In an interview with WCS (World Combat Sports), Roy Jones Jr. provided his own account of what led to Michael Williams Jr.’s injury that forced him out of a lifechanging bout with former multi-division world champion, Welterweight fighter Adrien Broner. Their match was slated for February 25 but was cancelled in the aftermath of Williams’ injury.
Roy Jones Jr. had an opportunity to tell his own side of the story after Michael Williams Sr.’s claims that Jones sabotaged Williams Jr.’s – the son of Williams Sr. – opportunity to fight Adrien Broner. Williams Sr. alleged that Jones forced his son to spar in the closing period of his training camp – which is highly irregular given he had fight just a week or two away – that eventually led to his jaw being broken.
(Editor’s note: Many quotes have been adapted as the audio was poor)
“I had him (Williams Jr.) spar ten rounds on the first day with two 135-pounders.” Jones explained. “He also sparred with Andrew Murphy who we brought in to work on Michael’s jab, but he was put out of the gym after he was clearly trying to hurt Mike.
“I didn’t like how Michael looked against both the 135-pounders. Both of them are 3-0, professionals.” Jones substantiated. “If Adrien Broner has had more world titles than these two had had fights, if these two 135-pounders give you this much trouble, why would I let you go on and fight Broner?
“He sparred Mandeep Jangra who is 3-0 as Lightweight. The other 135-pounder was Zechariah Lewis.” Jones said. “The day he got hurt he went 3/4 rounds with Zech and one with Jangra.“
Jones went on explain that Willams looked shaky against both fighters, all while he had taken great lengths to protect Williams by kicking out Andrew Murphy (7-0, 5 KO’s) who had apparently been recruited for helping Williams rather than sparring him. At some point, Murphy seemed to hurt Williams Jr. during sparring sessions of sort, despite that not being his role. As a result, Murphy was kicked out of the gym.
The other two prospects, Mandeep Jangra and Zechariah Lewis, both 3-0 and 135 lbs – two divisions below the weight Williams Jr. was scheduled to fight in – at the time, seemed to do more damage to Williams during sparring sessions than intended. During these sessions, Jones noted that Williams Jr. got hit more than necessary, and in one of the late-camp sparring sessions he eventually accrued an injury and suffered a broken jaw, all while wearing headgear.
Michael Williams Sr. expressed his disappointment in the sparring sessions even being held so late in the camp, but Roy Jones’s own interview shows that were some discrepancies with what Williams Sr. claimed, and what actually happened.
In the interview referenced earlier, Williams Sr. claimed that his son was sparring a bigger and taller opponent that didn’t use Adrien Broner’s (34-4-1, 24 KO’s) style, but that was an incident early in the camp with Middleweight Andrew Murphy who was kicked out shortly after Jones became aware that Murphy was hurting Williams Jr. too much, and he was never even hired as a sparring partner. The other two rookies were 135 pounds, 12 pounds below 147 lbs where Williams Jr. would fight against Broner.. Even if they were taller than Williams Jr., they carried less weight which would level down whatever advantage they had in height.
Jones also noted that the two 135-pounders were 3-0 and therefore rookies. After seeing Williams Jr. – who had more than twenty professional bouts on his record at that point – accrue too much damage against them, he concluded that Williams Jr. needed some more time to as he would be even more in trouble if against an experienced former world champion in Adrien Broner. That led to Jones Jr. eventually trying to make Williams pull out of the fight, which led to the sparring session that eventually got Williams Jr. injured.
Williams Sr. indicated that he didn’t understand why Jones Jr. tried to pull his son out of the fight with Broner when Jones mentioned his defense wasn’t looking bad, but looking at the full picture of the situation, if Williams Jr. indeed got hit too much against two 3-0 prospects, he would be even more in trouble against Broner and potentially receive life-threatening damage. Though Williams Sr. maintained that Jones’ motives were for ego, he himself also seemed quite disassociated from the danger Williams Jr. could be in.
It is hard to say who is right or wrong in this situation, but it is vital to point out that boxing is not just about offense; defense plays as an important role in boxing, as offense. A lack of defense can not only result in a loss, but unlike many other sports, it can result in injuries that can be long-lasting or even permanent, especially in the case of injuries that pertain to the brain.
With Roy Jones Jr. having known Williams Jr. and his father for five years per Williams Sr.’s own words, and Jones having plenty of experience as a former world champion himself, it is more probable that he tried to pull Williams out of the fight with Broner cause of concern, rather than ego as Williams Sr. claims. Williams Sr. alleged that Jones was concerned with his own reputation following Chris Eubank Jr.’s (32-3, 23 KO’s) loss to Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20 KO’s), and though that can definitely be the truth, any state athletic commission that would have known about Williams Jr.’s sparring struggles against prospects, would have likely interceded themselves to stop the fight for Williams’ own safety.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the fact remains that Williams Jr. suffered an injury and could therefore not fight as scheduled with Broner. It is pertinent that he now focuses on bettering himself as a fighter, and ensure that he is in top condition and shape to be able to handle sparring sessions with prospects in his next camp if he hopes to face the likes of Adrien Broner again.
