After regaining the light heavyweight title in his rematch with Montell Griffin in August of 1997, Roy Jones didn’t return to the ring until the following April against former champ Virgil Hill in Biloxi, Mississippi. The HBO bout on April 25 was figured to be a test for Jones, since Hill had been a champ for a long time.
Not everything goes according to plan, and a single right hand to Hill’s body put him down and out in the fourth round. It was a stunning result to me, and proved how dominant Roy was becoming. I saw no one who could really give him any problems, and figured he could be champ as long as he wanted.
The next to try was Lou Del Valle at Madison Square Garden on July 18, 1998. The southpaw gave Roy some problems, and even put him on the canvas in the eighth. For the most part, Jones was in control however, and won by a large margin on the scorecards.
Roy fought for the last time in November of 1998 against Otis Grant at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. Jones easily ran over Grant, knocking him down twice, before stopping him in the tenth.
In January of 1999, Roy had the defense of his title ever, when took on a New York City cop named Richard Frazier in his hometown of Pensacola. The overmatched Frazier was knocked down once in the first, and for the second time in round two, forcing a halt to the action. The highlight of the HBO broadcast was in round one when Jim Lampley said “Down does Frazier.”, after Jones put him on the canvas. It was an embarrassing and stupid fight, and Larry Merchant apologized to the audience in his monologue afterwards.
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