- 2 days ago
Roy Jones Jr challenges Mike McCallum for the vacant WBC Light Heavyweight Title on HBO Boxing.
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00:00:00These trails are coming about.
00:00:01Indeed, they have.
00:00:02All right, so much for Jones-Barrera,
00:00:05a fight that will no doubt be talked about for a while to come,
00:00:08perhaps until they get back into the ring to do it one more time.
00:00:13Let's look ahead now to the second of our two main events tonight on HBO.
00:00:18Roy Jones, the sum of his parts equal the ideal fighter.
00:00:31Come get in.
00:00:44Fire!
00:00:45Fire!
00:01:06Roy Jones, the most complete boxer in the world today.
00:01:11Roy Jones warming up in the locker room,
00:01:14preparing once again to fight before
00:01:16an adoring Florida crowd.
00:01:18He maintains his roots to Pensacola and this area
00:01:21probably more assiduously than most other fighters would.
00:01:25And Larry, you'll recall that in his next-to-last fight,
00:01:28he played a lower-level professional basketball game
00:01:32on the same day of the fight.
00:01:33In his last fight, he conducted a live news conference in the ring
00:01:37just a half hour or so before he went into the ring to fight.
00:01:40What new form of entertainment will Roy bring to boxing tonight?
00:01:43Jim, he's wired for sound.
00:01:48Yes, apparently a microchip-sized microphone
00:01:52has been sewn into Roy Jones' trunks
00:01:55so that we can not only see that jazz,
00:02:00those jazz-like riffs that his fists fly through the air with,
00:02:04but we can hear them as well.
00:02:06And as well, he has gone back to writing the rap lyrics
00:02:11for his walk-in number.
00:02:14The rap lyrics will be hard to understand.
00:02:17I understand that they say something to the effect
00:02:21that his opponent, Mike McCallum,
00:02:24is indeed a professor of the sweet science,
00:02:28but that he, Roy Jones,
00:02:29will give the professor a few lessons tonight.
00:02:32The subtext to all this is that Roy Jones really believes
00:02:37that the Mike McCallum of 10 or 15 years ago
00:02:40would give this Roy Jones a real test,
00:02:43but not the Mike McCallum,
00:02:45who will be 40 years old in two weeks.
00:02:48Indeed.
00:02:49McCallum of Jamaican extraction,
00:02:52more in our generation than Roy's,
00:02:54himself a reggae man,
00:02:55will have no better chance to understand the rap lyrics
00:02:58for Roy's background music,
00:03:00then perhaps we will.
00:03:01But that's okay.
00:03:02He's got plenty of his own lyrics to bring into the ring.
00:03:05George, you and some other heavyweights have proven
00:03:07that, at least in that division,
00:03:09age doesn't mean as much
00:03:10as maybe we sometimes think it does.
00:03:12But can 39-year-old Mike McCallum
00:03:15really provide a serious challenge
00:03:17for Roy Jones at the peak of his talents?
00:03:19Yeah, age doesn't have anything to do with anything at any time.
00:03:23If McCullen comes in this ring,
00:03:25McCallum...
00:03:25What is it?
00:03:26McCallum.
00:03:26McCallum comes into this ring
00:03:27and think of himself not as an opponent,
00:03:30but as this is the chance of a lifetime
00:03:32to prove that Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler,
00:03:34they all dodge me
00:03:35and suck up and win this thing.
00:03:37He can do it.
00:03:38He can do it.
00:03:39But he's got to believe
00:03:40that he's not just an opponent.
00:03:41One more piece of business
00:03:42before we get to the boxing match.
00:03:44As we told you,
00:03:44it climaxes a head-to-head battle
00:03:46between the governing body
00:03:47whose interim title is at stake
00:03:49and the State Athletic Commission,
00:03:51which apparently believes
00:03:53that its own identity is at stake.
00:03:55It starts with the WBC.
00:03:57We have a rule that stays very clearly
00:04:00that the judges must be from neutral,
00:04:05either cities or states or nations,
00:04:08than the boxers contending for the title.
00:04:10In this case,
00:04:12we have a boxer from Florida
00:04:13and we have a boxer from Jamaica and Nevada.
00:04:17So no judges can be allowed,
00:04:20according to the rules,
00:04:21from Florida, Nevada, or Jamaica.
00:04:25Basically, their request would have deviated
00:04:28from the position of this commission
00:04:30for the last eight years,
00:04:31which was to provide two judges from the WBC
00:04:35and one judge from the state of Florida
00:04:38and one referee from the state of Florida.
00:04:39That's been the custom for the past eight years,
00:04:42according to my commission status.
00:04:44In actuality,
00:04:45the Florida Commission went two steps further,
00:04:48assigning three of its own judges.
00:04:50The World Boxing Council retaliated
00:04:53with three of its own.
00:04:54So tonight,
00:04:55Roy Jones and Mike McCallum
00:04:56meet before two separate sets of judges,
00:04:59which could conceivably leave
00:05:01the outcome of the fight in dispute.
00:05:04It provides an interesting question
00:05:07in the sense that the reason Mr. Suleiman,
00:05:10who represents the WBC,
00:05:12pretty much insisted on having his three judges
00:05:14was because he felt like
00:05:16they would be impartial judges.
