- 2 days ago
The HBO Replay from the TVKO PPV of IBF Middleweight Champion Roy Jones Jr challenging IBF Super Middleweight Champion James Toney.
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00:00:00The following is a special presentation of HBO Sports.
00:00:11Dear Roy Jones, although we've never met, I feel as if I've known you for more than six years.
00:00:18Like millions of other sports fans, I tasted the outrage of that fraudulent decision that denied you an Olympic gold medal.
00:00:25I've always wanted for you to have another chance at that kind of glory.
00:00:28So in that sense, I was with you last Friday night.
00:00:33I know there were skeptics who had questioned your professional opponents, and even your ability.
00:00:38This would be your chance to erase their doubts.
00:00:41That's why you took the gamble of giving up your own title to fight James Toney for his.
00:00:45That's why you put your reputation on the line against a more experienced, more proven, more respected, unbeaten fighter.
00:00:54It was as if you had shouted to the gods of boxing,
00:00:56Please, Lord, give me one chance to prove I am the best.
00:01:01In matching you with James Toney, the boxing gods, and your prayers.
00:01:06You were so fast. Oh, so fast.
00:01:09So good, you made one of boxing's best champions look like just another sparring partner.
00:01:13You even showed the nerve to showboat, and the audacious ability to back it up.
00:01:24On this night, you didn't just win a boxing title.
00:01:28You earned universal respect.
00:01:30We can put the memory of Seoul, South Korea to rest now, because you've finally been validated as the best.
00:01:41For those of us who were fortunate enough to witness your victory,
00:01:44we can forever say that we were there the night Roy Jones Jr. fulfilled his quest,
00:01:50and quieted his recurrent nightmare.
00:01:52Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:01:55Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:01:56Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:01:57Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:01:58Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:01:59Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:00Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:01Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:02Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:03Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:04Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:05Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:06Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:07Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:08Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:09Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:10Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:11Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:12Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:13Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:02:14Sincerely, a boxing fan.
00:03:16James Toney against Roy Jones Jr. in this ring, and we were there.
00:03:22Hello again, I'm Jim Lampley.
00:03:23If you're a boxing fan, you know by now that James Toney against Roy Jones on Friday evening, November 18, brought the first loss to the record of a man who going into the ring had the longest unbeaten streak of any champion in the sport.
00:03:37And brought to fruition the talent of a man who had long been trumpeted as one of the greatest prodigies to have entered boxing in recent decades.
00:03:46Larry Merchant, in the moments before the fight, you told us that most of the questions surrounding Tony Jones went to Roy Jones Jr. by far the lesser known quantity.
00:03:55Did he, with his performance here, answer all those questions?
00:03:59Yes, and yes again with a lot of exclamation points.
00:04:03The questions about Jones were basically this.
00:04:05Was he a superstar, which his talent, his raw ability, the quickness, and the power suggest that he could be, or was he a fraud because he had consistently refused to fight the best and baddest fighters out there, which James Toney always had done as a champion?
00:04:23Coming in here, we didn't know if he had the right stuff and the left hook to put any hurt on an outstanding fighter.
00:04:33He answered yes and yes again to all those questions, and he turned what was supposed to be a fight into a terrific solo performance.
00:04:43A virtuoso performance, and justifiably most of the attention in the aftermath of the fight goes to Jones.
00:04:49But, in the days leading up to the fight, and even afterward, a lot of attention has been paid to James Toney's gargantuan struggle to get down to the 168-pound weight limit,
00:04:59and then the bizarre ballooning process by which he added 17 pounds to his weight in the 28 hours between the weigh-in and the time when he hit the ring.
00:05:09Gil Clancy, given all of your experience as a manager and a trainer, working with fighters who had to condition themselves and make weight,
00:05:15do you think that what happened to Tony had anything to do with what happened to him in the ring?
00:05:21Well, absolutely. I've never heard of a fighter putting on 17 pounds overnight.
00:05:26I mean, I had a fighter, Emil Griffith, who was a welterweight champion.
00:05:29He fought Dick Tiger for the middleweight championship of the world.
00:05:32I brought him in at his most efficient weight, which was only 150 pounds.
00:05:36For this fighter to come in and put on those 17 pounds, it had to blow him up, and he knew he was fighting a fast, fast fighter, and it showed in the ring.
00:05:45He was completely outspent for the entire fight.
00:05:48How big a factor was it? Answer that question for yourself as we go back now and look at all 12 rounds of James Toney against Roy Jones,
00:05:55the hotly anticipated fight of the year, Friday night, November 18, at the MGM Grand.
00:06:00Tale of the tape, and you can see that James Toney weighed in at 167, Roy Jones at 168.
00:06:08They're similar in age, similar in height, similar in reach, but the big story.
00:06:12James Toney supposedly went to bed last night, eight hours after weighing in at 167, and weighed 183.
00:06:19Tonight, before leaving his dressing room to come into the ring, he stood on a scale,
00:06:23and you can see that if this scale is accurate, James told us the truth.
00:06:28He weighed 184 pounds, 17 pounds over yesterday's weigh-in level as he got ready to come into the ring tonight.
00:06:38That's an astonishing way to weight, Gil.
00:06:40I don't know of any young fighter that's ever had to do anything like that.
00:06:46Take a look at the punch stat numbers here.
00:06:48I don't know what these mean, except you can see that Toney is a busier, constantly busier, and more efficient fighter.
00:06:58Jabs, Jones uses the jab mainly to set up his hooks.
00:07:04He's not really interested in doing any serious business with the jab, but it's his hooks that will determine the outcome of this fight.
00:07:15Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer, Harold Letterman.
00:07:18James Tone and Roy Jones Jr. will box tonight using the rules of the International Boxing Federation.
00:07:24Twelve rounds.
00:07:25There is no standing A count, no three-knockdown rule.
00:07:28You cannot be saved by the bell in any round, including the last round.
00:07:32Only the referee can stop the fight, and in case a cut is caused by an accidental headbutt,
00:07:36and that cut causes the fight to be stopped, we go to the scorecards.
00:07:40If the six rounds have been completed, before that, it's a technical draw.
00:07:44Jim.
00:07:47Packed house at ringside here at the MGM Grand, and Roy Jones Jr. chooses to enter in a mock tuxedo.
00:07:56You see the designation there, former IBF middleweight champion.
00:08:01He gave up that championship, Larry, for the right to come up eight pounds and challenge for James Toney's super middleweight title.
00:08:08Well, for him, this is his entire career.
00:08:12It's a fight he's been aiming for since he got robbed of that decision at the Seoul Olympics.
00:08:18I call his style, Gil, as a kind of a brilliant amateur.
00:08:28He can get away with doing things because of his quickness that very, very few fighters can,
00:08:34sort of like Muhammad Ali or Hector Camacho, a few others I can name.
00:08:39One thing we knew about Ali was he had the right stuff inside when all was said and done.
00:08:45And that's what we have to find out about this man tonight.
00:08:47Well, that's what we're going to find out, Larry.
00:08:50Roy Jones himself doesn't know what he's going to do in that ring.
00:08:53Very, very unorthodox, but he has great balance.
00:08:56He's a great athlete, and things just happen for him.
00:08:59Roy Jones Jr. is unbeaten.
00:09:0926 fights, 26 wins, 23 knockouts.
00:09:13You see he's listed as the number two IBF super middleweight contender.
00:09:17He is regarded as having spectacular knockout power with either hand.
00:09:20Well, you know, they say that the punch that hurts you is the punch that you don't see.
00:09:26He throws his punches from such odd angles that he can nail you, and you just don't see the punch.
00:09:31And now Jones may be forced to play a little bit of a weighting game in the ring, but here comes James Toney.
00:09:44We've got to talk about that weight.
00:09:46I've never heard of anything like this, particularly for a young athlete.
00:09:50When I was playing football, I knew of guys who had lost eight pounds in a workout in the severe.
00:09:56They get it all back by the afternoon, but to put on 16 or 17 pounds in such a short period of time, can it do him any good?
