the
16:23length of the jab and its importance as a defensive weapon that means more to him.
16:29He'll bring the right hand over the top, but cautiously.
16:33No two fighters have the same style, but try to compare in your mind's eye how
16:39Oscar De La Hoya fights and how Roy Jones fights. Oscar De La Hoya coming straight
16:45ahead in a classic style with his arms up, throwing punches, trying to force
16:52openings. Watch how Jones fights instead. In and out, throwing punches from awkward
17:00angles, depending on his unbelievable quickness and reflexes.
17:06What about the tendency of boxing writers and others in the sport to compare
17:10Jones to Sugar Ray Leonard? Simply convenient or valid?
17:15Well, Jones himself has said, I don't want to be a second Ray Leonard, I want to be
17:19a first Ray Jones. To put it another way, I knew Ray Leonard, Roy Jones is no Ray Leonard.
17:29Not yet anyway.
17:32Jones whacks with the right hand to the body. Malinga in such a defensive posture
17:37early that it's difficult for Jones to find the target. He's trying to feint and fake
17:41a little bit now to see if he can create an opening.
17:45Right hand roundhouse, landed but may not have had any effect on Tulane Malinga.
17:52Sugar Boy, as he likes to be called, from the Trans Fowl. He is a Zulu tribe member.
18:01I just saw a praying mantis fly across the ring. I don't know what symbolism that is.
18:08Malinga, shaking his head as if to say, why throw punches against my bunched up guard like that?
18:14First three minutes, relatively uneventful.
18:18Okay, they ain't got him coming at you guys.
18:21I thought.
18:23In the back.
18:24Damn.
18:25That's all.
18:26Okay.
18:27They got him with a tight.
18:28I got it.
18:29They got him with a tight defense. Just keep fecking him with the jab until you open up.
18:33They got him with a tight defense. Just keep fecking him with the jab until you open up.
18:36They ain't going to have him coming to you, like they do with everybody else.
18:40Just go ahead and keep fecking him.
18:43That's good.
18:44I'm sorry. You okay?
18:47I'm sorry.
18:48You're courting nicely to the body now. Keep that. Keep your hands up at all times.
18:58What do you think?
18:59I'm thinking, bro.
19:00What?
19:01Keep your head chilling, bro.
19:02Chilling?
19:03No more questions.
19:06Malinga is 34 years old.
19:09He's made his living for 11 years as a professional fighter.
19:14And as you saw in that first round, he is a professional fighter.
19:19Or maybe a professional defender.
19:22He threw 12 punches in round one, Larry.
19:24And landed one of them, according to punch count numbers.
19:27But he did create a quandary for Jones.
19:30As Jones tried to find a way to attack.
19:33You think that Malinga in American is Malingerer?
19:36Is that what you're trying to say?
19:38That is the suggestion, indeed.
19:41A little bit more active now, though, as round two begins.
19:46You heard trainer manager Nick Durant whispering to Malinga,
19:49offering an effective attack plan.
20:01Malinga throws one punch at a time and then covers with both hands.
20:05Or just covers with both hands.
20:14Jones using the jab more to keep himself busy than for any other constructive reason.
20:19Lands a right uppercut, though, as Malinga lunges slightly.
20:23The other fighter you should keep in mind as you watch this is James Toney.
20:28Because they may be on a collision course.
20:31This guy is almost impossible to knock out.
20:34But Jones has him in trouble a little bit now.
20:37Midway through round two.
20:39Malinga hunting now to try to get himself out of trouble.
20:43Roy landed an explosive left hand in there.
20:46Malinga seems a little bit outside of himself now.
20:49Malinga seems a little bit outside of himself now as he wails away
20:53to try to get Jones off of him.
20:55Roy looking for an opening to throw the right.
21:10Blood around the nose of Tulane Malinga.
21:14And through the peek-a-boo defense, Jones landed another left hook.
21:18Now Jones switches to a southpaw stance and lands lead left hands.
21:22And Malinga's in serious trouble.
21:26Another lead left hand out of the southpaw stance.
21:29A new wrinkle for Jones, working big time in round two.
21:36Still the southpaw stance.
21:38A little of the old Marvin Hagler here, Larry.
21:40A little of the old Marvin Hagler here, Larry.
21:47I'm not sure why he turned to southpaw except that he was having a difficult time
21:51fighting the standard way and so he just turned it around to see what would happen
21:56and what happened was something good for him.