00:05:18And that question presented a problem
00:05:20for us in Florida
00:05:21because it sort of intimated
00:05:22that our judges could not meet that standard.
00:05:25Our judges not only can meet that standard,
00:05:27but we think they will surpass that standard.
00:05:29How can we have three judges from Florida,
00:05:33the referee from Florida,
00:05:34and one boxer from Florida?
00:05:36That is not acceptable by all of these people.
00:05:39The two battling governing bodies
00:05:41have focused on their own agendas.
00:05:44But how does this affect the fighters?
00:05:46Mike McCallum points out
00:05:47that his opponent, Roy Jones Jr.,
00:05:49is a native Floridian.
00:05:52A guy from the same place,
00:05:54you know, you kind of feel that thing
00:05:55to want to give a guy
00:05:56who's here from around here the knot.
00:05:58If it's a close fight
00:05:59or if it comes down to
00:06:01giving one of the guys
00:06:03and knot naturally, you know,
00:06:04they're human beings.
00:06:06They probably tend to give him
00:06:07the knot over me.
00:06:08So I feel more comfortable
00:06:09with guys in different places, definitely.
00:06:11Given his standing in the sport,
00:06:13no one has a greater stake
00:06:15in the fight's integrity
00:06:16than Roy Jones himself.
00:06:20You know, that's hard to say
00:06:21because, I mean,
00:06:22I care which one's going to go on the record.
00:06:24So I need to call the record people
00:06:26and ask them,
00:06:26which one of you are going to put on my record?
00:06:28Who decides?
00:06:30If a decision is announced in the ring,
00:06:32it will be that of
00:06:33the Florida Commission's judges.
00:06:34But a title belt can be awarded
00:06:36only according to the decision
00:06:37of the WBC judges.
00:06:39Everyone breathes a sigh of relief
00:06:41if the nightmare
00:06:42of two conflicting decisions
00:06:43is avoided.
00:06:46And the most favorable upshot
00:06:48of all this
00:06:48is the second ever
00:06:50on-camera appearance
00:06:51for our own in-house judge,
00:06:53Harold Letterman.
00:06:54Harold, should they be embarrassed?
00:06:56And are you embarrassed for them?
00:06:57Jim, absolutely.
00:06:58As a person who's given his entire life
00:07:00to judging boxing,
00:07:01I think this thing
00:07:01has turned into a circus.
00:07:02I mean, we have three Florida judges
00:07:04at ringside where they belong.
00:07:05We have three WBC judges
00:07:07scrambling around
00:07:08somewhere in a press row
00:07:09to try and get
00:07:10an unobstructed view of the fight.
00:07:12We're saying that the winner
00:07:12of this fight
00:07:13is going to be from Florida
00:07:14and the WBC is awarding the belt
00:07:17based on a decision
00:07:18of three WBC judges
00:07:19somewhere out in the press row.
00:07:20It's an awful circus here.
00:07:22And I'll tell you something else.
00:07:23Why should the best fighter
00:07:24in the world,
00:07:25pound for pound,
00:07:26Roy Jones Jr.,
00:07:27have to walk in a ring
00:07:28with a perception
00:07:29of having an advantage
00:07:31because he comes from Florida
00:07:32and the four officials
00:07:33come from Florida.
00:07:34I think it's an awful situation.
00:07:36I think it's something
00:07:37that should never have happened.
00:07:38We tried awfully hard
00:07:39to prevent it.
00:07:39We couldn't.
00:07:40We're stuck with it.
00:07:42The Dick Vitale of boxing,
00:07:44a cult hero waiting to explode,
00:07:46our own Harold Letterman.
00:07:47Thank you very much, Harold.
00:07:48Let's take a look now
00:07:49at the tale of the tape
00:07:50for Roy Jones Jr.
00:07:52and Mike McCallum.
00:07:53And as you can see,
00:07:54there's a 12-year age difference.
00:07:56McCallum a half-inch taller
00:07:58and has four inches
00:07:59in reach advantage,
00:08:00which will mean nothing
00:08:01in this bout
00:08:02because his job
00:08:03is to get inside
00:08:04of Roy Jones' speed
00:08:06speed and power.
00:08:07Punch stat numbers, Larry.
00:08:10Here's what Jones did
00:08:11against James Toney
00:08:13two years ago
00:08:14when he won
00:08:15the 168-pound title.
00:08:17This was an average round
00:08:19for him.
00:08:19And of course,
00:08:20Jones doesn't throw
00:08:21a lot of jabs.
00:08:22Throws mostly power punches.
00:08:25Now let's take a look
00:08:26at some McCallum numbers.
00:08:27When he fought
00:08:29Tony five years ago,
00:08:31you saw that he was
00:08:32throwing 73 punches around.
00:08:35When he lost
00:08:36the light heavyweight championship
00:08:37to Tioza, the Frenchman,
00:08:39just a year and a half ago,
00:08:41his numbers were already
00:08:44coming down.
00:08:47Rules of the bout
00:08:48with himself, Harold.
00:08:50The Roy Jones Jr.
00:08:51Mike McCallum
00:08:52fight is scheduled
00:08:53for 12 rounds.
