Boxing Great Roy Jones Jr. Turns 55; A Look at His Acting, Singing, and Basketball Career People Don’t Know About

As far as boxing goes, January stands out as special. The birthdays of so many luminaries, past and present, fall in the year’s first month. Fans the world over will remember Muhammad Ali‘s eighty-second birth anniversary today. Had he been alive, then last week, on January 12, ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier would have turned eighty.

On January 10, ‘Big’ George Foreman celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. But there’s one more all-time great whose birthday scores of fans remembered. Roy Jones Jr. turned fifty-five yesterday. Along with Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, and Felix Trinidad, ‘Superman’ headlined the boxing landscape during the 1990s and 2000s. However, unlike his contemporaries, to this day, Roy Jones Jr. continues to pursue his passion—fighting and training. But Jones Jr.’s prowess is not restricted to boxing alone. A multi-faceted talent, he boasts skills in other disciplines as well.

Jab with Verse: Roy Jones Jr., the rapper

Roy Jones Jr. found inspiration in rap music. Reportedly, his musical journey began with the release of the album ‘Round One: The Album.’ During an interview, Jones Jr. shared how he got into rap music. He said, “What was funny is that, uh, you know, it’s like Mr. Magic King; he had just got out of a deal with uh, No Limit, and he came to me said, man I got a few songs I want to work on, and uh, I got a few songs I want to do. I wanna walk up by the head. Let’s see what we can make happen. That’s all right. Come over, let me listen to him, and we’ll talk …”

He further explained that the genre uplifted him to establish a connection with something he was concerned about. “I tell people for me, rapping is very inspirational, but I tell you, I’m serious, so if you rapping, it should be something that you can relate to for real, or you shouldn’t be talking about it,” said the former world champion.

Not confining himself to one particular art form, Roy Jones Jr. boasts a respectable repertoire of motion picture credits. Fans haven’t forgotten ‘Captain Ballard’ from the cult ‘Matrix’ series. Then he played himself in movies such as 2013’s ‘Grudge Match’, ‘Southpaw’, and, not so long ago, ‘Creed II’.

Slam-Dunk-Punch

So Roy Jones Jr. can croon and dabble with the grease paint. However, are his skills so expansive that he could venture into another sporting discipline with relative ease? Now, many would find it hard to believe. But the fact remains that the multi-talented individual had tried his hand at becoming a hoopster with a semi-professional team called the Jacksonville Barracudas. However, the pursuit reportedly remained a short-term affair.

Quite often, he shared that before beginning regular boxing training, he would go to the basketball court. He said, “I go play basketball every day before training, and I still go to training, go hard, and training sparring, everything else I did. But basketball part of my training day. So now when I gotta play a basketball game and fight you think that’s gonna affect me. This is what I do every day.”

An Outstanding Career: A Brief Review

After an exemplary amateur career that included an Olympic silver medal, two golds and a bronze at the National Golden Gloves, a gold medal at the National Junior Olympics, and a silver at the Goodwill Games, Roy Jones Jr. switched to professional boxing on May 6, 1969.

Five years later, on May 27, 1994, he received his first world title, the IBF middleweight title. But six months later, he defeated James Toney and became the IBF super middleweight champion. He retained the title for the next two years. His next foray was into the light heavyweight division. He grabbed the vacant (interim) WBC belt, defeating Mike McCallum on November 22, 1996. The following year, he lost to and regained the title from Montell Griffin.

Adding more belts to his kitty, he became the unified champion on June 5, 1999. After a successful reign that saw him grab titles from other sanctioning bodies, Roy Jones Jr. moved up to the light heavyweight division, becoming a champion on March 1, 2003. A few months later, he successfully defended his unified light heavyweight title against Antonio Tarver. But the next year, the latter inflicted Jones Jr. his career’s second loss and took away all the belts.

Thereafter, barring the lone IBC light heavyweight championship, Roy Jones Jr.’s subsequent attempts at becoming a world champion didn’t succeed. Among the prominent losses that he suffered were the defeats to Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, and Enzo Maccarinelli. He continued until 2018, only to return two years later to face Mike Tyson for an exhibition bout.

Last year, he faced Anthony Pettis for an eighth-round match on April 1. There were rumors that he might be returning to the ring this year to face Tommy Fury. In between, he took up training assignments. He coached Chris Eubank Jr. until Brian McIntyre took over. Then, not long ago, information came that he had been helping Jermall Charlo for his return bout against Jose Benavidez Jr.

Clearly, the International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee deserves all the recognition and accolades for what he has done for the sport. The never-say-die spirit of the former multi-division champion endears him to millions across the globe and will continue to inspire them for years to come.

Read More: Power vs Skills: Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. Training Comparisons

Which is your favorite Roy Jones Jr. fight of all time? You may also post birthday wishes to the legend through the comments below.

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