Roy Jones Jr.
The second-lightest boxer to become heavyweight champion, and a pound-for-pound legend.
Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer that competed from 1989 to 2018, and again in 2023. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning the light middleweight silver medal.
Quick Facts
- Weight classes
- Middleweight, Super Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Heavyweight
Lore & Background
Jones is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, pound for pound, and left his mark in the sport's history when he won the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title in 2003, becoming the first and only boxer to win the heavyweight title starting his career as a junior middleweight. This also made him the second of only two former middleweight champions to win a heavyweight title, 106 years after Bob Fitzsimmons accomplished that feat. He is also one of only two heavyweight champions to have begun his career below middleweight, the other being former welterweight Tommy Burns, who won the title 97 years prior, thus being the second-lightest boxer to eventually become heavyweight champion. From 1999 to 2002, he held the undisputed championship at light heavyweight. As of June 2026, Jones holds the record for the most wins in unified light-heavyweight title bouts in boxing history, with twelve. He is the first fighter in CompuBox history to have his opponent not land a single punch for an entire round. The Ring magazine named him the Fighter of the Year in 1994 and the World Boxing Hall of Fame named him the Fighter of the Year in 2003. He is also a three-time winner of the Best Boxer ESPY Award (1996, 2000 and 2003). The Boxing Writers Association of America and The Sporting News named him as the Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s.
Reader's Guide
Roy Jones Jr. was born to a family with a boxing tradition. His father, Roy Jones Sr., was a Vietnam war veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star for valor after he rescued another soldier. Jones Sr. was a middleweight boxer as well. Jones won the 1984 United States National Junior Olympics in the 119 lb weight division, the 1986 United States National Golden Gloves in the 139 lb division, and the 1987 United States National Golden Gloves in the 156 lb division. As an amateur, he ended his career with a 121–13 record. He represented the United States at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games in the 156-pound weight class, being the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, where he won the silver medal. Jones did not lose a single round en route to the final. The final was met with controversy when Jones lost a 2–3 decision to South Korean fighter Park Si-Hun despite pummeling Park for three rounds, landing 86 punches to Park's 32. Jones was awarded the Val Barker trophy as the best stylistic boxer of the 1988 games. Jones and Park met face to face in May 2023, with the South Korean boxer giving his Olympic gold medal over to Jones as a gesture of justice over the controversy. On turning professional, he had already sparred with many professional boxers, including NABF Champion Ronnie Essett, IBF Champion Lindell Holmes and Sugar Ray Leonard. Jones began as a professional on May 6, 1989, knocking out Ricky Randall in two rounds in Pensacola at the Bayfront Auditorium. He built a record of 15–0 with 15 knockouts before stepping up in class to meet former World Welterweight Champion Jorge Vaca on January 10, 1992, knocking him out in round one. Jones made his first attempt at a world title on May 22, 1993, beating Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision to capture the IBF middleweight championship. On November 18, 1994, Jones defeated undefeated IBF super middleweight Champion James Toney by unanimous decision.
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