21:59Still fighting out of the southpaw stance.
22:02What's been effective here is the lead left hand.
22:04Coying with the jab.
22:09Referee Elmo Adolph giving Malinga a moment to straighten himself up
22:13off those loose ropes.
22:15And Sugar Boy makes it out of round two,
22:18but Roy Jones makes a little noise.
22:26Thanks.
22:28Sugar, I tried with this boy.
22:31Don't try it with this boy.
22:33Try it in the later rounds.
22:35Don't try it with him.
22:37Get down low.
22:39Like I said, get down low.
22:41Don't try it.
22:47Alright, we're going to watch this combination in real time
22:51to get an idea of just what people talk about
22:54when they talk about Roy Jones' incredible quickness.
23:02There you see a slip.
23:05Jones takes advantage of it coming from the left hand side
23:09and hurts him just a little bit.
23:13Round three begins.
23:15We told you earlier about the treatment of Oscar De La Hoya's left hand
23:19by Dr. Tony Daly in Los Angeles.
23:22Poetically, Roy Jones has had the same problem with his right hand
23:27and also has been treated in the same way
23:29by the same doctor, Dr. Tony Daly.
23:32When he turned southpaw briefly against Bernard Hopkins,
23:35it may have been because his right hand was bothering him
23:38and he wanted to use the left hand for power punching.
23:41When he did so here, we think it was probably more for a tactical reason
23:46than to protect the right hand.
23:48He says the hand isn't bothering him that much now.
23:59Malinga, with his wits fully collected,
24:02goes back into his defensive style
24:04for the first minute of round three.
24:06Jones, back in a conventional stance,
24:09begins to paw tentatively with the jab again.
24:30Look at how Malinga holds the left shoulder up in front of his face.
24:34An entirely defensive posture.
24:36Now, a cracking left hook.
24:38Now, a jab.
24:40Now, a jab.
24:42Now, a jab.
24:44Now, a jab.
24:46Now, a jab.
24:48Now, a jab.
24:50Now, a jab.
24:52Now, a jab.
24:54Now, a jab.
24:56Now, a jab.
24:57Now, a kaput.
24:59Now, a cracking left hook to the rib cage,
25:01landed solidly, and backed Malinga up.
25:03And another left hook lands flush on the face.
25:09So, Roy Jones is getting through that peek-a-boo defense occasionally.
25:14Can he do it with two or three punches in a row?
25:17That may be the big question of the evening.
25:21Solid combo to the body by Jones.
25:27Didn't quite crack it.
25:30Misses with the right.
25:34Malinga lands a right hand and Jones clowns around
25:37and then whacks with the left hook to the body again.
25:42Right hand lead was blocked.
25:47Short right landed inside for Jones as Malinga lunged forward.
25:58Stop! Stop! Stop!
26:00Don't stick your tongue out, all right?
26:02Referee Elmo Adolph stops the action to tell Jones
26:05not to stick his tongue out at Tulane Malinga.
26:09And the story there is that Adolph,
26:11referee's amateur bouts as well,
26:13has been doing Roy Jones fights in this neighborhood,
26:16both amateur and professional, for about 10 years.
26:19They know each other very well.
26:22Take your water bottle.
26:24I'm not drunk.
26:26You've got to use your jab.
26:28Rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse.
26:34Drink that.
26:36You've still got one year to drink.
26:39I'm good.
26:41Keep tapping with your jab, though.
26:43Offset it.
26:45You're going to the body, good.
26:47Spoke to the head up top.
26:49You're working good.
26:51Take everything.
26:53Come on, take it.
26:55Let's go.
26:57Let's go.
26:59Let's go.
27:01Let's go.
27:03Let's go.
27:05Let's go.
27:08There you see the stuff
27:10that has worked for Jones
27:12trying to distract his opponent.
27:15But that has to be a first for me,
27:17seeing a fighter warned for sticking out his tongue.
27:20Never seen that one before.
27:22I wonder if he momentarily thought
27:24he was back in an amateur boxing ring.
27:28Jones told a story the other day
27:30as a youngster on a farm
27:32trying to pull a horse out of a pool.
27:34Yes, he did.
27:36Fascinating story.
27:38Lengthy story.
27:40A sign of what a good mood he was in.