00:08:54There is no standing
00:08:55eight count,
00:08:56no three-knockdown rule
00:08:57in his fight.
00:08:58Only the referee
00:08:58can stop the fight
00:08:59and he can be saved
00:09:00by the belt
00:09:01in the 12th final round
00:09:02only.
00:09:03Jim.
00:09:04I told you McCallum
00:09:05was a reggae man.
00:09:09Here he comes.
00:09:1317 previous championship fights.
00:09:16This man was one
00:09:18of the great technicians
00:09:19of the 1980s.
00:09:20But he says,
00:09:22and with most observers
00:09:24say total justification,
00:09:25and he was unwarrantedly
00:09:27dodged at the height
00:09:28of his career
00:09:29by Tommy Hearns,
00:09:31by Ray Leonard,
00:09:31and by Marvin Hagler.
00:09:33Is he right, Larry?
00:09:35I think that basically
00:09:36he's right.
00:09:37He did not have
00:09:38the box office appeal
00:09:40of any of them
00:09:41because of his style
00:09:43as a fighter
00:09:43and because he's a foreigner.
00:09:45And so they were able
00:09:48to dance around him.
00:09:50But in a way,
00:09:51he's having a last laugh
00:09:53because he's one of those
00:09:55strong-minded,
00:09:55independent West Indians
00:09:59who has saved
00:10:00most of his money.
00:10:01He has a home in Brooklyn,
00:10:03another one in Las Vegas,
00:10:05and a lot of real estate
00:10:07I'm told in Jamaica.
00:10:10So he's just adding
00:10:11to the pot.
00:10:12He's almost 40 years old.
00:10:15If he loses tonight,
00:10:15he can slide right
00:10:16into the seniors division
00:10:18and chase all those guys
00:10:20all over again.
00:10:22George, he's really only
00:10:24had one fight
00:10:25in the last 17 months.
00:10:27Is that a problem
00:10:28at this stage?
00:10:29I think probably
00:10:30it's best for him.
00:10:31As you get older,
00:10:32you want to have
00:10:34a lot of punching power
00:10:34to go because these guys
00:10:35underestimate you.
00:10:37You don't need to be
00:10:37worn and torn on too much.
00:10:39Save it for the real stuff.
00:10:41I think he may have
00:10:42saved the best glass,
00:10:43maybe.
00:10:45Mike McCallum.
00:10:4849 wins in his career.
00:10:50Two of the three losses
00:10:51were in Europe.
00:10:52The fighters who were
00:10:54based in Europe,
00:10:54Sumbu Calabay
00:10:55and Fabrice Teotso.
00:10:57The other loss
00:10:58was to James Toney
00:11:00at the height
00:11:00of Toney's career.
00:11:01He's been in it
00:11:02with a lot of good fighters.
00:11:04He was known
00:11:04in the middle 80s
00:11:05as the body snatcher
00:11:07because of his
00:11:08incomparable commitment
00:11:09to body punching
00:11:10and his skilled technique.
00:11:17And here comes
00:11:18the Generation Gap
00:11:19music contrast.
00:11:20in the middle 80s
00:11:20to take a title
00:11:22and I heavyweight
00:11:23I'm not the number
00:11:24one challenger
00:11:25I got a belt
00:11:26in two ways
00:11:26so I'm a weight
00:11:27while I travel up
00:11:28and I've been doing
00:11:29that since every tune
00:11:30I got a belt
00:11:31for this group
00:11:32cause I was setting
00:11:32it up, they ain't mean
00:11:33I got a fat
00:11:34you lose a rating
00:11:35notch
00:11:35soon as I hit me a leg
00:11:37I'm checking myself
00:11:38back into the cottage
00:11:39because I feel
00:11:39this is the best move
00:11:40but for now
00:11:41I got to get it
00:11:42with these men
00:11:43so it's best food
00:11:44for my family
00:11:45and they need
00:11:46cause if it wasn't
00:11:47for them
00:11:47then I'm gonna throw
00:12:03nothing but mutual respect
00:12:06between the two opponents
00:12:07this week
00:12:08they smiled
00:12:09and laughed
00:12:09with each other
00:12:10at the weigh-in
00:12:10yesterday
00:12:11as they have done
00:12:13at news conferences
00:12:14and publicizing
00:12:15the fight
00:12:15Roy Jones
00:12:16has a ton of respect
00:12:17for Mike McCallum
00:12:27this is a significant
00:12:29fight for Roy Jones
00:12:31because he is
00:12:32catapulting himself
00:12:34into the light
00:12:35heavyweight division
00:12:36and we will be seeing
00:12:38him move up
00:12:40to see if
00:12:40he can get
00:12:41challenged
00:12:42at the heavier weight
00:12:46well so far
00:12:47in his career
00:12:4833 wins
00:12:49no losses
00:12:50maybe the most
00:12:51memorable win
00:12:51an easy decision
00:12:53November 18, 1994
00:12:54over the previously
00:12:56unbeaten
00:12:57James Toney
00:12:57since then
00:12:59it's been a series
00:13:00of easy knockouts
00:13:01the only exception
00:13:02he went all 12 rounds
00:13:04with Eric Lucas
00:13:05this past June
00:13:06on the day
00:13:07on which he played
00:13:07a professional
00:13:08basketball game
00:13:09for the USBA team
00:13:12in Jacksonville
00:13:12on the same day
00:13:13now let's go up
00:13:14to ringing out
00:13:15Sir Mark Biro
00:13:15with the official
00:13:16introductions
00:13:18ladies and gentlemen
00:13:20Garrett Productions
00:13:23and Square Ring
00:13:25Incorporated
00:13:26in association
00:13:27with HBO Sports
00:13:29and Budweiser
00:13:30the undisputed
00:13:32King of Beers
00:13:33presents
00:13:34from the Ice Palace
