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Jamal CollierGAME
In his first fight in more than three years, boxer Roy Jones Jr. was defeated by former UFC champ Anthony Pettis by majority decision Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Two umpires gave the half a score of 77-75 and 78-74 for Pettis, while the third referee gave a draw of 76-76.
Jones, 54, is competing in his first bout since a no-scoring exhibition match against Mike Tyson in 2020. He looks much quicker and throws more punches on Saturday night than he did in the fight. fought Tyson three years ago, but he still can’t give the best Pettis, who is a busier boxer and has more combinations than Jones.
Pettis, who is making his professional boxing debut, and Jones hugged each other in the ring as the final bell rang after their eight-round main event was Gamebred Boxing 4 from the Fiserv Forum.
The two men showed respect for each other despite different backgrounds throughout the week leading up to the fight, which continued after the bell on Saturday. Pettis, a 36-year-old former UFC lightweight champion, called Jones one of the greatest of all time and said it was an honor to fight with him.
“He’s a legend of the sport,” Pettis said of Jones. “I’m going to fight game by game. I’m a pro player 1-0 so I’m excited to see what the future holds. I have a great team behind me and I want this. “
Jones said he’s proud of the dedication it took to get down to 200 pounds for this bout. He used the fact that a referee gave the match a draw as motivation for a possible rematch against Pettis in the future.
Jones said in the ring in a post-match interview: “I want to go out with my shield and be able to do that again as many times as I want. “So at 54, that’s a great thing.”
In the co-main events, the rematch between Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens was declared a majority draw and Vitor Belfort defeated Ronaldo Souza by unanimous decision after Belfort beat Souza twice in the third inning.