27:42Yes, that he may have just as difficult
27:44a time of knocking Malinga out.
27:46Yeah, this may be a lot like
27:48pulling a horse out of a pool.
27:50And there was some frustration
27:52involved in that lengthy process.
27:56Left uppercut.
27:58Very good body punch by Jones.
28:02Well, there's one similarity
28:04between Malinga and La Jolla, Larry.
28:06When he lands that left to the body,
28:08it sets up a lot of other things for him.
28:20Two more left to the body.
28:24Jones rapidly seizing on the left hook to the body
28:27as the key to a possible strategy
28:29for breaking down Malinga's defenses.
28:32Jones said before this fight
28:34that at one point he would land
28:36nine straight hooks to the body.
28:38So far, he's had a hard enough time
28:40just dealing with Malinga.
28:43Hasn't been able to call his shots yet.
28:48Roundhouse rights and lefts.
28:53More quick left to the body inside.
28:55Malinga scuffling here and there.
28:59Putting up just enough of an offense
29:01to knock Jones off him.
29:05Fighting for all the world
29:07like a man who believes that his next big step
29:10is the winner of Ben Eubank,
29:12his prize for going the distance here.
29:16Yet he's been a little bit more aggressive
29:18than I would have thought by Jones.
29:20He has come forward against Jones,
29:23who likes to have all the space
29:25he can get to operate well.
29:27I guess that's the only way to fight him.
29:32Yeah, I guess you don't want to back up against Jones
29:35because then you give him the chance
29:37to establish all the initiative.
29:40See, this is what traditionalists
29:42don't like about Jones.
29:44His posturing, his movement,
29:46instead of just settling down and going to work.
29:49Once again, he's turned southpaw.
29:51Yeah, but that time the double clutch with the feet
29:53set up a left hook that landed.
29:55And you're right, back to the southpaw stance.
29:59It was effective for him in round three.
30:05Sets up a left hook to the body here.
30:11Look for left hand leads out of the southpaw stance.
30:15That time he lands a left behind the right jab.
30:18More blood out of the nose of Malenga
30:20as round four ends.
30:24Deep breath in and out.
30:26In and out.
30:33Give me some of that water there.
30:35Other water. Another one.
30:37I got it. I got it.
30:41Harold Letterman, give us your score through four rounds.
30:45Larry, four rounds to nothing.
30:4740 to 36, Roy Jones Jr.
30:49Let me tell you something, this guy really impresses me.
30:51I want to tell you, I think that was a 15 punch combination
30:54he threw in round two.
30:55Everything he throws is combinations.
30:57He's got the quickest hands for a big man
30:59I've ever seen since Muhammad Ali.
31:01Everything he throws, four, five, six shots at a time,
31:04he is vicious.
31:06Harold Letterman, the premier editorialist
31:09among American boxing judges.
31:11Thank you very much, Mr. Letterman.
31:15Round five begins, scheduled for 10.
31:18Roy Jones Jr. hoping to give a lot of home fans
31:22from Pensacola who've made the drive up the Gulf Shore
31:25to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,
31:27a showcase knockout against an opponent
31:30as tough to knock out as anybody
31:32in the middleweight or super middleweight classes.
31:39Malinga has spent much of his career, incidentally,
31:42as a light heavyweight,
31:44so he's coming down in weight for this bout,
31:46and that's yet another reason to believe
31:48that he may be able to stand his ground
31:50against the hard-punching Jones.
32:11When Jones goes to his conventional stance,
32:14the action slows down.
32:16Things tend to heat up on both sides
32:19as Roy switches to southpaw.
32:21Now he throws Malinga to the canvas.
32:23It's a slip, not a knockdown.
32:25Referee Elmo Adolph wipes the gloves,
32:27and they go back at it.
32:36Give me a towel.
32:39And now Adolph stops the action
32:42and wants a dry towel,
32:44apparently to wipe up a wet spot on the floor.
32:46Yep, when Malinga went down,
32:48he blotted the canvas.
32:55There is nothing you can do here
32:57in this area of Mississippi without sweating.
33:00Uh, the only surprise is that
33:02they haven't had to do this more often.
33:06This is a jam-packed tent.
33:09They are standing on the rims.
33:13Indeed, under the circumstances,
33:15they've done a pretty good job
33:16of keeping it comfortable in here.
