Roy Jones Jr. was one of the best boxers of all time, but with a career that includes knocking out a fan, and a police officer, and play a basketball game before a fight, it’s clear Jones will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Roy Jones Jr. has seen and done it all. From his beatdown of former homeless man Richard Hall, to Jones’ stoppage of Richard Frazier, a police officer-turned-boxer, his career has certainly been entertaining.
But there was one night where Jones showed how good he was, as instead of taking it easy or warming up the day of his fight, he played a pro basketball game seven hours before a world title defense.
Roy Jones Jr. stopped Eric Lucas seven hours after playing for the Jacksonville Barracudas
In 1996, Jones, who lost to Bernard Hopkins once, faced 19-2-2 Eric Lucas in Jacksonville. Lucas, a future WBC super-middleweight champion, challenged Jones for his IBF title.
It was seven hours before the fight, though, that Jones played for the Jacksonville Barracudas in a pro basketball game.
Jones, who was KO’d by Enzo Maccarinelli, played point guard in the United States Basketball League game contributing five points to the Barracudas win over the Treasure Coast Tropics.
He played 14 minutes just hours before his fight with a serious contender in Lucas.
Lucas was stopped after the 11th round on the advice of the ringside physician. He had suffered a broken nose and a cut over his eye.
Roy Jones Jr. knocked out a fan in $100K competition
Jones once signed up to a promotional company called UR Fight, which prided itself on odd and interesting match-ups such as Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle and Chael Sonnen vs Michael Bisping.
On one event, Jones offered $100k to a fan who could knock him out. Many applied, but it was Vyron Phillips who was picked to get the shot.
Phillips was 6-1 in amateur boxing and a 5-3 MMA record. He was stopped in the second round.
Despite the loss, Phillips maintained it was a great experience.