The match that Roy Jones Jr. held with Anthony Pettis was disregarded in the scheme of greater fights that occurred on April 1st, but it is clear that out of all the matches, the bout between Jones and Pettis was the clear winner of the ‘Fool’s Day’ spectacle that surrounds the 1st of April. Their event was held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, based in the United States of America.
The promoter of the event has been confirmed to be Jorge Masvidal, a UFC ‘star’ who has recently decided to dabble into the sport by organizing a boxing event which heavily-featured former or current MMA fighters such as Jose Aldo that have transitioned into boxing.
54-year old Roy Jones Jr. ― who last fought professionally in 2018 and also works as a trainer to various boxers ― headlined the fight card together with 36-year old Anthony Pettis, a former UFC fighter and older brother of the more successful Sergio Pettis. This match-up would have been a mismatch if Jones Jr. was a decade younger, but fortunately the event’s promoter thought it an equal match and proved to be right.
After eight official professional rounds, Anthony Pettis became the winner after the results from the judges which granted him a majority decision win with scores of 78-74, 76-76 and 77-75.
It was clear that Jones Jr.’s age had caught up at this stage. Though the American fighter has recorded an amazing record of 66-9 (with 47 KO’s) prior to stepping into the ring with Pettis, his physicality had clearly diminished at this point and the older fighter struggled to truly make an impact with his own offense as he spent most of the time tucking in.
Anthony Pettis looked very much the younger man that he was with his work rate in the ring and a decently-strong adherence to the fundamentals of boxing. Though each time Roy Jones caught him it clearly did some damage, Pettis had no real trouble in gradually breaking Jones Jr. down during the rounds.
Though Pettis arguably did impress in his pro boxing debut, his fight with the 54-year old former world champion was decisively a bad fit and even against an aged opponent, the former MMA fighter did not truly establish his dominance throughout.
The event further featured former MMA champion Jose Aldo drawing a split-decision with another MMA fighter in Jeremy Stephens. Retired MMA legend Vitor Belfort also made his return to the ring after his first boxing fight which occurred last in 2006. Belfort won a unanimous decision in what turned out to be a revenge win over Ronaldo Carvalho Souza who had also been a MMA fighter, and had noticeably defeated Belfort in the UFC in 2016.
The card also featured several bouts between professional boxers, but was mostly rounded up with MMA fighters, most of whom made their debut or returned to the ring after a years-long hiatuses. Former amateur prospect, Mandeep Jangra (4-0, 3 KO’s) ― who is also a pupil of Roy Jones Jr. ― also scored a stoppage victory over boxing debutant Ryan Reber who is best known for his career in the Bare Knuckling Fighting Championship (BKFC).