33:18You might have expected a lot worse.
33:23As you pointed out earlier today,
33:25even golf is a contact sport here.
33:27Contact with the weather.
33:35Now tell me, what was that?
33:37Showboating.
33:40Looking for a better camera angle, perhaps.
33:51That right hand brought him out of their seats.
33:54And now Jones slips on the wet spot
33:56as he tries to gain traction to follow up.
33:59So a brief moment of relief there for Malinga
34:02as Roy Jones was unable to throw anything behind him.
34:05A moment of relief there for Malinga
34:07as Roy Jones was unable to throw anything
34:09behind the heavy right hand
34:11as he slipped and slid
34:13all over the wet spot in the ring.
34:26Adolph again wants to wipe it.
34:29He noticed, just as we did,
34:31that Jones had trouble gaining leverage
34:33on the wet surface.
34:34So the clock stops for the second time in round five.
34:44Harold Lederman, what's the precedent for this
34:46and what else can be done?
34:48Well, Jim, really, the only thing he can do
34:50is spread a little bit of rosin around.
34:52But I tell you, I haven't seen rosin in either corner.
34:54I don't know if they have any here.
34:56Let's go back for a moment to the round
34:58in which the referee warned Jones
35:00for sticking his tongue out.
35:01You ever seen anything like that?
35:03All he wanted to do was stop him from showboating.
35:05And, you know, he's keeping good control
35:07of the fight, the referee.
35:08So I think he was perfectly within his rights to do that.
35:11You don't need a guy showboating.
35:13Round five comes to a close now.
35:16If, in fact, the bell rings.
35:19We didn't hear it. Fighters didn't hear it.
35:21But Elmo said he heard it.
35:23So that's the end of round five
35:25between Roy Jones and Tulane Sugarboy Malinga.
35:30Larry Merchant mentioned
35:32that it is a jam-packed tent
35:35here on the grounds of Casino Magic.
35:37They sold standing room tickets, lots of them.
35:40And the people who bought them are standing
35:43around the outer reaches of the arena.
35:46We understand there are plans to build a 9,000-seat arena.
35:50So boxing, big-time boxing, comes to Mississippi.
35:57Here's the one effective punch
35:59that Jones landed in that round.
36:02That probably won him the round.
36:05Probably was enough to win him the round.
36:08That was a thumper.
36:10Referee Elmo Adolph visited both corners between rounds.
36:14All right, let's go.
36:17Well, he clearly wants to keep control of the bout.
36:21Now Jones goes back to his corner for his mouthpiece.
36:26What I would like to see Jones doing here
36:29is going straight at Malinga and breaking him down.
36:39Instead of just winging shots
36:41and hoping to hurt him with one shot.
36:43But that style does keep him from getting hit back.
36:46When you go in, you're taking risks.
36:48You're getting the risk of being hit.
36:52Jones, with his amazing reflexes,
36:54doesn't have to take those risks.
36:56Would he be better able to break down Malinga systematically
36:59if he were more willing to use the jab as a weapon
37:02rather than just a range finder?
37:04Absolutely. Move in behind the jab.
37:08It's something he ought to be able to do.
37:11With all that talent and hand quickness,
37:13he should have one of the stiffest jabs in the sport.
37:16But somewhere early in his career,
37:19he found out that he didn't have to abide
37:22by the normal rules of the game because of that quickness.
37:25So there's no incentive for him to learn that.
37:29Well, maybe the incentive will grow as the opposition toughens.
37:38Another slip from Malinga.
37:40This time, Elmo Adolph doesn't see fit to stop the action.
37:43I don't think a punch has landed thus far in round 6
37:47and we're more than halfway through.
37:57Straight left hand was spectacular.
38:013, 4, 5, 6...
38:04Second knockdown of Malinga's recent career.
38:07The other was by Chris Eubanks.
38:09And this is it.
38:11For the first time in 11 fights,
38:13Jelani Malinga has been knocked out.
38:16And I'll tell you, Larry,
38:18you don't like seeing him go for one shot at a time,
38:20but what a shot that was.
38:22Right. And as I said,
38:24he has those amazing reflexes to get away with it
38:27without having to put himself at risk.
38:29That's exactly what happened there.
38:33Well, Roy told us he would celebrate to the camera,
38:35and there it is.
38:37Turns, finds the red light, and gives us his best.
