The fight between Roy Jones and Vinny Pazienza was signed for June 24, 1995 at Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City. I gave Vinny absolutely no chance of winning the fight, put still ordered it on pay-per-view on my new 46 inch projection tv. It was like having closed circuit fights at home, and was better than going to any venue, no matter where it was. My brother came over to watch the action as the bell for round one was rung.
Pazienza had no answer for Roy’s left jab, and was overmatched from the start. I did figure since Vinny had such a hard head, that he would last the distance at least. However in the sixth round, out of nowhere, a left hook put him down. Roy dropped him again right after, and finished him off with a brutal combination as the round closed. It was an awesome display of power and quickness, and showed how great he was becoming.
Three months later, the best fighter on the planet traveled back to Pensacola to take on Tony ‘The Punching Postman’ Thornton. He was a local boxer, who I had met while I was a security guard at a local mall 5 years earlier. He actually was a working postman, who I saw delivering mail on his route while he was training for the Jones fight. I had a lawn service at the time, and one of the houses I took care of was in the town he worked. When I saw him that day, I thought to myself, “How in the world is this poor guy going to have a chance against Roy while still working during training????” I could only feel sympathy for him, that’s for sure.
The September 30 bout in Pensacola went according to plan, with Jones easily stopping him in three rounds. I recalled how friendly and nice Tony was to me when we chatted for about ten minutes at the mall years earlier. Sadly, Tony was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2009, and a local south Jersey favorite was greatly missed.
Roy Jones was becoming better every time he stepped into the ring. He was as good a fighter as I ever saw, and God only knew how great he would become.
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