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On This Day: Roy Jones Jr exacts revenge after disqualification controversy
Today marks 28 years since Roy Jones Jr redeemed the first loss of his professional career with a stunning first-round knockout of Montell Griffin.
In the first seven years and 34 matches of his fight life, Jones Jr had dominated. He had reigned as champion at middleweight, having taken the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt by defeating Bernard Hopkins in 1993.
By 1994, ‘Superman’ was a two-division champion, having defeated James Toney for the IBF super middleweight champion. Jones then made five successful defences before deciding to campaign at light heavyweight.
Victory over Mike McCallum saw Jones Jr become the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim champion at 175lbs, and when full title holder Fabrice Tiozzo did not arrange a defence of his belt, ‘Superman’ was elevated.
His first fight as WBC light heavyweight champion was against Griffin, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Griffin had just beaten Toney to earn a lesser world title in the form of the World Boxing Union (WBU) strap, the younger man ranked number five by the WBC.
The challenger had pushed Jones Jr all the way, perhaps giving the three-division champion the toughest fight of his career to that point.
Jones Jr entered the bout as The Ring’s pound-for-pound number one fighter, but there was little to separate the two heading into the ninth round. Two judges had Jones Jr up, 77-75 and 76-75, whilst the other had Griffin winning 76-75.
Griffin looked good in the ninth, controlling the flow, but Jones Jr found an opening and quickly unleashed a volley of punches. Overwhelmed, the staggering Griffin took a knee for some respite.
Jones Jr continued as his opponent went down, with referee Tony Perez continuing the count to completion. But rather than a knockout victory for Jones Jr, the reigning champion was disqualified.
Rather than be outraged, Jones Jr went over to Griffin’s corner to admit defeat, conceding that his mistake had cost him his perfect record.
Aside from the dramatic finish of the first fight, fans were anticipating another close contest.
There would be a chance for rectification five months later, when the pair headlined at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on August 7, 1997.
If the first fight had been inconclusive, the rematch was definitive – and over quickly.
Named ‘Unfinished business’, Jones Jr made short work of Griffin. Before the fight had passed the 20 second mark, Jones Jr had put Griffin on to the canvas with a left hook.
Rick Stewart /Allsport
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It would be the same punch that would end the fight, with Griffin unable to prevent Jones Jr’s pressure with the mere jab.
Griffin’s attempt to get back up from a second knockdown was unsuccessful; unable to find his feet, the fight was called off.
Jones Jr had recovered his WBC light heavyweight crown, whilst Griffin was no longer a world champion. Griffin would get two more bites at world title status, coming up short both times.
‘Superman’ would go on to become undisputed in the three-belt era at light heavyweight, before picking up the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) heavyweight belt against John Ruiz in 2003.
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