Future Hall of Famer Roy Jones scored a dominant eighth round technical knockout over former world title challenger Bobby Gunn on Friday night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, DE. The fight was fought at a methodical pace from start to finish. Gunn had some sporadic success in making Jones miss and landed a couple of solid punches in the first two rounds, but as the fight progressed it was Jones who picked his shots.
As the fight went on Jones found a home for his right hand on Gunn’s face. Toward the end of round seven, Jones connected with a short combination highlighted by a flush left hook to the jaw that had Gunn staggered, but Jones opted to let Gunn finish the round rather than force the action. Although Gunn survived the round, he was prevented from continuing the combat as the bell sounded for eight by his corner who informed Referee Bill Clancy that they wanted the fight stopped. Official time of the stoppage was :07 of round eight.
Roy Jones advances to 65-9, with 47 Knockouts. Bobby Gunn falls to 21-7-1, with 18 Knockouts.
Also on this card, in a Jr. Welterweight bout Joey Tiberi scored a fourth round stoppage over a “Game”, but overmatched Bryan Timmons. Tiberi, who was coming off of a near three year layoff, used effective counter punching and body shots to control the action. The end came when Tiberi connected with a body shot in the fourth round of the scheduled four round fight that hurt Timmons and allowed Tiberi to continue landing punches until the fight was stopped. Official time of the stoppage was 2:04 of round four.
Joey Tiberi advances to 14-2, with 7 Knockouts. Bryan Timmons falls to 5-9, with 5 Knockouts.
In a Jr. Lightweight bout, rising contender Frank De Alba scored a six round unanimous decision over veteran German Meraz. De Alba, who scored his fourth straight victory with the win since losing a narrow ten round majority decision to Omar Douglas in December 2015, was simply more active and landed the cleaner more effective punches to earn the decision victory winning all six rounds on all three official scorecards 60-54.
Frank De Alba advances to 21-2-2, with 9 Knockouts. German Meraz falls to 55-42-1, with 32 Knockouts.
In the co-main event in the Jr. Middleweight division undefeated rising prospect Kanat Islam scored a thrilling first round knockout over Robson Assis. Islam suffered a deep gash over the right eye seconds into the fight as a result of an accidental clash of heads that quickly left his face a bloody mess. Despite having a nasty gash that had to of had some impact on his vision, Islam pressed forward being more than willing to engage with Assis in what became the most exciting bout of the evening. Islam was able to send Assis down for the count with a flush right hand late in the opening round to score the knockout victory. Official time of the stoppage was 2:12 of round one.
Kanat Islam advances to 23-0, with 19 Knockouts. Robson Assis falls to 16-4 with 9 Knockouts.
In a Jr. Featherweight bout, unbeaten prospect Dagoberto Aguero scored a narrow six round majority decision over Olimjon Nazarov. Official scores were 57-57, and 59-55, 58-56 (In Aguero’s favor.) Dagoberto Aguero advances to 11-0, with 8 Knockouts. Olimjon Nazarov falls to 14-5, with 8 Knockouts.
In other bouts:
Women’s Lightweight – Ikram Kerwat 7-1, with 5 Knockouts UD4 over Britain Hart 2-1, with 2 Knockouts. Official scores: 40-36 (On all three scorecards for Kerwat.)
Light-Heavyweight – Henry Stewart 3-0, with 1 Knockout MD4 over Martez Williamson 2-16, 0 Knockouts Official scores: (37-37, and 39-37 (On two scorecards in Stewart’s favor,) )
Cruiserweight – Lamont Singletary 8-1, with 5 Knockouts KO1 over Dan Biddle 9-6, 5 Knockouts. (Official time unavailable as of this writing.)
*A scheduled four round Middleweight bout between Edward Ortiz and Jeff Chiffens did not take place despite both fighters officially weighing in for the fight on Thursday. There is no word as of this writing as to why the fight did not take place.
The win over Bobby Gunn for Roy Jones earned him the World Boxing Foundation (WBF) Cruiserweight world championship. Although it should be no secret to long time readers that I have been very vocal in my concern for Roy Jones’ long-term well-being over the years, he simply did what he had to do in a fight that he was able to dictate from the third round on and didn’t face much resistance in this fight. For the forty-eight year old future Hall of Famer, the victory was his eleventh in his last twelve fights and his third since suffering a brutal fourth round knockout loss to former Cruiserweight world champion Enzo Maccarinelli in December 2015.
Following that fight, readers might recall this observer making a case as to why I felt Jones should have called it a career following what was the fifth knockout he had suffered in his nine career losses ending my post-fight column by simply saying “With his legacy more than secure, with nothing left to prove, and the potential risk of long-term damage due to the knockouts he has suffered over his career, this observer has only one thing to say to a great fighter. Roy, it’s time. “
Since the loss to Maccarinelli, Jones returned to the ring in March 2016 where he faced Vyron Phillips in a bout where Phillips, an MMA fighter was selected as Jones’ opponent via an online vote. Phillips, who had never fought professionally as a boxer before was offered $100,000 if he could knock out Jones. Jones made quick work of Phillips stopping him in the second round. Jones then followed that fight by facing and scoring a ten round unanimous decision over journeyman contender Rodney Moore in August of last year. A fight that Jones dominated, but suffered a torn right bicep during the fight.
Although the forty-eight year old Jones looked impressive in stopping forty-three year old Bobby Gunn, a fighter who is undefeated in bare-knuckle Boxing, but one who had not fought a fight under traditional Boxing rules since losing an eight round unanimous decision to former Light-Heavyweight world champion Glen Johnson in December 2013, one may wonder what options could be available to Jones coming out of this fight. Even though the opinion this observer expressed following his knockout loss to Enzo Maccarinelli has not changed and by all accounts Jones will continue fighting after this latest victory, I hope he will know when it is time to call it a career regardless of what options may be available to him.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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