This is my continuing list of fights I have watched on HBO over the years.
86. Roy Jones vs. Richard Hall. May 13, 2000. This one from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis was another run of the mill title defense for Roy, which was hardly exciting. Jones won every round, and finally stopped Hall in eleven. None of his fights were memorable, and you could hardly tell one from another, to be honest.
87. Lennox Lewis vs. Francois Botha. July 15, 2000. Lewis was spectacular in this title defense from London, easily knocked out Botha in the second round. This performance left no doubt who the best heavyweight on the planet was.
88. Roy Jones vs. Derrick Harmon. February 24, 2001. Another snoozer of a title defense from Tampa, Florida, that had me falling asleep in my recliner. These forgettable fights usually had me flipping the channels, but I stayed tuned long enough to see Jones stop Harmon in the eleventh.
89. Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman. April 22, 2001. As I sat in my recliner to tune into this one from Carnival City in South Africa, I could tell by Lennox’s weight of 254 lbs., that he hadn’t taken Rahman seriously. To my amazement, Rahman landed a right hand in the fifth round that knocked Lewis out. My hope was that Lennox could exact revenge, because a rematch clause was in the contract, and Lewis said after the fight he was going to exercise the clause.
90. John Ruiz vs. Evander Holyfield 3. December 15, 2001. As I watched the third fight between Evander and John Ruiz, I was pulling hard for the ‘Real Deal’ to recapture the WBA belt back from Ruiz. In what was a close fight, Evander rallied, broke Ruiz’s nose in the tenth round, and carried the fight to end the bout. Instead, the stupid judges ruled it a majority draw, and Ruiz retained his championship. Evander got robbed, and it was sickening way for the last decent fight of 2001 to end.
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