38:42A sensational one-shot,
38:456th round knockout of Jelani Sugarboy Malinga.
38:49I repeat, a fighter who had gone the distance
38:51in each of his last 10 fights
38:53against fighters like Chris Eubanks and Nigel Benn
38:56and Lindell Holmes.
38:57And here is starched by Roy Jones.
39:04Which I suppose will set up
39:07the possibility or probability
39:09of that fight with James Toney
39:11sometime early next year.
39:13At 168 pounds.
39:15Well, let's take a look at the knockout punch, Larry.
39:18There it is, a lead left hook.
39:23Followed by another short left inside
39:25that finished him off,
39:26but really it was the lead left hook.
39:29Took a second and a half for his parachute to open
39:32to fall to the canvas
39:34because it was so quick he didn't see it.
39:36And those are the punches that do the most damage.
39:44James Toney is the former IBF middleweight champion
39:47who has now moved up to 168 pounds.
39:54He has had a couple of spectacular performances
39:57as a counterpuncher.
39:58Let's look at this in real speed
39:59and see if Malinga got a full count.
40:02I don't think that referee Elmo Adolph
40:04thought that the full count was necessary.
40:06I think he elected to stop the bout anyway,
40:09regardless of whether Malinga made the ten count.
40:12That's my judgment of that.
40:14I think that Malinga was up before ten.
40:16I think Adolph had made up his mind to stop the bout.
40:18You agree, Harold Lederman?
40:20Jim, you couldn't let him go any further.
40:22He was out.
40:23He was on his feet, but he was out.
40:25The referee was completely right.
40:27Whether he got to ten or not
40:29made absolutely no difference whatsoever.
40:31This guy got hit by a vicious shot
40:33and he was gone.
40:34Should the referee, in making that decision,
40:37take into account Malinga's spectacular record
40:40of having finished against tough opponents?
40:42No, sir.
40:43I would have called it a KO,
40:44stopped it before Malinga got killed.
40:46Thank you, Harold.
40:47Let's go up to ring announcer Michael Buffer now
40:49for the official particulars.
40:51Ladies and gentlemen, referee Elmo Adolph
40:53reaches the count of ten, the official time.
40:56One minute, 57 seconds of round number six.
41:00The winner by knockout victory,
41:02still undefeated,
41:04the 23-0, 21 KOs,
41:07the IBF middleweight champion of the world,
41:11Ron Balls Jr.
41:19So, in two fights that looked somewhat different
41:22from one another,
41:23we wind up with virtually the same result.
41:26Malinga scored his TKO at .210 of the 6th
41:30and Jones gets his knockout of Malinga
41:32at .157 of the 6th.
41:34Total punches in the bout,
41:36Roy Jones threw more than twice as many punches
41:39as Malinga,
41:40landed a much higher percentage.
41:42The last one of the 109
41:44was the one that counted
41:46a solid left hook that put Malinga away.
41:50And now Larry Merchant stands by
41:52with the sweaty but happy winner.
41:55All right, Roy, congratulations.
41:58With his reputation for going the distance,
42:00had you despaired that you could ever get a knockout
42:04after the first few rounds?
42:05No, I never thought I could not get a knockout.
42:08I knew that if I took my time,
42:10the center of the ring was very wet
42:11and every time I tried to throw my combinations,
42:13I started slipping.
42:14So, I was trying to unload on my hooks
42:15and my foot would slip
42:16and I just started trying to make him come out of that spot,
42:18but he wouldn't.
42:19He was trying to trick me into the spot,
42:20so I kept trying to trick him
42:21and the fight got a little dead for a second,
42:23but I had him set up for the left hand the whole time.
42:28This is a very defensive fighter.
42:31Explain what you felt were the problems
42:33in breaking him down.
42:34Whoa, whoa.
42:36Whoa, what a shot.
42:37The problem breaking him down was that,
42:39exactly what you said,
42:40he was a very defensive fighter
42:41and plus he threw decent counter punches
42:44when you came at him.
42:45And then when he came at me,
42:46if I came at him and he came at me at the same time,
42:48he came in with his head
42:49and he would headbutt me
42:50if I wouldn't have watched myself.
42:51What up, K-Legs, KG, everybody hoop.
42:54What does this mean for your career?