00:10:05I think it can do him a lot more harm than good.
00:10:08I think you're supposed to be your most efficient weight, especially when you're fighting a guy that has a lot of speed.
00:10:13You don't want to give up any kind of speed, and putting that much weight back on could certainly slow him up.
00:10:18He may look like he's fighting with cement shoes on.
00:10:20You know, Ray Leonard said an interesting thing before.
00:10:23The conventional wisdom has been that Jones had to get Tony Hurt in trouble early in the fight because Tony would come on.
00:10:31But now because of this weight situation, we don't know which way it's going to go.
00:10:36Well, I know that Jones is always dangerous very, very early.
00:10:40I've seen a few of his fights, and he lands that left hook from way outside, which is an unorthodox thing to do because he does leave himself a little bit open.
00:10:49But the first time he hits those, the other opponent with that left hook, you can see the surprise on their face like, what the heck is this?
00:10:58You saw Tony waiting briefly as he refused to enter the ring and top of the dress system would play his entry music.
00:11:06Now, here he comes.
00:11:07I.V.F. Super middleweight champion James Tony, since he won the middleweight title for Michael Dunn in 1991, this has been the most active major champion in the sport of boxing, Larry.
00:11:23Yeah, and that's why he's gotten better and better.
00:11:25The only champion I know of who's been really active during his reign, other champion, is Julio Cesar Chavez.
00:11:33In his prime, when he was great, he kept active, fighting fights in Mexico, none of us even ever heard of.
00:11:41And it's paid off for him, and it's paid off for Tony so far.
00:11:44One more footnote on the long battle to trim down to the 168-pound weight limit and then the massive weight gain in the 30-hour sense.
00:11:56According to Nevada State Athletic Commission Dr. Flip Womanski, rapid fluid loss followed by rapid fluid intake would make someone more vulnerable to bruising and cutting.
00:12:06So we'll have to watch and see if that holds true for Tony tonight.
00:12:10James Tony's record in the ring, 44 wins, two draws, 29 KOs.
00:12:15We've seen him win from every conceivable circumstance by come-from-behind knockout, by come-from-behind decision, by early knockout, by late knockout, you name it, he's done it.
00:12:27And now let's go up to ring announcer Michael Buffer for the pre-fight introductions.
00:12:35Ladies and gentlemen, top-ranked incorporated along with your undisputed, undefeated king of beers, Bud Weiser, proud to be your Bud, present World Championship Boxing.
00:12:47This bout is sanctioned by the International Boxing Federation with the approval and sanctioning of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
00:12:54Chairman Dr. James Knave, commissioners Nat Karasali, Luther Mack, Dr. Elias Ghanom, and Crispin Rivera.
00:13:02The executive director is Mark Ratner.
00:13:04IBF supervisor at ringside, Bobby Lee Jr., chief medical officer in attendance, Dr. Flip Womanski.
00:13:11Attending positions are Dr. James Wishgame and Dr. Robert Foy.
00:13:15The team keeper at the bell, Al Bysik.
00:13:17Counting for the knockdown seconds, Jane Broadfoot.
00:13:20The scoring for this bout will be done on a 10-point must system, and the three judges assigned are Glenn Hamada, Jon Stewart, and Jerry Roth.
00:13:31And when the bell rings, the man in charge of the action, working for the 104th time in a world title bout, referee Richard Steele.
00:13:41And now, ladies and gentlemen, from the MGM Grand Garden, here at the MGM Grand Hotel, Casino, and Theme Park of Las Vegas, Nevada,
00:13:55somebody's O must go.
00:13:57Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble!
00:14:0212 rounds of boxing for the super middleweight championship of the world.
00:14:14Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner, wearing the white trunks with gold trim, and weighing in at 168 pounds,
00:14:21this 1988 Olympic silver medalist has a professional record of 26-0, 23 by knockout victory.
00:14:31Tonight, he steps up from the middleweight division, where he has already captured a world title, and puts his perfect record on the line.
00:14:39Ladies and gentlemen, from Pensacola, Florida, introducing the challenger and former middleweight champion of the world,
00:14:48and his opponent across the ring, fighting out of the red corner, wearing black, and weighing in at 167 pounds.
00:15:12He brings his outstanding record into the ring tonight, of 44 victories without a loss.
00:15:18He has scored 29 KOs, and has two draws.
00:15:21And while compiling that record, he has captured two world titles.
00:15:25Ladies and gentlemen, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, presenting the two-time world champion,
00:15:30and reigning super middleweight champion of the world, James, the lights out, Tony!
00:15:41All right, I spoke to both fighters in the dressing room.
00:15:59I'm cautioning you again.
00:16:01Obey my commands at all times.
00:16:03Shake hands.
00:16:03Good luck.
00:16:03Jim, when we get unbeaten champions meet like this, we often get a kind of creative friction that bursts out into the pure flame.
00:16:14That's what we're looking for tonight.
00:16:17One quick note, Gil and Larry.
00:16:19I was told late this afternoon by a source I trust from Roy Jones Jr.'s camp that he hurt his right hand in sparring a month ago,
00:16:26has not hit the heavy bag with the right hand for more than a month, has not done a power shot at a sparring partner with the right hand for more than a month.
00:16:34So he comes into the ring tonight with the right hand, a mystery to him and those around him.
00:16:41Putting more and more emphasis on the left hook that does the most damage for him.
00:16:46He's been throwing triple left hooks in sparring to make up for the absence of the right hand.
00:16:51And he throws the right hand there, seemingly with conviction.
00:16:56And you notice when the James Toney stalks an opponent or when he jams, he has a tendency to drop that right hand,
00:17:06which can be very, very dangerous against a good left hooker like Roy Jones Jr.
00:17:14Here's that quick left hook, again, from an unorthodox angle.
00:17:23Tony has blocked all of those punches.
00:17:26Jones short with the right hand there.
00:17:28Tony looking confident, if a bit defensive so far.
00:17:32Willing to wait and see what Jones has got here at the outset.
00:17:36He's keeping his hands up and he's putting pressure on Roy Jones.
00:17:46And again, you can see the quickness of Jones, that side-to-side movement.
00:17:50Jabbing and hooking with the left hand, only a couple of right-hand shots so far by Jones, nothing has landed.
00:17:58Tony has been cautious and measured in his approach.
00:18:02Right hand misses for James.
00:18:04Punch and get out.
00:18:06Punch and get out.
00:18:09Double left hook by Jones.
00:18:11Right hand was a glancing blow.
00:18:15Right hand was a glancing blow.
00:18:19James Toney told us he would be able to counter
00:18:37because he didn't think that Jones would be able to resist taking the lead in the fight.
00:18:42Up to this point, Jones has been doing all of the leading.
00:18:48There's a quick right hand by Jones and it looked okay there.
00:18:51Jones has been doing all of the leading.
00:19:21He's been able to double and triple up with the left hook.
00:19:36It wasn't good. You're catching that hook.
00:19:38That's the shot he would have to take away from it, the hook.
00:19:41When you catch the hook, come back with your hook.
00:19:46Catch the hook, come back with your hook.
00:19:49Keep cutting the ring off of him.
00:19:54Make him miss them shots, especially the right hand.
00:19:57You can twist on the right hand, count on the right hand.
00:20:01Keep that hand.
00:20:02He ain't getting in already, let's go set that hook up.
00:20:04You're catching clean sooner or later.
00:20:06Way to work, deep breath.
00:20:08OK, we're ready. Stop pulling, baby.
00:20:11Way to work.
00:20:15Way to work, champ.
00:20:16Keep control.
00:20:19You heard Bill Miller talking to James.
00:20:23Tony, watch the left hook.
00:20:25Just watch the left hook.
00:20:26And when you catch it or duck it, throw your own left hook.
00:20:29Good advice, Gil?
00:20:30Absolutely.