00:13:36in Tampa, Florida
00:13:37my hometown
00:13:39main event
00:13:40fire on ice
00:13:4312 rounds
00:13:44for the vacant
00:13:46WBC
00:13:47light heavyweight
00:13:49championship
00:13:49of the world
00:13:51ring officials
00:13:53assigned by the
00:13:54World Boxing Council
00:13:56President
00:13:57Jose Suleman
00:13:58Supervisor
00:14:00Juan Sanchez
00:14:01your judges
00:14:03at ringside
00:14:04are
00:14:05from Miami
00:14:06Florida
00:14:06Rick Bays
00:14:08also from Miami
00:14:10Paul Herman
00:14:11and from Tallahassee
00:14:13Florida
00:14:14Jay Cassis
00:14:16your third man
00:14:18in the ring
00:14:18referee
00:14:19from Tampa
00:14:21Florida
00:14:21Brian Gary
00:14:28and we told you
00:14:29about the other
00:14:30three judges
00:14:30the ones who will
00:14:31score the bout
00:14:32for the WBC
00:14:32Marty Dankin
00:14:33Tommy Kaczmarek
00:14:34and Barbara Perez
00:14:35sitting not at ringside
00:14:38but rather
00:14:38in the front row
00:14:40and craning their necks
00:14:41to get a good view
00:14:44ladies and gentlemen
00:14:46introducing now
00:14:47the principals
00:14:48first in the red corner
00:14:50to my left
00:14:51wearing
00:14:52the red trunks
00:14:54black trim
00:14:59he is undefeated
00:15:01in 33 professional
00:15:03bouts
00:15:0429 wins
00:15:05by way of knockout
00:15:07he hails
00:15:08from Pensacola
00:15:09Florida
00:15:10and is ranked
00:15:12by the Bible
00:15:13of Boxing
00:15:14Ring Magazine
00:15:15as the best
00:15:16pound for pound
00:15:17fighter in the world
00:15:19the IBF
00:15:21super middleweight champion
00:15:23of the world
00:15:24Roy Jones Jr
00:15:29Jones Jr
00:15:35his opponent
00:15:37in the blue corner
00:15:38wearing the powder blue trunks
00:15:41white trim
00:15:42weighing
00:15:43175 pounds
00:15:46his professional record
00:15:4849 victories
00:15:503 defeats
00:15:51one draw
00:15:52he has
00:15:5336 wins
00:15:54by way of knockout
00:15:56he hails
00:15:57from Kingston
00:15:58Jamaica
00:15:59but now makes
00:16:00his home
00:16:01in Las Vegas
00:16:02Nevada
00:16:03former
00:16:04WBA
00:16:05Junior
00:16:06Middleweight
00:16:06Champion
00:16:07of the world
00:16:07former
00:16:08WBA
00:16:09Middleweight
00:16:10Champion
00:16:11of the world
00:16:11former
00:16:13WBC
00:16:14Light Heavyweight
00:16:15Champion
00:16:15of the world
00:16:16Mike
00:16:17the Body
00:16:18Snatcher
00:16:19Mike
00:16:22McCallum
00:16:24McCallum
00:16:25McCallum
00:16:25well rounds
00:16:26for the WBC
00:16:27Light Heavyweight
00:16:29Championship
00:16:29of the world
00:16:32Mike
00:16:33go Roy
00:16:35come on out
00:16:36Roy
00:16:36come on Mike
00:16:39come on here
00:16:39gentlemen
00:16:40alright gentlemen
00:16:41I'll be the third man
00:16:42in the ring
00:16:42with you this evening
00:16:43in charge of this
00:16:44WBC World Championship
00:16:46bout at all times
00:16:47I want you to
00:16:48obey my command
00:16:48to break
00:16:49if you score
00:16:50a knockdown
00:16:50go to the neutral
00:16:51corner
00:16:51do not come out
00:16:52until I signal
00:16:52protect yourself
00:16:53at all times
00:16:54don't use your head
00:16:55as a weapon
00:16:55no rabbit punches
00:16:56or low blows
00:16:57shake hands
00:16:58come out boxing
00:16:58at the belt
00:17:02Jim a boxing man
00:17:03once said about
00:17:04mismatches
00:17:05the whole world
00:17:06is a mismatch
00:17:08Roy Jones
00:17:09has certainly
00:17:09made most of
00:17:10his fights
00:17:11mismatches
00:17:13can he do it
00:17:14to a crafty
00:17:15veteran
00:17:16Mike McCullough
00:17:20and we told you
00:17:21about the microphone
00:17:22which has been
00:17:23sewn into
00:17:24George's trunks
00:17:25or I mean
00:17:25into Roy's trunks
00:17:27you've had one
00:17:28in your trunks
00:17:29for a long time
00:17:29right George
00:17:30so at some point
00:17:32in this first round
00:17:32we'll open up
00:17:33the Roy Jones microphone
00:17:34that's in his trunks
00:17:35and see what we hear
00:17:58you mean light heavyweight
00:18:06champion of the world
00:18:07no he can move up
00:18:08a few pounds
00:18:08every guy want to be
00:18:09heavyweight champion of the world
00:18:12have to go up
00:18:13about 30 or 40 pounds
00:18:15that's what he's trying
00:18:16to do now
00:18:17McCullough
00:18:17should jab this guy
00:18:19to the body
00:18:19stay to the body
00:18:20and make him pay
00:18:21for those extra pounds
00:18:22that he's put on
00:18:23yeah coming up
00:18:24from 168 to 175
00:18:26so McCullough
00:18:27will want to make him
00:18:27feel it early
00:18:28yes jab him to the body
00:18:29every chance you get
00:18:30touch his body
00:18:32Roy Jones
00:18:33expected by those
00:18:34around him
00:18:35to be cautious
00:18:36in the first few rounds
00:18:37because of his
00:18:38great respect
00:18:39for McCullough's savvy
00:18:40and his ring skills
00:18:41and his counter punching ability
00:18:45on the other hand
00:18:46they say
00:18:47if McCullough makes a mistake
00:18:48Roy will show no mercy
00:18:57Roy Jones when his back
00:18:58touches those ropes
00:18:59he starts doing anything
