On January 6, 1996, we had a three foot blizzard hit southern New Jersey where I grew up. I had planned a trip following Saturday to Las Vegas, to try and place a bet on the Roy Jones vs. Merqui Sosa fight at Madison Square Garden on January 12. Despite the mess on the highways, I dug my car out, and made it to Philadelphia to get to Vegas. I arrived at my room at the Rio Hotel, but soon was met with some bad news.
No casino in town was taking wagers on the Jones fight, and my trip was in vein. I went to a local seedy hotel off the strip to watch the bout on HBO, and it went according to my plan. Roy easily disposed of Sosa in the second round in his debut as a light heavyweight. I could have made a few bucks on the over-under prop, but it didn’t happen. Fortunately I won $650 in a poker slot machine, enough to cover the expenses for my trip.
Five months later, Roy fought on HBO again, with a gimmick attached to his fight. He actually played in a semi-pro basketball game the same day of the fight against Eric Lucas. Jones easily outboxed Lucas, and stopped him in the eleventh. It was a boring fight to watch though, since Lucas was completely overmatched and outclassed.
Roy traveled to Madison Square Garden on October to take on tough Bryant Brannon. The fireplug of a boxer was expected to give Jones a tough go, but he was overwhelmed and knocked out in the second round. It was a spectacular performance by Jones, who was proving his greatness by the day.
The phenom from Pensacola, Florida fought once more in 1996, against veteran Mike McCallum on November 22 in Tampa, Florida. Roy won every single round of an easy fight, and planned on staying as a light heavyweight from then on.
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