00:20:31If he could nail Jones, if Jones misses that left hook,
00:20:34doing an awful lot of damage.
00:20:36And there's Tony trying to get off that big left hook.
00:20:39It was blocked by Jones.
00:20:40It was blocked by Jones.
00:20:42Tony looking like he wants to open a little bit more in this round
00:20:44after an exceedingly cautious first.
00:20:46Don't hold him, don't break, step back, step back, step back.
00:20:56Couple of body shots by Jones.
00:20:58One sounded like it landed on the cuff for Jim.
00:21:01And again, Tony carries that right hand across his chest.
00:21:08He's not protecting his chin.
00:21:10He got it up there, though.
00:21:11And Jones hit the Thunder one left hook behind Tony's guard,
00:21:15but most of these punches being blocked on the gloves by James Tony.
00:21:20But again, if he throws seven and two get through,
00:21:24he's still scoring some points.
00:21:26Tony has to punch back.
00:21:29Tony hasn't found many openings.
00:21:31And there was the quickness of Jones again.
00:21:33He made Tony miss and nailed him with two of those unorthodox punches.
00:21:37They come from all angles.
00:21:39Right hand to the body by Jones.
00:21:40Finally, James Tony gets through with a left hook to the chest of Jones.
00:21:43It drove back into the corner.
00:21:45Good right hand lead by Jones.
00:21:49Again, Jones makes a lot of very tactical errors,
00:21:56but he has such fast reflexes that he can get away with making mistakes.
00:22:00Oh!
00:22:01Don't hold him down.
00:22:02Go!
00:22:03Go!
00:22:04Go!
00:22:05Go!
00:22:06Go!
00:22:07Go!
00:22:08Go!
00:22:09Go!
00:22:10Go!
00:22:12Go!
00:22:13Go!
00:22:14Go!
00:22:15Go!
00:22:16Go!
00:22:17Go!
00:22:18Go!
00:22:19Go!
00:22:20Go!
00:22:21Go!
00:22:22Go!
00:22:23Go!
00:22:24Go!
00:22:25Go!
00:22:26Go!
00:22:27Go!
00:22:28Go!
00:22:29Go!
00:22:30Go!
00:22:31Go!
00:22:32Go!
00:22:33Go!
00:22:34There's that quickness,
00:22:35fast hands.
00:22:36Leaping with the left hook.
00:22:37Opened the glove as he threw the right hand of the body.
00:22:38Jones hurt the right hand against Bernard Hopkins.
00:22:39A few fights back.
00:22:40Tony sneaking in the right hand
00:23:02after Jones had landed over the top.
00:23:04Right, step back, step back.
00:23:06Again, these two fighters
00:23:09completely different styles.
00:23:12Tony is just trying to walk in
00:23:13with a little pressure, physical and mental.
00:23:16On Jones and Joe.
00:23:18Left hook got behind the guard, Gil.
00:23:21Jones wobbled Tony just slightly with that left hook.
00:23:27Boom.
00:23:28We got a short knock shot up a little bit.
00:23:44When you can catch it when it comes in.
00:23:47Especially when you're twisting with the right hand
00:23:49back with the left hook.
00:23:50Here's the flurry at the end of the round by Roy Jones.
00:24:00None of those was a clean punch,
00:24:02but they are scoring punches.
00:24:04They will count in his favor.
00:24:05His quickness is decisive through the first two rounds.
00:24:10On his head, let's go.
00:24:12Keep the control.
00:24:13Stop pulling, stop pulling.
00:24:17Let's go.
00:24:17Big disparity in punch output in rounds one and two.
00:24:23Would you tell James Tony to step up the act level, Gil?
00:24:26He's going to have to do something.
00:24:27He can't walk in and walk in without throwing punches.
00:24:31Low blows by Jones.
00:24:33Steele didn't say anything.
00:24:38And still the edge in quickness is decisive,
00:24:41as Larry put it.
00:24:43Quickness and reflex, Jim.
00:24:44I mean, he makes Tony miss, and he's so quick, countering.
00:24:48Get out the road.
00:24:48Get out.
00:24:51Showboating by Jones.
00:24:54The attempt to fade, think.
00:24:56Left hook, and down goes Tony.
00:25:00You know, his seat never hit the canvas.
00:25:03But they're going to call it a knockdown anyway.
00:25:05I agree, Larry.
00:25:06I don't think it was a knockdown.
00:25:08He wobbled back, but he did not go down.
00:25:10Greg Johnson knocked him down in 1991.
00:25:14This, if it is officially scored as a knockdown,
00:25:16is the second time in Tony's career that he's been down.
00:25:20Proud on its feet.
00:25:22Jones with plenty of time left in the third.
00:25:24Up to this point, it looks like an added weight
00:25:28that they put on James Tony is an albatross around his neck
00:25:33because he's very, very slow.
00:25:35Or maybe it's Jones.
00:25:36He's just that fast.
00:25:38But he's being completely outsped in this fight so far.
00:25:44Jones looks fast against everybody,
00:25:46but he certainly looked faster against Tony
00:25:50than some might have suspected.
00:26:01Good counter by Tony.
00:26:04Jones says, come on.
00:26:05That was Tony's best punch of the fight.
00:26:08We caught Jones coming, and nothing happened.
00:26:09Right hand lead by Jones.
00:26:20Punching it out.
00:26:23Unorthodoxy playing in his favor now.
00:26:26He's fighting with so much confidence, Jim.
00:26:30Greg, step back, step back.
00:26:32Well, if he didn't use the right hand in sparring,
00:26:38he's using it here, and so far fairly effectively,
00:26:41although most of the heavy metal has come from the left.
00:26:44Yes, but he has, again, he has thrown that right hand
00:26:46to set up the left hook.
00:26:48Sweeping left hook by Tony.
00:26:50Come on, Punching it out of here.
00:26:52And more quickness inside from Roy Jones.
00:26:55Good defense there by Tony,
00:27:10who was able to duck and slip.
00:27:11Yeah, but it's okay to say no, no, no,
00:27:13but they're still scoring points for Jones.
00:27:15Just a little off the mark.
00:27:37If we can get it on the mark,
00:27:38we'll take the right hand away from you.
00:27:40Here's part of the debate going on with hand gestures
00:27:56and fists.
00:27:59We don't see from that angle
00:28:01whether Jones indeed went down.
00:28:04Perhaps we'll have another angle
00:28:05that we can't see it.
00:28:07Here it'll tell us right now.
00:28:10You see, his behind never hit the canvas, Gil.
00:28:13Absolutely.
00:28:14I did not think it was a knockdown.
00:28:16He did stag it back, but he didn't go down.
00:28:18Harold Letterman, let's open to Harold.
00:28:20Quickly, why might that have been scored
00:28:21a knockdown, Harold?
00:28:22Jim, if the ropes are holding you up,
00:28:25if the ropes wouldn't have been there
00:28:26and you would have hit the canvas,
00:28:27that's a knockdown under the rules.
00:28:28So in your view, is that a knockdown?
00:28:30A knockdown for sure.
00:28:31All right, round four begins.
00:28:32And given the knockdown,
00:28:34you've now got at least the possibility
00:28:36that Tony's four points behind
00:28:38on all three scorecards.
00:28:40Not necessarily, but it's possible.
00:28:42Well, he's digging himself a big hole right now.
00:28:44We've seen him come back in the past
00:28:46from bad cuts, et cetera, et cetera.
00:28:49But he can't get too far behind
00:28:51with this will of the whiskeys in there with.
00:28:54You heard Bill Miller tell him
00:28:55to keep throwing the right hand,
00:28:57and he was trying it there,
00:28:58but he missed wide.
00:28:59Tony, in my opinion,
00:29:01he should be concentrating on the body.
00:29:04Another left hook by Jones.
00:29:07That one didn't stun Tony,
00:29:08but it prevented him from throwing anything in return.
00:29:13Tony just not able to counter effectively, Gil,
00:29:15except for one time so far.