42:56Roy, what does this mean for your career,
42:58do you think,
42:59in terms of whether you're going to move up to 168 pounds
43:03and fight James Toney
43:04or whether you're going to defend your title at 160?
43:07One thing I need to clear up is that
43:09I don't go up looking for no particular fighter.
43:11I'll go up to 168,
43:12I'll fight whoever at 168
43:14that I feel like I want to,
43:15or that would feel like they would fight.
43:16It isn't just a James Toney thing,
43:17it isn't anybody's thing.
43:18It doesn't make no difference who it is,
43:20I'll fight anybody at any weight.
43:22But right now I'm going to go back down
43:23and defend my middleweight title
43:24maybe three more times if it's necessary,
43:26then I'll go up to the super middleweight
43:28and light heavyweight division.
43:29So I'm not going around looking for one particular person,
43:31I'm looking for what's best for Roy.
43:33So you're not saying that you have real difficulty
43:37in making the middleweight limit of 160 pounds,
43:40you're saying you want to extend your boundaries
43:43to the possible opponents of moving up if it's there.
43:46Right, and I'm saying that I'd like to thank God
43:48for everything he's given me,
43:49for giving me the opportunity to do the things I do,
43:51and I know that faith in myself and faith in God,
43:53I can do whatever I need to do.
43:54If I need to go down to 160 and defend my title,
43:56that's what I'll do.
43:57If I need to go up to 168, 175, whatever,
44:00I can go up and do it.
44:01So I'm extremely confident.
44:02What's up, The Great Garch?
44:03You made believers of some people tonight.
44:06Thank you, Roy.
44:07Jim?
44:08All right, thanks very much, Larry Merchant.
44:10Roy Jones Jr. continues to talk about
44:12defending that 160-pound championship
44:15that he won a few months ago.
44:17He weighed in tonight at 166.
44:20Did it look to you as though they're going to be able
44:22to stuff all that muscle into a 160-pound package again?
44:25A lot of us are skeptical about that.
44:28So we begin the countdown to the possible matchup
44:30between Jones and 168-pounder James Toney,
44:34who was terrific as a middleweight,
44:36who relieved Michael Nunn of the middleweight championship
44:39with a single left hook,
44:40very reminiscent of the single left hook
44:42with which Jones knocked out Malinga tonight.
44:44It's about that a lot of people in the boxing world
44:46are looking forward to, about we now expect to see
44:49sometime in the not-too-distant future.
44:51And, Larry Merchant, one of the interesting things
44:54about Jones versus Toney
44:56as we begin the countdown to that possible confrontation,
44:59Toney's a counterpuncher.
45:01Jones doesn't work off the jab.
45:03There may be a bit of a strategic quandary there
45:05for Toney in finding a way to attack.
45:08They're both winners.
45:10And when you get champions together,
45:12they try to make things happen.
45:15And I feel it would turn out to be a very good fight,
45:18perhaps a tactical fight,
45:20at least until somebody got poleaxed,
45:23and then we would see a real fight.
45:25But we don't know when or if that fight will happen.
45:28So all I could say is that both fighters
45:32that we expected to win won tonight.
45:35They both were posed with some problem,
45:38and they both solved them.
45:40Any further summary comment on Jones and De La Hoya
45:42before we move on to other subjects in boxing?
45:45Well, this was a week I found myself thinking today
45:49that there was supposed to be these showers
45:52of shooting stars in the heavens.
45:54And I looked up in the Mississippi night
45:56the last few nights, and I couldn't find them.
45:59And lo and behold, the shooting stars were here under the tent.
46:03Yeah, the meteor shower finally did take place tonight.
46:06Just asked Tulane Malinga
46:08if that was no meteor that caught his chin.
46:10All right, let's turn our attention to the heavyweight division
46:13and look at a couple of events down the road,
46:15which we'll be bringing you via Time Warner Sports Division.
46:18First of all, on October 1, Lennox Lewis defends
46:21his WBC World Heavyweight Championship
46:23in Cardiff, Wales against Frank Bruno,
46:25his fellow Englishman.
46:26That fight will be live here on HBO, 730 Eastern Time,
46:30the unusual starting time due, of course,
46:32to the five-hour time difference
46:33between the East Coast of the USA
46:35and the United Kingdom.
46:36And then, in a bout just agreed upon this past week,
46:38November 6, 51 weeks to the day,
46:41after Riddick Bowe won the heavyweight championship
46:43from Evander Holyfield, he will defend
46:46his two shares of the title against Holyfield.