00:19:01he can
00:19:02so you gotta be careful
00:19:03do what you're gonna do
00:19:03to him
00:19:04in the middle of the ring
00:19:05don't go following him
00:19:07on those ropes
00:19:07Jones keeping his eyes
00:19:09trained to the middle
00:19:10of McCullough's chest
00:19:11and throwing
00:19:12a left to the lower body
00:19:15near the belt line
00:19:16he landed a right hand
00:19:17over the top
00:19:18about 20 seconds ago
00:19:21and let's take a listen
00:19:22to the Roy Jones mic
00:19:24it's in his trunks
00:19:48well it gives you graphic audio
00:19:50on the body shots
00:19:55now you can hear
00:19:56that punch
00:19:56to the body
00:19:57McCullough
00:19:58a good left jab
00:20:00and remember
00:20:00it doesn't look like much
00:20:01in the first couple rounds
00:20:02but if he can continue
00:20:03to do this
00:20:04it'll pay off
00:20:06he can slow
00:20:07Roy's pace
00:20:08and get him into
00:20:09a more deliberate
00:20:09engagement
00:20:10if he keeps landing
00:20:11to the body
00:20:11that's what he's been
00:20:12doing
00:20:12to opponents
00:20:13throughout his long career
00:20:20Colin has to be careful
00:20:22though
00:20:22when you jab down
00:20:23you gotta bring
00:20:23that left hand
00:20:24back up quick
00:20:26this is the most
00:20:27conventional
00:20:27three minutes of work
00:20:28we've seen out of
00:20:29Roy Jones
00:20:30in a long time
00:20:31mostly working
00:20:32off the jab
00:20:33in a very orthodox
00:20:35fashion
00:20:36throwing straight left
00:20:37jabs
00:20:37and right hands
00:20:38we haven't seen
00:20:39any of those
00:20:39triple and quadruple
00:20:40left hooks
00:20:41which have defined
00:20:42his work
00:20:42against lesser opponents
00:20:44Roy Jones
00:20:45loses very few rounds
00:20:47that was one of them
00:20:51right hand to the body
00:20:53look at
00:20:54protect this out though
00:20:55when you shoot your jab
00:20:56he's doing this
00:20:57you can get your hook
00:20:58in off of
00:20:58when you shoot
00:20:59his hook
00:20:59he's looking too
00:21:00okay
00:21:00keep your right hand high
00:21:01keep your right hand high
00:21:03but I'm telling you
00:21:03even when you try to jab
00:21:05to the body
00:21:05he'll reach down
00:21:06and try to get it
00:21:07okay
00:21:07with his right
00:21:09okay
00:21:09he'll try to reach down
00:21:10and get it
00:21:10you can get your hook
00:21:11in off of
00:21:11just keep working
00:21:13your jab
00:21:13keep touching that body
00:21:15that's good
00:21:16let's keep that strategy going
00:21:20alright
00:21:36I don't know if Roy was paying homage to a great old pro in that first round but it's time
00:21:42for him
00:21:44to make this a fight
00:21:45to make this a fight in the present
00:21:46and not from the past
00:21:47maybe he's not all that comfortable working in such a conventional fashion
00:21:51by punch that number
00:21:52it's George Foreman
00:21:54he threw 15 jabs in the first round
00:21:55and only landed one of them
00:22:01he's short with the jab so far
00:22:03and McCallum is stepping in
00:22:05and committing more to the jab
00:22:06when he throws it
00:22:07that's right
00:22:08that's right but at the same time
00:22:09Roy Jones cone is picked up
00:22:11on McCullin
00:22:12leaving that left hand down
00:22:13when he jabs
00:22:14this boy can make you pay
00:22:16Roy Jones can make you pay
00:22:18for dropping your hand
00:22:19as he just did there
00:22:21with a counter right
00:22:22over the top
00:22:22of the Callum stand
00:22:23and now Roy begins to step in
00:22:25just a little bit more aggressively
00:22:27as the battery pack
00:22:29for his microphone
00:22:30creeps up out of the back
00:22:31of his shorts
00:22:35good right hand
00:22:36to the body
00:22:36by Roy Jones
00:22:42now he starts to lead
00:22:43with the left hook
00:22:45as he's done more frequently
00:22:46in the past couple of years
00:22:53and McCallum
00:22:54going to the body
00:22:56got in two good shots
00:23:03straight right
00:23:03landed for Jones
00:23:06but Jones
00:23:07kind of reaching
00:23:07with these shots
00:23:08not really stepping in
00:23:10behind them
00:23:14that left hand
00:23:16of McCallum
00:23:16as long as
00:23:18all out doors
00:23:18and he just lays it
00:23:20there in the stomach
00:23:20and if he keeps it up
00:23:22and don't be lazy
00:23:23with it
00:23:23he can do a lot of damage
00:23:24in the next couple of years
00:23:25gentlemen
00:23:27certainly McCallum
00:23:28is following his fight plan
00:23:30Roy Jones
00:23:30lands a right cross
00:23:31McCallum
00:23:32takes it pretty well
00:23:42now McCallum
00:23:43is throwing that left
00:23:44gap to the chest
00:23:45of Roy Jones
00:23:54we've got the Jones
00:23:55mic open
00:23:56that's why you're hearing
00:23:57these body shots
00:23:58so graphically
00:24:12Jones landed a little
00:24:13left hook in there
00:24:15right hand missed
00:24:16but the left landed
00:24:17flush on McCallum's chin
00:24:18McCallum goes back
00:24:19back to the body
00:24:20to good effect
00:24:21Three
00:24:22one
00:24:26four
00:24:41a