00:29:17Solid left hook there.
00:29:27Tony talking to Jones.
00:29:28Again, what's talking doesn't do you a bit of good.
00:29:30And the other guy's piling up points.
00:29:33Is he ever?
00:29:34Tony just looks like he can't get off,
00:29:46whether it's Jones' movement that's bothering him
00:29:48or with the extra weight that's bothering him.
00:29:50Something's bothering him
00:29:51because he traps Jones
00:29:53and gets beats to the punch time after time.
00:29:56Well, there was a good counter right,
00:29:57and he came with another right cross behind it.
00:29:59Jones throwing right hand,
00:30:17then left hook combinations,
00:30:19and a right hand over the top from Tony.
00:30:20And Tony just beginning to get off a little bit
00:30:23here in round four.
00:30:24Tony is getting closer to finding the range right now.
00:30:53You can see him getting closer and closer to the mark.
00:30:56Getting more active.
00:31:02Good left by Jones as he wound the right hand up.
00:31:13He lands three or four more punches.
00:31:15The hand speed display continues spectacularly for Roy Jones.
00:31:19Just unorthodox punches.
00:31:21Tony doesn't know where he is half the time.
00:31:23Tony doesn't know where he is half the time.
00:31:24Where Jones is in there.
00:31:33We're getting a little closer to him now.
00:31:34We're getting a little closer to him now.
00:31:36We're getting a little closer to him now.
00:31:37When you're hitting with the right hand,
00:31:38come back to the left hook line.
00:31:40But jab your way in.
00:31:56You know what you do.
00:31:57Way to work.
00:31:58Way to work.
00:31:59He's slowing down.
00:32:00Harold Letterman, your scorecard after four rounds.
00:32:05Four rounds to nothing.
00:32:0740 to 35.
00:32:08Roy Jones Jr.
00:32:09He's really given James Tony a beating so far.
00:32:11He certainly gets an extra point for the clean knockdown in round three.
00:32:15Roy Jones all the way.
00:32:17I've got Roy winning the first four rounds just as well.
00:32:22And I have as well.
00:32:26Tony said to Bill Miller,
00:32:27Boy, I'm having fun.
00:32:29Only a prize fighter after taking some of these punches could say that.
00:32:34Kill him up, Tony.
00:32:36They trade shots to open round five.
00:32:39But again, Jones landed the last two punches of that exchange.
00:32:45And the first two punches there.
00:32:48James has nothing to throw.
00:33:01Two more left hands.
00:33:03His unorthodox movement and the unorthodox punches are completely befuddling James Tony up to this point.
00:33:13Right hand, left hand combination by Jones landed.
00:33:16Tony landed a left in return.
00:33:19Tony starting to snap to it a little bit, but still outgunned and almost ever changed.
00:33:28Tony has got a punch to the body.
00:33:30You can't.
00:33:31That's where those punches belong.
00:33:33Stay downstairs for a while, then that head will come to you.
00:33:43If he finds himself so far down that he's got to go for a late round knockout against Jones,
00:33:49that's going to be tough because of Jones' quickness and defense.
00:33:52And Jones is himself comfortably ahead.
00:33:55He can certainly kill the clock.
00:33:57Big left hook.
00:33:58Big left hook by Jones.
00:33:59Two left hooks.
00:34:01Tony pretending not to be hurt, but he's wobbled.
00:34:04Now James lands a right hand in return.
00:34:07Tony trying to take advantage of the chance opened up by Jones' aggression.
00:34:11Jones is aggression.
00:34:13Jones will not let Tony into this fight.
00:34:17Tony lands a hard punch.
00:34:18He comes back with two.
00:34:21Right, right, right.
00:34:23Roy tried to end it with a right hand right there.
00:34:25Just missed.
00:34:26Right hand counter by Tony, but Jones is moving away with the punch.
00:34:40Here's where Tony has to get off when he has him on the rope.
00:34:43He's got to bank to the body immediately.
00:34:45He's got to be busier.
00:34:46That left hand landed, but it was a glancing blow.
00:34:51Talk about unorthodox.
00:34:52He spun around and let Jones is supposed to be the unorthodox guy.
00:34:59Solid left hook by Jones.
00:35:02And you saw James Tony's head snap to the side again.
00:35:11Tony's got the lug fail out.
00:35:13He's starting to go to work.
00:35:14But Jones continues to box circles around him and land the heavier shots as well.
00:35:25Jones certainly answers some questions about whether he has the right stuff inside him in that round.
00:35:33Well, he got nailed with a couple of punches, Larry.
00:35:35But again, he would not allow Tony to take the edge right back.
00:35:40I think we're going to win.
00:35:45We're getting in better.
00:35:46Okay?
00:35:47There you go.
00:35:48You're doing good.
00:35:49There's six round, baby.
00:35:50Coming in a six.
00:35:51Coming in.
00:35:52Okay.
00:35:53Here.
00:35:54Here.
00:35:55Coming in a six.
00:35:56Yeah.
00:35:57Once again, let's watch Fast Hands if we can see him.
00:36:01hands if we can see him because James Tony doesn't apparently able to see him
00:36:06there's a perfect example of an ortho unorthodox punch coming when you leave
00:36:11when you don't expect it Gil and you don't see it those are the ones that
00:36:14really can get to you
00:36:22James Tony has been talking about going up to heavyweight said the hardest part
00:36:27of every fight is making weight it's only supposition but you suspect at this
00:36:32moment that making weight this time took a lot out of James Tony I'm not ready to
00:36:39take any credit away from Jones because what Jones is doing here is it's just
00:36:44dictating everything on his own and I'm not sure it has anything to do with the
00:36:48weight yet 61% landing percentage in round 5 for Jones 37 out of 61 mostly power
00:36:56shots it's terrific stuff
00:37:04another left hook on the button by Roy Jones jr. and you notice that Jones
00:37:09doesn't set things up to the left jab that's the unorthodox part of his style
00:37:13he doesn't set things up and he'll move with his feet and all of a sudden leap in
00:37:18with that left hook and it's very very effective but again by doing that he
00:37:22leaves himself open for a split second but so far nobody has been able to take
00:37:26advantage of it nobody that he's 40 so quick
00:37:29punch it get out
00:37:31punch it get out keep him up
00:37:33don't hold him don't hold him
00:37:35don't hold him let him go
00:37:37let him go let him go
00:37:41again crack leg right hand
00:37:43Jones lands the last punch
00:37:45last tag Roy Jones
00:37:49Roy step back step back
00:37:51Tony's remembering now to go to the body when he gets Jones against the ropes
00:37:56you notice that the Tony just didn't even try to throw it yet
00:38:01he just pours out
00:38:02again it's the footwork on that left hook that fast left hook
00:38:07crowd oohing and dying with yet another left hook
00:38:21same thing every time there's no no jabs involved
00:38:24he doesn't have to faint the jab he just leaps in quickly
00:38:27gets an angle and bang
00:38:29right in there with that left hook
00:38:30and if you told James Tony two days ago that Roy could do that he'd have said no way
00:38:34get out punch it get out right step back step back but you're right he's done it
00:38:37all the way through tonight
00:38:39let's keep playing don't tie him up
00:38:45come on keep playing put your arm back
00:38:47break step back step back come on you guys
00:38:49let's work
00:38:50there was a question again where Tony
00:38:59was just too slow getting off
00:39:01and instead of Jones waiting to block a punch
00:39:03beat him to the punch
00:39:04he's back in the back in the corner again
00:39:08and again
00:39:09he gets off first Jones
00:39:11halfway through the battle for James Tony's
00:39:15IVF super middleweight championship so far
00:39:17a spectacular virtuoso performance by the challenger
00:39:21Roy Jones Jr.
00:39:23no
00:39:2623
00:39:27he's back in the and
00:39:2920
00:39:2925
00:39:29he's back in the
00:39:31black
00:39:32lihat
00:39:33and pick it up
00:39:34at 2
00:39:35yeah
00:39:35I want you to just, just some of the jabs, some of the hooks you're going down, put them inside with them, instead of outside with a stick.
