Roy Jones Jnr famously played basketball and defended his IBF super middleweight title against Eric Lucas on the same day (June 15, 1996).
Jones suited up at point guard for the Jacksonville Barracudas of the United States Basketball League, and later that night in the same city, cruised to a 11th round stoppage of Lucas.
“Don’t take what I’m doing as a stunt. I don’t create stunts,” Jones said at the time. “I’m doing it because I want to try to do something different in life. I want boxing to have a better name. I’m trying to do my sport a favor and do myself a favor at the same time.”
Fast forward to 28 years later, and the Hall of Famer turned commentator, coach, musician and boxing promoter is still thinking about unique ways to realize his goals.
So, on December 12, Jones will serve as a commentator while he’s cornering five of his fighters on a card he’s promoting at the Legends Casino Hotel at Toppenish, Washington on BLK Prime PPV ($12.99).
“I’m a little different, I’m built differently, and it’s always been a dream of mine,” Jones told BoxingScene. “I always wanted to fight, commentate, and coach the same night. It was difficult to do it at the time because people were not thinking outside of the box – look what the outside of the box has done now. You get Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, Misfits Boxing, and all of these crossover fights.”
The main event fight for Jones’ busy night will feature Shady Gamhour (13-1, 9 KOs) taking on Devontae McDonald (6-4, 2 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight matchup.
“It’s tough, but I’m going to make it happen. All of the work, though, is done in the gym. Once we get there, it’s reminding them to stick to the game plan.
“This fight will tell me if Shady is hungry enough to keep going or if he needs to stop, because Davante is coming to fight, and everyone knows that. Davante gave Andrew Murphy one of the best fights of his career.
“My goal is to try and make world champions out of my guys. No matter what belt you get, with the belts and accomplishments come responsibility. Everyone who doesn’t have the belt wants it.”
The multi-talented Jones was also a hit musician during his heyday, releasing the rap album “Round One: The Album” in 2001 and the debut single “Y’All Must’ve Forgot.” Hip-hop anthems like “Can’t Be Touched,” which seemingly can be heard during ring walks around the world every weekend, followed in 2004.
If all goes well for the multi-tasking Jones on December 12, he’ll next be contemplating picking up the microphone to show off the third leg of his multidimensional skills.
“I was thinking about a concert at the intermission, too, or sing my fighters into the ring – that might be better – but I don’t know if they are ready for that yet,” said Jones. “I might do that next, and I’ll have my guy SM Bullet ride out with me. Now how hot would that be?”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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