00:24:42c
00:24:44my first comment is i don't think that the sound that comes from that battery pack
00:24:49is any great advancement for human kind they ought to cut it off
00:24:55and i think they are you got him hanging out there with his punches now give him some of them
00:24:59long
00:24:59he's too slow give him some of them long shots to the room them long right hands to the body
00:25:03let him bring his head to you give me some three and four point combinations now he's too slow for
00:25:10you i'm talking about when you go into your body with long stuff take the head take the head
00:25:15so i hit him with two and three when he's straighten up then go to the bottom come back out
00:25:18okay give me
00:25:19some water that's cool son yeah you're expecting y'all already you ain't gonna keep stalking like
00:25:26that just keep touching the bottom we got it we got it all right it's the game number three
00:25:35one good bye battery pack goodbye trunk mike oh no it's still there larry still got the battery
00:25:47pack yet stuffed it down a little farther into the trunks and we'll still hear some more
00:26:09that's what you think jones is more effective when he dispenses with the jab and just leads with
00:26:14left hooks well he's affected now mentally because like the old story of samson waking up with his
00:26:20hair off he's landing some good shots with no effect because this guy's heavier than he is only
00:26:28trading punches in the corner mccallum giving just as good as he takes 27 year old roy jones
00:26:35getting a little bit of a lesson early from 39 year old mike mccallum
00:26:41what happens after those exchanges is mccallum leans on this guy and let me tell you
00:26:48about fight time he weighs about 200 pounds a lot of water and a lot of steak juice there
00:26:58mccallum working almost exclusively to the body most of the time when he gets in close he might
00:27:03take a poke at jones's head but most of the time he is working from the chest down like there
00:27:10jones using his piston-like combinations inside and mccallum coming right back
00:27:18now this probably could be some of the mistakes that mccallum is doing now
00:27:23you save your energy and don't waste any punches because you got a long night ahead of you
00:27:32mccallum willing to be the aggressor jones drawing him in mccallum taking advantage of the
00:27:38chance to fire body shots mccallum should be very conservative win every round don't look for a knockout
00:27:49boy that was the right hand to the body by mccallum
00:27:59good left kick inside by jones uppercut then left hook
00:28:06mccallum and mccallum pounding the rib cage most importantly remember after he delivered those
00:28:13shots he leans all of that body weight on jones sounds like something you've done yourself and had
00:28:20it done to me
00:28:31pattern of the fight so far roy jones lands upstairs mike mccallum lands downstairs
00:28:38one of the players
00:28:51you got a job more junior junior the job is the winning the job is the winning pound junior you're
00:28:58not
00:28:58jobbing you you too static in front to him right you too static in front to him like that you
00:29:03went over
00:29:04then you went just a little i know bing bing right to it anyway okay
00:29:22come back down to the body run across spin on out all right when he turns be sitting there waiting
00:29:26on
00:29:27all right oh oh okay okay you're gonna be out of the way of you're gonna roll out of all
00:29:34right
00:29:41now the microphone is gone nope they're gonna put it back on it
00:29:46i think i couldn't tell whether coach berkerson got it back in there or not
00:29:53you know all of the whirling dervish of roy jones all of the rat-a-tat-tat that sensational stuff
00:30:02completely neutralized by a great old pro regardless of what happens in this play
00:30:10well let history state that trunk mike lasted three rounds
00:30:16hard right hand over the top by jones
00:30:20jones looking for more and more creative solutions
00:30:23against mike mccallum yeah roy jones is better step up the feet a little bit to take away some
00:30:28of the confidence and make mccallum an opponent you got you just can't let him think he's in
00:30:34here to win make him think like an opponent by hitting him with a lot of headshots and i
00:30:39thought i heard mccallum's corner man suggesting to him that he was showing jones too much respect
00:30:46both fighters have good reason to show respect
00:31:03roy's plotting something here and he makes the same feint twice
00:31:07and gets you to miss the same punch twice he's thinking of what comes next
00:31:13there it was straight right hand counter
00:31:33this reminds me or could remind all of us of the night when people thought sugar ray robinson was
00:31:39going to pull a rabbit out of a hat when he went up against a fire and light heavyweight champion
00:31:46joey maxim willie maxim joey round up joey maxim round after round people kept thinking
00:31:53ray is going to do something nothing ever happened