00:39:42It's time to put a little more pressure. Put a little pressure. We got them on our territory now.
00:39:50Coming into the championship round. Being through the middle now. Through the middle.
00:40:05Try to make you flicking for everything you do. Every time you flick at him, man, you're going for it. All right. Okay.
00:40:14Although we're only halfway through the scheduled rounds, we're already at that stage where James Toney looks like he's going to have to do something dramatic to get back into the fight.
00:40:27It would have to be very, very dramatic, Larry, like a knockout. We're counting that knockdown. He's already, uh,
00:40:34seven points behind and he's got six rounds to catch up. He's done it in the past, but maybe not against fighters, the quality of Roy Jones Jr.
00:40:45He was down on points when he knocked out none in the month to win the world middleweight championship in 91.
00:40:52He needed to knock out Tim Littles in a specific round because of a bad head cut to win that fight and did it against a fighter who'd never been down or out.
00:41:01So it's not out of the question, but this is still all Roy Jones as round seven begins.
00:41:06But again, again, solid left. Tony in a little bit of trouble.
00:41:11Again, Jones is really never directly in front of, of, uh, James Toney.
00:41:17He throws angle shots and Tony really doesn't know where the punches are coming from.
00:41:21There was a foul by Roy Jones. We have to rope and use that for leverage.
00:41:25Right. Step back. Step back. Step back. Don't hold the rope. Don't hold the rope.
00:41:28And Steele tells him not to do it.
00:41:34James Toney just completely befuddled by Jones's speed, unorthodoxy.
00:41:41Quickness.
00:41:45Again, Toney, he's, he's playing hide and seek with Toney in the ring.
00:41:48They're both inside of it. Half the time, Toney doesn't know where he is.
00:41:56Yeah, waiting against the ropes.
00:41:59What in the world can Toney do, Gil, to nullify the effectiveness of Jones's left hook?
00:42:03The only thing he can do is start banging to the body. When you have a guy against the ropes,
00:42:08don't even think. Go straight right here to the body and try to come back with a left hook.
00:42:13You're going to hit something, even if you hit his arms. But if you hesitate, hesitate,
00:42:18wait for an opening, he gets off first and beats him to the punch.
00:42:23Yeah, you can see, you can see Toney hesitating.
00:42:28Good counter there by James Toney, but it's, it's hard to find a round here that you might have given to
00:42:34the champion.
00:42:36What other middleweights could throw combinations at hand speed, Gil?
00:42:54I, I, I would have to go back a long way, maybe to the, to Sugar Ray Robinson. He can throw punches
00:43:00that fast and not effective. Come on, work your way, work out. Work your way out, punch your hands
00:43:05are free. Pull your arms back, Roy. Pull your arms back. And remember, this is 168 pounds,
00:43:12eight pounds up from the old middleweight limit of 160. Again, again, the Jones comes back in the
00:43:20exchanges. Good left hook by James Toney. Best punch of the fight for Toney, the left,
00:43:26that ended round seven.
00:43:37You hear me? Especially when we're inside. We got to take this one. We're on our territory now. We got to make our move.
00:43:44Harold, seven rounds. Your score. Larry, 70 to 62, seven to nothing. Roy Jones. I never saw a super
00:43:58middleweight throw. Six, seven, eight punch combination. Key throws. He's absolutely beautiful.
00:44:04He's weak in his legs, man. He can't move. I know he, he can't move though. You can hit him all day,
00:44:09keeping it at your rank. Okay, let's go. Let's make our move now, champ. Let's go.
00:44:20Five rounds left. So far, both fighters have caught some stiff punches, but they haven't,
00:44:37they haven't really hurt each other that badly yet. I was surprised even Tony landed a few good
00:44:43straight punches. They just wiped right off of Jones. I thought that Tony was hurt a couple
00:44:49of times during the fight, Larry. Not seriously, but hurt. How about now? How about right now?
00:44:55He's just being completely overwhelmed.
00:44:58And I think a left hook to the body hurt James Toney badly to set this up.
00:45:03And James Toney hasn't thrown a punch since that body shot. And look how cool Roy Jones is.
00:45:21Keep him in front. Don't hurry. Roy, step back, step back.
00:45:25Jones has knocked men out with body shots. Glenn Wolf in the first round, for instance.
00:45:29And now Tony begins to throw again, but tried to counter, but again, those reflexes of Jones,
00:45:39just nothing's there when you punch at it.
00:45:44Two more left hooks right on the button. And the thing that amazes me, you know,
00:45:47you say Jones is a boxer. He does this without using a left jab. Both men have dispensed with
00:45:53the jab completely. And this is just going to be a slugfest the rest of the way. James Toney has
00:45:58always has had a good left jab. Outside, he's moved it in the Prince Charles Williams fight.
00:46:03But again, he's not using it. He's just walking in, Gil. There he paused with it a little bit.
00:46:08But the snapping left jab is gone from Tony's arsenal.
00:46:13Just walking in.
00:46:14We thought Jones would move more away from Tony, but he's really been contemptuous of Tony in the
00:46:23last couple of rounds. Again, he can go on the ropes. No matter where he goes, Tony just can't hit him.
00:46:31Break step back.
00:46:38Sledge hammer right over the top by Tony. Lancing blow. Didn't get all of the target.
00:46:44Again, in that exchange, last tag by Roy Jones.
00:46:52Tony showing some assertiveness now, but he took a lot of this round off after he took that
00:46:57crushing left to the body early on. There's a left hook by James Toney.
00:47:07Jones comes back with a fury.
00:47:14And Steele stops Tony right in the middle of his best action.
00:47:17What is Steele doing? What is Richard Steele doing?
00:47:20I think he thought he heard the bell. And now he does hear the bell. And that really hurt James Toney.
00:47:26There we go.
00:47:46I'm gonna hear you.
00:47:48Try it in the mouth.
00:47:53Come up new.
00:47:56All right, let's go before you get off, don't wait for him soon, all right.
00:48:15Round nine begins.
00:48:20You saw the champion breathing hard in his corner.
00:48:28Right now, this 168-pound championship belongs to Roy Jones.
00:48:33It's up to James Toney to win it back.
00:48:47He still hasn't spoken to James Toney with any real sense of urgency, saying,
00:48:52James, you're going to have to do something big.
00:48:55You know, he's talking very matter-of-factly.
00:49:00Slipped by Jones, and Toney did not take advantage.
00:49:06Toney a little more cautious than he's been in other fights.
00:49:09Jones' left hand has shown us the reason why, over and over.
00:49:18You said before the fight, Larry Merchant, that Roy Jones Jr. was a mystery.
00:49:22How much of the unknown is left now?
00:49:24Well, beyond any question, he's answered a lot of those questions.
00:49:30It's in his grasp.
00:49:32Get out!
00:49:33Roy, step back, step back!
00:49:35Pull him back, Roy, pull him back!
00:49:40Pull him back, pull him back!
00:49:43Pull him back, pull him back!
00:49:45Why don't you get out!
00:49:46Roy, step back, step back, step back!
00:49:48You can't do it!
00:49:51You can't do it!
00:49:57Looks as if Roy Jones is taking a round off!
00:50:00He may take the rest of the fight off, Gill.
00:50:04Work, wait!
00:50:06Work, wait, wait!
00:50:07Work, wait, wait!
00:50:08Work, wait!
00:50:09Work!
00:50:10Work, wait!
00:50:11Work!
00:50:12Work, wait, wait!
00:50:13Work, wait!
00:50:14Work, wait!
00:50:15Break, wait!
00:50:16Break, wait!
00:50:17You can't do it!
00:50:18You can't do it!
00:50:19To be fair,ô!
00:50:20Thompson by Jones, left took over the top by Jones, Tony trying to stop but not
00:50:28hunting his way in effectively.
