After a stretch of upsetting results between 2004 and 2011, Roy Jones Jr. dropped out of the elite competition as a professional boxer. The last time Jones Jr. stepped into the squared circle resulted in a win against Scott Sigmon. However, the bout happened 5 years ago. Tonight, the 54-year-old returned to add another win to his pro record against MMA legend Anthony ‘Showtime‘ Pettis.
Your official introductions!! Nothing left to do but throw down!#GamebredBoxing4 pic.twitter.com/acdlDRMMiW
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 2, 2023
Pettis made his boxing debut tonight at the Gamebred Boxing 4 event. The 36-year-old faced the Hall of Famer for eight rounds inside the squared circle. Anthony has had a very decorated career in MMA, being the WEC and UFC lightweight champion in his era. However, the Milwaukee resident grabbed the opportunity to perform in front of the home crowd as soon as it was offered by Jorge Masvidal.
Anthony Pettis beats Roy Jones Jr. via majority decision
As expected, an energetic Roy Jones Jr. took the 1st round off. Even though there wasn’t much output from the 54-year-old, Jones kept blocking major punches from his opponent. Due to this, Anthony couldn’t connect cleanly on Jones Jr. The 2nd and 3rd rounds looked pretty even and saw Jones Jr. up the ante. Despite being aggressive, Pettis didn’t let Roy hurt him.
Fans saw a more competitive Roy and Pettis in the 4th and 5th rounds, as the former upped his offensive striking. However, the said rounds ended up in Pettis’ favor as the Milwaukee resident showed greater output in terms of connecting. Roy appeared to take the 6th round off as he needed to catch his breath. ‘Showtime’ used this as a no-brainer and showered Jones Jr. with some hard overhand rights. Catching a few of these made Roy go straight into defense mode.
ANTHONY PETTIS WOBBLES ROY JONES JR. LATE IN TGE 8th pic.twitter.com/Kas3RCzHVf
— UFE (@ufeworld) April 2, 2023
In the final two rounds, Jones Jr. intensified his attack, to fans’ surprise. An aging and slowed-down Roy displayed amazing cardio in what could be one of his last professional bouts. He found different angles and didn’t struggle to land flush on Pettis. However, Pettis being the younger athlete among the two, seemed to hurt Roy badly by now. Roy served several uppercuts to snap Anthony’s head back.
Out of the eight rounds, Roy seemed to have his best moments arguably in the 5th. Despite Jones Jr. never really being in big trouble, a younger Pettis still outworked him to win on the judges’ scorecards. Despite the hoopla surrounding the decision, Roy appeared gracious in his post-fight interview.
Jones Jr. vs Pettis: Fans react
Despite edging a win over the Boxing Hall of Famer, fans believe Pettis displayed a washed-up performance. Even though ‘Showtime’ has had an illustrious career in the MMA realm, his win tonight drew mixed reactions from fans and critics alike. Some believe it was a robbery, others believe Pettis is way past his prime and should hang up the gloves for good now.
Honestly Roy have fun, entertaining, he blocked 95% of Pettit punches. And Roy landed the cleaner shots. #GamebredBoxing4
— マネル・ケイプ Manel Kape (@ManelKape) April 2, 2023
Roy jones jr lost? #GamebredBoxing4
— peter nasr (@PeterNasr14) April 2, 2023
Imo these guys didn’t look like there were trying to knock each other out tonight in most of the fights.
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) April 2, 2023
These guys got the body of default fighters in a video game #gamebredboxing
— Johnny Muñoz (@KidKvenbo) April 2, 2023
Man, Roy Jones Jr still has some speed at his age. #GamebredBoxing4
— Mike Pierce (@MikePierce170) April 2, 2023
C’mmon.. Roy deserves serious congrats
a 54 year old Sr. giving a pretty decent(!) boxing night against a 36 YEARS OLD “young” FORMER UFC CHAMP;
36 year old athletes are performing pro main events.. Jon Jones is 35!
What did you guys expected more than this? #GamebredBoxing4
— Borba Junior (@BorbaJunior5) April 2, 2023
This is exactly why boxing is dead I’ve never been so mad watching a fight Roy jones please don’t fight him again unless it’s under a real top boxing #GamebredBoxing4
— 🇺🇸 BLESSED 🇩🇪 (@Teddyy_Gram) April 2, 2023
Oh I thought Roy won that one. Bigger punches landed there. Eh, was close I guess. Amazing how well he moves at 54. Those escapes and leaping hooks and redirects were a lot of fun to see. #GamebredBoxing4
— RossDixonEllis (@RossDixonEllis) April 2, 2023
Idk how I feel about that Pettis/Jones fight #GamebredBoxing4
— Pissed Off Twood (@pissedofftwood) April 2, 2023
What did you make of tonight’s highly anticipated bout? Do you think Anthony Pettis did enough to win the contest? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.