46:48And that fight will take place on our sister pay cable operation, TVKO.
46:53Two fights to look forward to.
46:55Well, Bruno and Lewis in Great Britain
46:57is like Hearns and Leonard was here.
47:01I mean, Bruno is the most popular sporting figure
47:04in Great Britain.
47:06But he should win that fight,
47:07then perhaps go on to fight Tommy Morrison.
47:10And if he keeps winning, eventually that showdown
47:13with Riddick Bowe, if he keeps winning,
47:15Riddick Bowe has a harder path.
47:18You can never dismiss Evander Holyfield.
47:21Bowe is getting better.
47:23Bowe should be even tougher this time than last time.
47:27But Holyfield is Holyfield,
47:28and he'll leave nothing outside of the ring.
47:31It should be something spectacular to watch.
47:33We look forward to entertainment
47:34in the heavyweight division in what is already
47:36a landmark year for entertainment here at HBO.
47:39Fifty-five primetime Emmy nominations,
47:42tying traditional powerhouse ABC,
47:44unprecedented for a cable network,
47:46four of five in the original movie category,
47:48more reason than ever to look ahead
47:50to an original movie here on HBO.
47:53It's about guns.
47:54Hell, man, I've got to watch my back.
47:56You know what I'm saying?
47:57I ain't got nobody to look out for me.
47:59It's about who's buying and who's selling.
48:01You going to work at Mickey D's all your life?
48:03You want to make some real money?
48:04And when things go down the way they go down...
48:07Beware.
48:08...it's about how far you'll go to take care of your own.
48:11Yo, man, I'm looking for my girlfriend.
48:13If I were you, I'd go for the plea.
48:16At least she'll be out of jail
48:17by the time the kid starts walking.
48:19Newcomers Bokeem Woodbine...
48:21I got you. Don't worry about nothing.
48:23...Kia Joy Goodwin, and Fredro.
48:27In an HBO original movie...
48:29How are you getting all this money anyway?
48:32Got a new job.
48:33You want to go on out and get yourself killed over that girl, fine.
48:36But I'll be damned if I'm going to let you come up in here
48:39and get the rest of us killed.
48:40Forget about what you want to do.
48:42It's just how I got to be, man.
48:43You got to take care of yourself or die.
48:45On these streets, you do what you got to do.
48:48Strapped.
48:49Get ready, y'all.
48:50Premieres Saturday, August 21st on HBO.
48:55What else is only on HBO?
48:57Well, on September 9,
48:58Inside the NFL returns for its 17th season.
49:01Be sure to join hosts Len Dawson,
49:03Nick Buonaccanti, and Chris Collinsworth
49:05as they bring you pro football's most informative hour.
49:09And coming up on HBO,
49:11stay tuned immediately following tonight's boxing coverage
49:14for Dream On on the East Coast
49:16and Mo Money on the West Coast.
49:19Well, what happened here tonight?
49:21Two shooting stars, as Larry Merchant said,
49:24streaked across the sky.
49:25Oscar De La Hoya, his 9th consecutive win,
49:28a 2 minute, 10 seconds of the 6th round TKO
49:32of Reynaldo Carter.
49:33Carter, a tough fighter with 27 wins and 32 bouts coming in,
49:37thoroughly dominated by the brilliant De La Hoya.
49:40And then, Roy Jones got his 23rd consecutive victory
49:44and erased any doubts that might have been created
49:46about his punching power in his decision victory
49:49over Bernard Hopkins for the middleweight title.
49:51As at 166 pounds, he knocked out
49:54Harry Malinga of South Africa,
49:56a fighter who is awfully difficult to put away.
49:59So now, for Larry Merchant and Harold Lederman,
50:01I'm Jim Lampley saying so long from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
50:09The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg.
50:12Tonight's telecast was produced by Michael J. Whalen
50:15and directed by Mark Payton.
50:17The feature producers were Brian McDonald and Kirby Bradley.
50:20The assistants to the producer, Adam Berger, Dave Leipsand,
50:23and Artie Curry.
50:24The production manager was John McAuley
50:26and the technical supervisor was Bob Hunter.
50:53¶¶
51:23¶¶
51:54This has been a presentation of HBO Sports,
51:58the network of champions.
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