00:50:44Short left took by Jones, the more effective of the two punches there. Tony
00:50:49sweeping left, missed badly. Look at that footwork of Roy Jones, side to side.
00:51:05Again last tag by Roy Jones. He lulls you to sleep and he tries to put you to sleep.
00:51:19There you go. There you go. There you go. You feel that hand? Okay, just like you did.
00:51:33Run it off, man. Right up there.
00:51:35Other water bottle running? I'm here hard, man.
00:51:37Come on, give it to him. Give it to him.
00:51:41Good?
00:51:43We're down to our rounds. We've got to make our move. We've got to close the gap. You hear me?
00:51:56All right. Let's close the gap now.
00:52:00The 10th round. We've got to have it. I don't need but nine minutes fighting. I've got to have it.
00:52:08We've got to be first. Step to him, baby.
00:52:19So far, the Mongoose is too quick for the Cobra.
00:52:25By this time, maybe James Tony's taken off about seven to eight pounds.
00:52:29Larry's maybe hit a little quicker for the rest of the fight.
00:52:32It's hard to see so far what he could find that would do the necessary damage to Jones at this point.
00:52:39Well, one big left hook or right hand on the chin could help at this weight.
00:52:45And the other guy could do a lot of funny things.
00:52:51You can just see the quickness of Roy Jones.
00:52:53Tony so cool, so non-existent as he gave the first two rounds away.
00:53:16Then he got knocked down in the third.
00:53:17And since that time, Roy Jones, to our eyes at least, has seemed to simply pile up the points.
00:53:34Again, Jones is just such an unorthodox fighter.
00:53:37A couple of times in the fight, when he's against the ropes, he actually pulls his head back,
00:53:41which is a fundamental no-no, but he gets away with it.
00:53:44Jones again stepping in with that left hook and then gone as Tony looked around to find it.
00:53:55Right now, they're cooling each other off with those missed roundhouse punches.
00:54:01Punching it out of there.
00:54:02I'm going to get out.
00:54:02Break, step back.
00:54:10Don't hold it away.
00:54:14Again, Tony moves him into the corners and against the ropes, but then he allows Jones to get off first.
00:54:24He's chasing, chasing, chasing, but nothing happens.
00:54:31Let's see who gets off first here.
00:54:36Come on, work, work!
00:54:37That was a dangerous left hook by James Toney.
00:54:46Punching it out! Punching it out!
00:54:47Thunderous right inside by Jones.
00:54:49Step back, step back, step back!
00:54:50Step back, step back!
00:54:50Step back, step back!
00:54:52Jones is looking at the clock.
00:54:55That could be an indication that he's starting to get a little tired.
00:55:00Come on, let's work inside!
00:55:01Work inside!
00:55:02Pull him back!
00:55:03Pull him back!
00:55:03Pull him back!
00:55:04Chopping right hand for Tony.
00:55:11Jones was moving away with the punch.
00:55:14It wasn't a very effective punch.
00:55:15We got to have this six minutes to move off this fight.
00:55:31We got to have this six minutes, okay?
00:55:33Okay.
00:55:34All right.
00:55:35Show it to me.
00:55:36Okay, let's go.
00:55:37We got to have it.
00:55:38Keep him turning, champ.
00:55:42Don't give him nothing he want to have.
00:55:44Make him find you.
00:55:45Be that needle in the haystack.
00:55:46Hold here.
00:55:47Be that needle.
00:55:48You got two rounds left, champ.
00:55:50Two rounds left, and you're the man.
00:55:52Two rounds left, and you're the man.
00:55:5410 rounds, your score.
00:55:55Larry, I thought James Toney stole the 10th round.
00:55:58Roy didn't do a heck of a lot.
00:56:00Nine rounds to one, 99 to 90.
00:56:02Roy Jones, he is so quick.
00:56:04He's moving so nicely landed, so many great combination punches.
00:56:07You just can't take it away from him.
00:56:09James Toney's going to need a dynamite finish to win this fight.
00:56:13Dynamite is the upward word.
00:56:16He's going to have to throw a stick of dynamite in there to blow this man up,
00:56:20but I'm not sure that would do it.
00:56:22Well, the only thing in my opinion now that can do it is a knockout.
00:56:26Roy Jones only threw 32 punches in round 10.
00:56:28That drops way down from his previous punch output.
00:56:31It was in the 11th round when Tony scored the dramatic comeback knockout of Michael Dunn
00:56:37back in 1991 that won in the middleweight championship.
00:56:40But Dunn was not the kind of power puncher that Roy Jones did.
00:56:45You heard the advice to Jones in the corner, be a needle in a haystack.
00:56:50That's the way of the trainer telling him, get out of there.
00:56:53You got the fight one.
00:56:58Gil, is it even possible that Tony deludes himself into believing
00:57:01that he's still got a shot at winning a decision here?
00:57:05I would have to say the fighter, yes, but the trainer should know better.
00:57:09The trainer should be telling him, you need a knockout to win this fight.
00:57:12Bill Miller hasn't said that at any point, has he?
00:57:14No, he hasn't. He said we need this six minutes.
00:57:17The six minutes won't do him any good, in my opinion, and on my scorecard.
00:57:23I think we're going to have an exciting 12th round.
00:57:29Again, Jones is killing the clock, not doing too much this round.
00:57:34Butting an inside left against Tony's head there.
00:57:36Tony putting in the bodywork on the ropes, but it's probably too little too late.
00:57:44Crowd begins to try to lift the champion.
00:57:54Well, this goes to show you that James has built a following in his three years as a world champion.
00:58:01Boy, there are a lot of people who've been on him.
00:58:05Jones nailed Tony with a solid left hook.
00:58:08And Tony wobbles just slightly against the ropes again.
00:58:11Look how calm Jones is in there.
00:58:16Sending range, then hard punches.
00:58:19He's doing it all.
00:58:34Hey, hey, hey, watch it, watch it, come on.
00:58:37You're tempted to say, Larry, that for a decision to be taken away from Roy Jones,
00:58:50it would almost have to be the Olympics.
00:58:54Now, if this was taken away from Roy Jones, it would be worse than the Olympics.
00:58:58He may have been a little tired before, Jones, but he's got a second win.
00:59:09He's right back in there now.
00:59:12And still, James Tony showing none of the
00:59:15desperation-style commitment that we all think would be necessary for him to salvage the puck.
00:59:21I got to have these glasses.
00:59:29I got to have it, James.
00:59:33We need it.
00:59:35We need this here.
00:59:43I got to have this here.
00:59:44We need it.
00:59:46There's no more tomorrow.
00:59:47All right, buddy.
00:59:49This is it.
00:59:49On your head.
00:59:51Okay?
00:59:52I want you to touch him.
00:59:53Put them three and four-point combinations on him and go.
00:59:55On your head.
00:59:56I'm on your head.
00:59:56Let me talk.
00:59:57Final round.
00:59:58Okay?
00:59:59Roy, listen to me.
01:00:00Don't give him a chance.
01:00:01Don't give him a chance to take nothing, okay?
01:00:03Good.
01:00:04Well, pick that piece of legs over that belt.
01:00:10Okay.
01:00:10Go get it.
01:00:11Give it to him.
01:00:15In the corner of the undefeated champion
01:00:18with the best record of any undefeated world titleist in the sport,
01:00:21there was silence for the last 20 seconds of that one-minute break between rounds.
01:00:26Nobody said to James, you must have a knockout to win the fight.
01:00:30Now, here comes Tony with his last three minutes to try to get something done
01:00:35against aspiring super middleweight champion Roy Jones.
01:00:40Tony just takes so long to get off.
01:00:43He allowed Jones to escape.
01:00:44He's fainting, fainting, fainting.
01:00:46What is he waiting for?
01:00:53Keep him up.
01:00:53Keep him up.
01:00:54Point to get out of there.
01:00:59Good solid body point by Jones.
