The name may not be all that familiar, but unfortunately, the plight is altogether too often seen or, more accurately, read about in the unforgiving sport of professional boxing. Jerry Jones, today aged 64 and blind in one eye, has only quite recently seen his “rough, rough days” of homelessness come to an end.
Jones, who boxed some genuine top contenders back in the 1980s and 1990s – including Ray Mercer, Carl Williams, Michael Bentt, Bruce Seldon, Zeljko Mavrovic (“the best I ever fought”), Alexander Zolkin, and Alex Garcia – spent around seven years on the streets of both Washington DC and Maryland. After these, what can only be imagined as hellish times, Jerry finally managed to find an apartment a year or so ago, and as he says today, he is now “smiling again.”
Often thrown in deep during his ring career and at short notice, Jones, a long-limbed (85-inch reach) southpaw, never took the sport as seriously as he might have done, while he says his trainer wasn’t too concerned with whether he trained or not, as he was “making way more dollars than I was.”
Jerry, who was forced to finish his ring career after losing his sight in one eye, finished at an average-looking 9-11(5), yet on his best night, he could upset a top-ranked foe.
Here, Jerry, as honest and as forthcoming a person you could wish to converse with, speaks with Eastside Boxing.
Q: Your quick KO win over Michael Bentt, who was making his pro debut, was a highlight for you, this in February of 1989. And you also upset Carl “The Truth” Williams?
Jerry Jones: “Yes. The Bentt fight, it was a case of me catching him before he caught me. I think we are kind of friends today, but when I was homeless, and I asked him for help, well, he didn’t [help me]. Anyway, Carl Williams, he was a guy who I looked up to. But all that changed at the weigh-in. He said he was gonna knock me out. I just didn’t like his attitude at all. I beat him (via unanimous decision in March of 1992) and that was one of my best nights in the ring. That [win] put me high up in the IBF rankings, but at the same time, my money came up short.”
Q: Who looked after you as a fighter, and who was your head trainer?
J.J: “My trainer was Vardell McCann, and he was a good man, but he had his old-school ways. He was a boxer himself, or he had been back in the day. Back when I was fighting, we didn’t have Google. After my career, I Googled him and his record told me all I needed to know! (McCann was just 1-2 as a pro, but he did also train Derrell Coley, Reggie Green, and one or two other guys). I was always the opponent, the B-side fighter. I didn’t know it then, but my trainer was selling me out. I had bad habits, and I didn’t train like I should have done. But he [McCann] didn’t care, as he was making way more dollars than I was. My biggest win, over Williams, I never got my full money.”
Q: I guess you sparred a lot of big names during your career?
J.J: “Yes, I did. Evander Holyfield – who was sheer class, who paid me every week for six weeks – and Riddick Bowe, Axel Schulz, Shannon Briggs, Oliver McCall, Kirk Johnson. I learned the most when working with Holyfield.”
Q: And what was your amateur record?
J.J: “I believe it was around 15-4. But to be honest with you, I really believe I only lost when I boxed out of town. As a matter of fact, though, the hardest puncher I might have faced in my career was during my amateur career. I fought a guy named Sammy Johnson. He hit very hard, but I beat him. As a pro, Bowe probably hit me the hardest.”
Q: What happened after boxing?
J.J: “Well, I robbed banks, and I went to jail! I served four years in jail the first time, and then, when I came home, I did it all over again. I tried robbing around 20 or more banks…….but I never used a weapon. For that, I’m blessed. I did about seven years in jail overall. I was just so depressed because I couldn’t box, as I had lost the sight in my eye. Of course, I have major regrets.”
Q: And you spent many months homeless? How did you get by during that time, which ended just about a year ago?
J.J: “Well, they were really rough times for me. I don’t like to think about those days much. But I’ve been in my apartment for around a year now, and I’m smiling again.”
Q: You are in good health overall?
J.J: “Aside from being blind in one eye. And I do forget things. I have notes stuck to my door to remind me to turn off the stove that I have to make sure I have my keys on me and my ID. I am actually thinking about writing a book, but I don’t know where to start.”
Q: You certainly have some fascinating story to tell. How did you eat and sleep whilst on the streets?
J.J: “I would train young people at a park and save the money they paid me. Sometimes, I would be able to get a room for a week and get my clothes washed. My ex-wife also helped me, she would pick me up if the weather was too cold, and I would stay at her house. Other times, I would squat in empty or vacant homes. Like I said, it was very rough.”
Thankfully, Jerry is back in a good place today. A skilled and very brave fighter who went in with the best, Jones – AKA “The Slice Man” and “T-Bone” – really should write that book and put his amazing story out there.
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