00:31:57so the big contest you see here is veteran light heavyweight against a guy moving up to his late
00:32:03class huh well you've got to know what you're doing when you face a big man you got to win
00:32:09and stop trying to knock him out make him think too of course mccallum spent much of his career
00:32:15at 154 eventually moved to 160 he's later fought at 168 175 is is a function for him of
00:32:23getting older and a little bit more settled in his body type
00:32:30what we can say for sure is that mccallum is posing some questions
00:32:36and some answers to roy jones that he hasn't been able to deal with here
00:32:41i mean this is amazing i think that mccallum is winning the fight
00:32:54you see
00:32:55all right now give us your score
00:32:58i got right jones three to one 39 37 i think roy jones for the first three runs which was
00:33:05landed
00:33:05the shop at crystal punches in the first round mccallum landed for but there was absolutely nothing
00:33:10behind it and i mean nothing he just touched him and that was all where roy hit him in the
00:33:14first
00:33:14three rounds he whacked him but in the fourth round roy jones didn't do a darn thing but lay back
00:33:18on a
00:33:19the ropes in the count certainly i can't do them all i have been in score by rounds two rounds
00:33:24from
00:33:24the column one round for jones and one evening that's about the way i see it yeah
00:33:32well roy looks ineffectual to me up to now i can tell you fellas uh because i'm getting to see
00:33:39the scores of the wbc judges and all three wbc judges agree with harrell they all have roy jones
00:33:48winning the fight to this point we may have a great controversy by the end of this night
00:33:56i thought we already did only if it goes to a decision can you imagine a controversial ending
00:34:05in boxing i try mccallum's going to the body again after every combination whoa a good right hand by jones
00:34:17and the left hand and mccallum has suddenly stopped in his tracks as jones brings his
00:34:22punching power and speed to bear and mccallum delivers just a little low and roy does a dance
00:34:28for uh mccallum's benefit i think they like each other incidentally is it hard to fight a guy that
00:34:36you really like george well not really it's all a game anyway now mccallum is turning into an opponent
00:34:43whenever roy jones land those power punches he made mccallum thinks he is an opponent you got to keep it
00:34:49up
00:34:51and he can win these rounds
00:35:16you're not going to get a knockout that easy you're going to have to earn it he might have to
00:35:21satisfy himself with the decision tonight it would be a good idea to take some starts out of mccallum
00:35:25and of course low blows will do it for you if you're allowed to get away with it i thought
00:35:29that was a good
00:35:30left hook mike mccallum 16 years as a pro has never been stopped good right hand by mccallum it was
00:35:40a tip
00:35:40but it was good
00:35:48this time mccallum taking advantage of a clean opening to go to the body with the right hand
00:35:52roy jones sneaks in a right
00:35:58mccallum able to handle jones's punching power so far because of the extra weight jones got to
00:36:04concentrate on the body a little bit to make those punches count
00:36:10that time mccallum's right hand over the top partially blocked jones taking advantage of the
00:36:15opportunities to counter but not going to the body and there he did with the right hand and got in
00:36:19a
00:36:20perfect left hook as a result
00:36:26great combination by jones there his combinations are starting to pick up a bit
00:36:30he's starting to give his range as the rounds go by when he mixes in the body punches he gets
00:36:36opportunities upstairs that right hand coming up right combination that hurt mccallum yep best
00:36:44punch is a fight best round of the fight for jones
00:36:51when he starts getting away from your right hand when he get away from your right hand come back with
00:36:56the jab after the game two one two or one two one okay get back to him you're getting to
00:37:02him now
00:37:02you're gonna start touching hey this is how you got here let's have fun out here you're on the sixth
00:37:06round okay you're on the sixth round okay put some vacillaries back too that's all that's good
00:37:13that's what i'm talking about come on let's have fun hit and don't get hit okay hit and don't get
00:37:17hit
00:37:17give it that's line two and three and go two and three you gotta keep working that job you gotta
00:37:23keep working the job and don't get curly you cover very nice his left hook with the right hand next
00:37:27time go under and come out with the right hand there we go hit it hit it let's go let's
00:37:34go
00:37:34mikey mikey go number six
00:37:38what
00:37:53what
00:37:54what
00:37:56what
00:38:27what
00:38:28what
00:38:30what
00:38:32what
00:38:33what
00:38:33what
00:38:33what
00:39:01what's going to be the
00:39:04Once again in this round, Roy has not been going downstairs and consequently hasn't gotten
00:39:09much chance to fire combinations.