01:01:02Smart stuff.
01:01:03Keep him up.
01:01:08Keep him up front.
01:01:09Keep him up front.
01:01:12At what point, Gil, does Jones simply try to stay away?
01:01:15Well, the way they told him in the corner that don't take any chances,
01:01:19but throw some good solid punches.
01:01:21I mean, I know if I was in this corner, I'd be saying,
01:01:24they just killed the clock.
01:01:25You got the 5-1.
01:01:26I didn't do that too often, but when the guy's this far ahead,
01:01:30why take any kind of chance?
01:01:33Point to the break.
01:01:34Stop it.
01:01:34Stop it.
01:01:36I used to always tell my fighters, you have to win the last round,
01:01:40especially if you're in the other guy's hometown.
01:01:43Yeah, but you wouldn't have told Jones tonight that he had to win this last round, would you?
01:01:47No, I would not have it.
01:01:48As they say, in my opinion, there's no way they could take it away from him.
01:01:56It's been a spectacular display by Roy Jones.
01:01:59He continues to step in and fire the left hook from time to time.
01:02:03And Tony, simply not busy enough to be building toward the climax he needs.
01:02:08He just can't get off.
01:02:10Can't get off.
01:02:11He's the movement that's been puzzling him all night long.
01:02:15Big right hand by Jones.
01:02:17Right on the button.
01:02:20One minute to go.
01:02:22Big left hook by Jones.
01:02:23Yet another one.
01:02:24Do it, right, right.
01:02:25And these are solid punches, which means that Tony has to have a chin of granite.
01:02:33Punching it out.
01:02:35Right, right.
01:02:40The sand is running out of the clock for James Tony.
01:02:44More than six years ago, Roy Jones Jr. was victimized by what most observers called the worst decision in the history of amateur boxing.
01:02:55It robbed him of an expected gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988.
01:03:00He's waited all this time to regain center stage.
01:03:06And now tonight, in the biggest fight of his career, against a man regarded by many as the most skilled champion in the sport,
01:03:13Roy Jones has been every bit as dominant as he was that day in Korea so long ago.
01:03:20Given the kind of fighter James Tony has been over the last year and a half,
01:03:42that's just a terrific performance by Roy Jones.
01:03:46Yes, it is.
01:03:47And, you know, we had mentioned about putting on all that weight,
01:03:51and I was told that he had done that in quite a few fights, but that eventually has to catch up with you, Larry.
01:03:56I don't think that James Tony was on top of his game tonight.
01:03:59I know Jones was great, but Tony was not Tony tonight.
01:04:02Yeah, but I'm in Larry's corner on this one.
01:04:05Let's not harp on that too much, because any harping on it takes away from a spectacular performance by Roy Jones,
01:04:11which, in my view, and in yours, Gil, answered just about every remaining question about it.
01:04:16I thought he was absolutely great tonight.
01:04:18Again, he's a very unorthodox fighter.
01:04:21He does things his own way.
01:04:22I don't think he even knows what he's going to do, but boy, it's effective.
01:04:27The fight plan for Jones was for a lot of power shots and very few jabs.
01:04:31He followed it to a tee.
01:04:33Let's go to the ring announcer, Michael Buffer, for the official decision.
01:04:38Ladies and gentlemen, here at the MGM Grand of Las Vegas, we go to the scorecards.
01:04:43Jon Stewart scores the bell, 119 to 10.
01:04:47Glenn Hamada scores it, 117 to 110.
01:04:50And Jerry Roth has it, 118 to 109 for the winner by unanimous decision.
01:04:56And new super middleweight champion of the world, Roy Jones, Jr.
01:05:08Roy Jones, Jr.
01:05:20Roy Jones, Jr.
01:05:25Whoo!
01:05:26Go!
01:05:27Go!
01:05:28Go!
01:05:29Go!
01:05:30Go!
01:05:30Go!
01:05:31Go!
01:05:32Go!
01:05:33First loss of James Toney's career, Roy Jones moves to 27-0,
01:05:39and based on tonight's performance, the sky's the limit.
01:05:44So in the end, it was the near whitewash we might have anticipated on the scorecards.
01:05:49Only one judge, Glenn Hamada, finding a way to give as many as three rounds to the champion, James Toney.
01:05:55Little punch stat numbers reflect Jones' dominance in the fight.
01:05:58You can see that he threw 163 more punches, landed 128 more punches, and at a much higher percentage than Tony.
01:06:07And an interesting wrinkle.
01:06:10Roy Jones' fight plan was to dispense with the jab and throw power punches to make it more difficult for Tony to counter.
01:06:16Tony, far behind on points, eventually dispensed with the jab himself.
01:06:21The net result? Of all the punches thrown in the bout, 75% of them were power punches.
01:06:26His jabs were almost non-existent in the late rounds.
01:06:30After Roy Jones' overwhelming victory over Tony, Larry Merchant spoke to both winner and loser in the ring.
01:06:37What did you know personally about the difficulty he was having with weight?
01:06:41Well, I come from 178 sometimes, 180 to make 160.
01:06:46That's a very tough thing to do and fight 12 rounds.
01:06:48I'm a lot bigger than guys, most times a lot faster, but it's tough when it's fat.
01:06:53And I wasn't fat, I'd just be thick at 178 most of the time.
01:06:57Good work.
01:06:57Yeah, man, thanks, baby.
01:06:58Hey, good work.
01:06:59Good work, baby.
01:07:00What's up, man?
01:07:01Hey.
01:07:02You all right?
01:07:02Hey, yeah.
01:07:03He is.
01:07:04Hey, yeah.
01:07:05What's up, buddy?
01:07:06You back?
01:07:06I'll be back.
01:07:07I'll be back.
01:07:07James Toney will be back.
01:07:08Watch out loud every week.
01:07:10But, yeah, and, you know, it's just a tough thing to do.
01:07:13And I committed him on how he made the weight, but I knew that he would be watched.
01:07:18I mean, you know, the weight would work.
01:07:19How did that play into your plans, knowing that he would be weakened?
01:07:22Well, my hands are so fast, my feet are so quick until all I had to do was box, move
01:07:26around the ring, box, not taking on stupid chances.
01:07:29But I do like to fight, so I sat down with him a couple of times because he's a warrior.
01:07:32And to beat the champ, you've got to beat the champ.
01:07:33So I sat down just to show him that.
01:07:35All right.
01:07:35You wanted to prove not just that you were quick and strong, but that you had something inside
01:07:40you a few times in the fight.
01:07:42Is that what you're saying?
01:07:43That's right.
01:07:43Exactly.
01:07:44That championship quality, that stuff that it takes to be a champion.
01:07:47I had to prove that I have that.
01:07:49Unlike other champions who, other challenges who come in, challenge the champ, run from
01:07:52the whole night.
01:07:53I never run from nobody a whole night.
01:07:55Did he hurt you, daze you at all during the fight?
01:07:59Never.
01:07:59He's a solid puncher, but, you know, my chain is real tough.
01:08:03A couple of good shots, but they didn't bother me at all.
01:08:05Did you feel you had hurt him?
01:08:07Seriously?
01:08:07Yeah, I hurt him a couple of times.
01:08:08I hurt him about three or four times in the fight.
01:08:10He has a strong chain, I expect, though.
01:08:12So, I've got to give him that.
01:08:14You've waited six years to get here, James.
01:08:15Does this make up for Seoul, finally?
01:08:17Right.
01:08:17Roy, I'm sorry.
01:08:18Yeah, this makes up somewhere.
01:08:20Well, like I said, I just thank God I was healthy, able to get the squad without any defeats.
01:08:23Thank God my hands stayed healthy throughout the whole entire thing.
01:08:26And, you know, James Turner was a wonderful champion.
01:08:29I stepped up, you know, took the challenge, had to do what I had to do.
01:08:31He'll be back.
01:08:32He's a great fighter.
01:08:33Was he just too quick for you?
