Bill Vilona: Pensacola's Roy Jones Jr. paved his own way to the Boxing Hall of Fame

Roy Jones Jr. was set on doing it his way 33 years ago when entering the professional boxing world.

His way landed him on boxing's pantheon.

One of Pensacola's greatest athletes, among the most revered in his sport, Jones, 53, received the highest honor Sunday when he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.

He is part of a nine-member 2022 class which includes James Toney, also 53, who Jones defeated in 1994 – a 12-round unanimous decision for a super middleweight title.

The Hall of Fame ceremony Sunday, which ends a four-day set of events at this venue, is billed as a “Trilogy,” since it will also enshrine classes from 2020 and 2021 – events cancelled by the ongoing coronavirus.

That group includes Floyd Mayweather (2021) and Bernard Hopkins (2020) – a fighter that Jones defeated in 1993 as a middleweight, then lost to Hopkins seven years later as a light heavyweight.

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Jones, a Booker T. Washington High graduate, makes it a Fab Four for Pensacola with enshrined Hall of Fame athletes. First Don Sutton in Major League Baseball, then Emmitt Smith and Derrick Brook as NFL greats, and all having gone from youth and high school stardom in our community into placement on their sport's highest mantle.

There may not be another city of Pensacola's size in America with four former athletes becoming Hall of Famers in three different sports. It would make for a powerful museum entrance.

Jones made "Pensacola In The House!" his staple, opening remark in ringside interviews.

It's so appropriate now.

Jones made boxing history his way. In his prime, which began at age 20 with his pro debut at the Pensacola Bay Center, Jones was rare talent. He became the only boxer in the sport's history to begin as a light middleweight and win titles in four different weight classes, ending with a heavyweight title.

His fighting style was unique and unorthodox. He could drop his arms, feign indifference, then suddenly land a fury of fists with machine gun speed and efficiency. He combined power punches with a flair and charisma that connected with fans across the world.

In his prime, he also was so quick and agile on defense, he rarely absorbed many direct hits. This is what puts him in conversation among the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time.

So great was Jones that he essentially did not lose his first fight until he was 35 years-old. He was disqualified for a low blow in a 1997 bout against Montel Griffin, after Jones built a 34-0 record. He avenged that loss five months later with a quick stoppage against Griffin.

It wasn't until 2004 against fellow Floridian Antonio Tarver in a light-heavyweight title fight. It was Jones' first true loss in 50 pro fights. From that point, Jones lost eight more times, a few of those in brutal fashion.

When he began his career, Jones often said he didn't see himself fighting past 30-years old. But like most fighters, he kept battling far past his prime.

His final official bout occurred at the Bay Center on Feb. 8, 2018 as part of Island Fights 46, which just had its 72nd show during Memorial Day weekend as a renown circuit for aspiring MMA fighters.

Jones fought 24 times in Pensacola at four different venues -- Bay Center, former Bayfront Auditorium, Interstate Fairgrounds and one fight at the UWF Field House. He had the platform to stage fights in Pensacola and he chose to do it as much as possible.

He brought world audiences with several title bouts in Pensacola televised on Home Box Office and pay-per-view. He brought many of boxing's greatest names to Pensacola, including Muhammad Ali, either for a non-fight event or watch him from ringside.

Away from the ring, Jones could have lived anywhere with his fame. He could trained in Las Vegas. Los Angeles. Miami. Bright lights, celebrity friends.

But he's always been just fine living in Pensacola. As his closest friends attest, Roy Jones' travel itinerary included taking the last possible flight out of Pensacola before a fight, then wishing to be on the first available flight back.

Like nearly all of his boxing peers, his career is not without drama. The separation between him and his father, who was once his trainer, is the most noteworthy. Jones made it clear later in life why he had to part ways.

There have been other pitfalls, too. But Jones often waded through boxing's cesspool of characters, con-artists and crooks without a super agent, magnanimous promoter or full-fledged entourage.

He did it his way. As his pro career launched, he had Pensacola's famed attorney Fred Levin in his corner as manager/attorney/advisor. Jones wanted to steer clear of allegiance and obligation to boxing's two biggest all-time promoters, Bob Arum and Don King.

He did not want to be under any contract to have future fights controlled by one promoter or the other. He always wanted to do it his way. It enabled him to stage HBO fights in Pensacola and bring other aspiring Pensacola boxers to an prelude undercard in these bouts.

Jones has always been Pensacola first. And foremost. The perfect ending in his career could have been after defeating John Ruiz in 2003 for the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title. Jones was 34 years-old then in climbing four weight classes.

History was his. No one had gone from junior middleweight Olympian to pro heavyweight champion.

But Jones kept going, by his own choice, because boxing was his love, his life. And it did enable him to connect with new generations who didn’t see him in his prime, but they got glimpses in bouts of what made him great.

His last time Roy Jones Jr. was in a competition was Nov. 28, 2020 when he fought Mike Tyson in a nostalgic pay-per-view exhibition bout. It went the full eight rounds at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and generated more than $80 million in revenue.

It evolved as expected with both men battling fatigue, age, and well-past-prime skills, but they occasionally showed some flashbacks. The fight was scored a draw, because, well, it’s boxing judging.

The fact Jones was able to hang with Tyson, a true heavyweight his entire career, said a lot about Jones’ own prowess.

Jones went from sparse beginnings, training at an old, hardscrabble Boys Club gym off Palafox Street, to U.S. Olympian, to professional champion, to Hall of Fame enshrinement. From Pensacola to boxing immortality.

Best of all, he did it his way. The way that sets him apart.

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Vilona: Pensacola's Roy Jones Jr. paved his own way to Boxing Hall of Fame