Roy Jones Jr. will undoubtedly go down as a legend in the sport, but at the tail end of his career, he made a questionable decision and faced a fan hungry for the $100K prize.
In 2016, following a devastating knockout loss to Enzo Maccarinelli, Roy Jones Jr. was in the closing chapter of his career.
Jones Jr. would only have four fights left before retiring (although he did have an unsuccessful comeback in 2023), and, knowing he was close to the end, sought new ways to stay in the limelight.
He signed up with a promotional company called UR Fight, which offered a strange lineup of MMA, boxing, and wrestling bouts, such as Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle, and Michael Bisping vs Chael Sonnen.
Though these match-ups may seem interesting, Jones’ was far more odd.
Roy Jones Jr. fought fan who won a competition to face him
Jones Jr.’s opponent, however, was not one that the audience had ever heard of, and was a debutant by the name of Vyron Phillips, who had won a competition to face Jones, with the prize being $100K if he could beat the champion.
Phillips had a 6-1 amateur boxing record, and a 5-3 MMA record at the time of the fight. Ahead of the bout he seemed confident, saying:
“We’re not going backwards, we’re gonna meet in the middle of the ring and we’re gonna fight.”
Jones Jr., who once knocked out an NYPD officer, was more realistic, however, stating:
“He’s a human being who can punch, and that gives him a chance until I knock him out.”
This is exactly what happened. After a round of toying with Phillips, Jones Jr. stopped the fan in the second round, dashing any hopes he had of winning the $100K prize.
Speaking on Phillips’ effort after the fight, Jones Jr., who has also fought a former homeless man, said: “That guy has an amazing heart to even try such a feat. You don’t meet many people like him.”
Phillips was in good spirits, saying: “It was surreal, I went out there and I fought the best.”
Roy Jones Jr. headlined the card that started Jake Paul’s boxing career
In 2020 Jones Jr. faced Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout. The fight was scored a controversial split-draw, with one judge, Vinny Pazienza, the fighter who broke his neck but returned to win multiple world titles, and Jones Jr.’s former opponent, scored the bout widely in favour of Jones, despite Tyson seemingly doing the better work.
Both men were in their fifties at the time, and would bow out of the sport soon after, though on the undercard a new chapter was only just beginning.
In the co-main event, Jake Paul took on his second ever pro boxing fight, and first ever outside of the realm of YouTubers vs YouTubers. Paul took on former basketball player, Nate Robinson, and stopped him with a brutal knockout in round two.
Years later Paul and Tyson would fight themselves, though Tyson admits that he feared dropping out of the Paul fight after health scares due to legal repercussions.