01:08:35No, I wasn't at that.
01:08:36I was, like I said, I was tired.
01:08:37My weight, my weight loss and everything.
01:08:39I ain't got to hold my head down, bro.
01:08:42I ain't got to hold my head down.
01:08:43Did having to take off so much weight before your fights finally catch up with you?
01:08:47Is that what you're saying?
01:08:48Probably did.
01:08:48But, you know, it don't matter.
01:08:49He didn't do nothing to me.
01:08:50Now I feel good.
01:08:52I'll be back.
01:08:53I'm a great champ.
01:08:53I will be back.
01:08:54I will be back.
01:08:55Did he ever hurt you, particularly when he knocked you down?
01:08:58No, no, no knockdown.
01:08:59I was off balance.
01:08:59I was dug out of the way with a punch and I fell.
01:09:00All right, we're going to try to run that up and see if you could describe it.
01:09:03Now here you were doing some posturing just before the knockdown.
01:09:07Explain to us.
01:09:07I'm down the other way.
01:09:08See?
01:09:08He pushed me right there.
01:09:09See it?
01:09:10It was a push.
01:09:10It was a push.
01:09:11It was a push.
01:09:13You see that?
01:09:13I wasn't hurting nothing.
01:09:14I came back and forth.
01:09:15You never hit the canvas yourself, did you?
01:09:17Never.
01:09:18Never.
01:09:18It was my gloves.
01:09:19But you must certainly be disappointed after so many outstanding fights, undefeated, fighting
01:09:24so often to be mastered in this way.
01:09:27I wasn't mastered, you know, as I had a bad night.
01:09:30I'll be back.
01:09:31Like I said, I will be back.
01:09:32It's a good fight.
01:09:32Take my hat off to him.
01:09:33The man will win the fight for the square.
01:09:34I ain't got no excuses.
01:09:36He's a better man than that, but I will be back, though, as a light heavyweight.
01:09:39So now we look ahead to the future.
01:09:41What will Roy Jones do as a champion at 168 pounds?
01:09:44What will James Toney do?
01:09:46You heard him suggest in the ring that his next fight would be as a light heavyweight with
01:09:50a 175-pound weight limit.
01:09:51And, Gil Clancy, obviously, Roy Jones looks ahead to some terrific marketability as a
01:09:57new superstar in the sport.
01:09:58But who's he going to fight?
01:10:00Well, I only see one guy out there that could make it interesting, and that's Gerald McClellan.
01:10:04And only because he can punch.
01:10:06But it's more likely that Roy Jones Jr. will pitch another shutout.
01:10:10And then?
01:10:11He may have to move up in weight.
01:10:12I mean, I had Emil Griffith when he was welterweight champion.
01:10:15He ran out of guys to fight, had to move all the way up to middleweight.
01:10:18And I think that Jones may have to take that next step up and maybe fight a Virgil Hill
01:10:22for the light heavyweight championship.
01:10:24Wouldn't it be a shame to see him lose the chance to continue performing at this weight
01:10:28level where he is so obviously a natural, spectacular talent?
01:10:32Well, that's boxing him.
01:10:33And that's what happens.
01:10:34If there's nobody out there for him, he will have to move up, make that sacrifice.
01:10:38And that's part of the business of boxing.
01:10:39And we'll see what happens with that in the months to come.
01:10:42But right now, a final word on Roy Jones' artistic presence in the ring against James
01:10:46Stoney, from you, Larry.
01:10:48Well, I think all of us came here for more than the championship fight.
01:10:51This kind of a showdown brings something else out of us.
01:10:55We wanted to collect a memory.
01:10:57There have been so many references in the last weeks to all those great middleweight dramas
01:11:02of the 80s.
01:11:03Hagler versus Leonard versus Hearns versus Duran.
01:11:07And we were looking forward to something like that tonight.
01:11:09I'm not sure if it was Tony's gluttonous ways that made him a glutton for punishment tonight.
01:11:17It seemed to me that no matter what James Toney did, he was going to get licked by Quick, by
01:11:23Roy Jones Jr.'s Quick.
01:11:25And perhaps that alone will stamp this event indelibly in our minds when we look back on
01:11:32Roy Jones' career.
01:11:33Indeed.
01:11:34The three of us will have more to say about boxing in just a moment.
01:11:36But right now, let's look ahead to some upcoming entertainment events here on HBO.
01:11:43HBO original movie, coming in December, only on HBO.
01:11:49Back to the subject of boxing for a moment now as we look ahead to the next edition of
01:11:53World Championship Boxing here on HBO.
01:11:55It'll be December 3, as former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe goes into the ring here
01:11:59in Las Vegas against young heavyweight contender Larry Donald, Gil Clancy.
01:12:03What challenge, if any, does Donald pose to Bowe?
01:12:05Well, Bowe is the challenge for Bowe.
01:12:08He has to get back into the condition that he was when he won the heavyweight championship
01:12:12of the world.
01:12:13Against Larry Donald, not a big puncher or anything, but he's a well-conditioned guy.
01:12:18And his manager, Robert Middleman, called me and said, definitely Donald will win the
01:12:22fight.
01:12:23We have Bowe right where we want him.
01:12:25Robert Middleman managing the slick, quick former Olympian.
01:12:28He was a member of the United States Olympic team in Barcelona in 1992.
01:12:32And Larry Merchant, why would Middleman and the people around Donald believe that they
01:12:37have Bowe right where they want him?
01:12:39Well, most people think the fight is premature for Donald.
01:12:41He's 17-0, but he hasn't fought any stiff opposition yet.
01:12:45But they just think they can jump on a Bowe who is still depressed from losing his heavyweight
01:12:52championship back to Evander Holyfield and being out of the heavyweight picture for now.
01:12:58And nobody knows whether he can get it again to get on the scale and be in shape.
01:13:04So that's why we're all thinking once again of gluttony, gluttons for punishment.
01:13:09And me personally, I'm thinking of the great fight novel and movie, Fat City, Revisited.
01:13:15As we go back to Riddick Bowe, who got an incomplete report card for his no-contest appearance against
01:13:20Buster Mathis Jr. in late summer in Atlantic City, he'll be looking for a victory over Donald
01:13:24as he tries to angle toward another heavyweight championship challenge.
01:13:27And we remind you of an unusual starting time for that telecast.
01:13:30It'll be at 9.30 p.m. Eastern Time, 6.30 Pacific Time, the 10-round heavyweight fight
01:13:35between Riddick Bowe and Larry Donald here on HBO.
01:13:38A final look back now at the events of November 18, 1994.
01:13:42Roy Jones becoming the new IVF super middleweight champion with his resounding unanimous decision
01:13:47victory over James Toney, punctuated by this semi-controversial third-round knockdown.
01:13:53Tony Seat never really reaching the canvas, but all a part of the overwhelming performance
01:13:57by Jones, which made him an easy choice in fight.
01:14:04Turn to HBO for the show The Pros Watch, Inside the NFL, as hosts Lynn Dawson, Nick Buonaconte,
01:14:10and Chris Collinsworth are joined by Jimmy Johnson to take a complete look back and the first
01:14:14look ahead at all the action throughout the NFL, premiering Thursday nights at 11 p.m.
01:14:19Eastern and Pacific Time.
01:14:21So for Larry Merchant, Gil Clancy, and Harold Letterman, I'm Jim Lampley saying so long from
01:14:26the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
01:14:28The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg.
01:14:31Tonight's program was produced by Rick Bernadine and directed by Mark Payton.
01:14:35The associate producers were Steve Cohen, David Hoffman, and Adam Berger.
01:14:39Assistance to the producer, Artie Curry, Dave Leakeson, Thomas Oduldveld, and Max Siegel.
01:14:43The production manager was John McCallum and the technical supervisor, Bob Hunter.
01:15:13The production manager was John McCallum and the technical supervisor, Bob Hunter.
01:15:43This has been a presentation of HBO Sports, the network of champions.
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