Future Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr., one of the sport's premier pound-for-pound fighters in the 1990s and 2000s, will be calling it a career next year in front of his hometown fans.
Jones will headline Island Fights 46, a fight event containing boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, on February 8 at the Pensacola Bay Center in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. An opponent has not been named for Jones, but according to Jones, this fight will be his last boxing fight.
"You should call it my last day at the Bay. It's my last one for the Bayfront, Civic Center, Pensacola, Bayfront Arena, whatever you want to call it. So if you want to come to see my last day in Pensacola, be there February 8. That's my last one there," Jones said on social media.
Jones left his mark in the sport's history when he won the WBA heavyweight title in 2003, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in 106 years. He also became the undisputed light heavyweight champion in 1999, by unifying the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles.
The former world champion had been mulling retirement for quite some time, at least since 2016. Aside from boxing once or twice a year, Jones has been a prominent member on HBO's boxing broadcast team alongside Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman.
Jones has had a lengthy career, starting out as a pro in 1989, winning his first 34 fights plus the IBF middleweight, super middleweight and interim light heavyweight titles. The 48-year-old Jones, who turns 49 in January 2018, has fought some of the best the sport has ever seen, including beating the likes of Antonio Tarver, John Ruiz and Felix Trinidad. The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named Jones as the Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s. Jones was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine in 1994 and was also named Fighter of the Year for 2003 by the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Since 2016, Jones has won all three of his fights, two of which via knockout, and the WBF (Foundation) cruiserweight title as well.