00:39:11Backs McCallum up in the straight right to the chest.
00:39:14Now he has McCallum thinking about throwing that right hand.
00:39:17Once you start thinking, you're in trouble.
00:39:19You gotta just do it.
00:39:20Jones just a tiny bit short with that right cross, and he's finding the range with power
00:39:25punches.
00:39:25He landed 25 out of 36 of them in the last round.
00:39:31When you're fighting a boxer like Roy Jones Jr., the most devastating thing you can do
00:39:36to him is out-jab him, especially jabs to the head.
00:39:40That's what you do.
00:39:41You take that jab away from him by out-jabbing him.
00:39:43But the thing about it, George, is that he really doesn't throw the jab that often.
00:39:49He has his own unorthodox style.
00:39:51He throws more power punches than jabs, and that's precisely why I think McCallum is exposing
00:39:58him a bit here.
00:40:00He doesn't have to worry too much about the jabs.
00:40:06Jones started out throwing jabs and fighting from an orthodox stance with an orthodox style
00:40:11in the first two rounds, and since then has reverted to form, leading as often as not
00:40:16with the left hook or a straight right over the top.
00:40:22Fast of feet, boxes, and hands, they just hate to be hit with a left jab.
00:40:28Mm-hmm.
00:40:28And McCallum is sticking it.
00:40:30Yeah.
00:40:30You hit them in the body, they don't mind.
00:40:32You hit them with a good right hand every now and then, but don't jab me.
00:40:34That's what's happening to Roy Jones tonight.
00:40:43Jones punctuates the round with a left hook and a right cross.
00:40:47Maybe enough to persuade the judges to think of him one more time as they mark their scores.
00:40:53Way to work.
00:40:54Take deep, bro.
00:40:55I got you.
00:40:56I got you.
00:40:57Yes.
00:40:57All right.
00:40:58Mix your power up a little bit.
00:41:00Yes, sir.
00:41:00Mix your power up.
00:41:02Okay.
00:41:02Touching light, touching strong, light strong.
00:41:05Just keep mixing it up.
00:41:06All right.
00:41:06Keep mixing up.
00:41:07When you go with them three-point combinations, don't go to the head all the time.
00:41:10Come down, change up, then back up.
00:41:11Yes.
00:41:12Okay.
00:41:12Change them combinations up.
00:41:14Really?
00:41:15Really?
00:41:15Come on.
00:41:16Beautiful.
00:41:18Really, Michael.
00:41:19Really?
00:41:19You're shocking the world, baby.
00:41:20Keep it up.
00:41:22Let's go.
00:41:23Say one.
00:41:24You're more aggressive, Michael.
00:41:25Yes.
00:41:27Make the judges' excuse for you to win the five.
00:41:30Give it to you.
00:41:31Take it to you.
00:41:32Take it to you.
00:41:34Number seven, halfway home now.
00:41:36Roy, number seven.
00:41:38Right about now, I'm starting to think of, well, what would Roy Jones look like against
00:41:44Leonard and Hagler and Hearns if he's having this much trouble looking good against a nearly
00:41:5140-year-old McCallum?
00:41:53I think that's a legitimate question that may be asked after this fight is over.
00:41:58Well, particularly since McCallum said yesterday, widely quoted around the world,
00:42:04Roy Jones is better than all those guys.
00:42:06He's twice as good as they were.
00:42:09Well, it doesn't cost him anything to say that.
00:42:12Particularly not the way he's holding his own tonight.
00:42:18Jones finding his own punch output limited as McCallum goes to the body.
00:42:22Jones stuns McCallum momentarily with the left hook.
00:42:25Roy smiling in there now as he gets ready to go back to work.
00:42:33Power punch combination starting to land more frequently again for Roy Jones.
00:42:39Walk cautiously through the first few rounds and now lands a right hand straight off the top.
00:42:48body punch.
00:42:52Roy Jones is moving exclusively to McCallum's left now.
00:42:58And McCallum cannot position his feet enough to protect himself.
00:43:02Roy Jones caught on to it and he's going to exploit this guy.
00:43:05He can neutralize McCallum's jab by moving to his right.
00:43:09Well, McCallum just doesn't seem to have a proper movement.
00:43:12Only when Jones moves to his right can he even jab effectively.
00:43:22Jones seeming to try to decoy McCallum now.
00:43:25And attempting to get the crowd a little bit more involved,
00:43:28he does some of his own cheerleading in the rim.
00:43:31Oh, that's quick.
00:43:33And it was a pop shot.
00:43:37Solid left hook in there.
00:43:39McCallum's taking these punches pretty well.
00:43:41But Roy Jones is having a spectacular round seven.
00:43:45What happened was McCallum was able to counter on top of that right hand
00:43:49with his own scratch to the side of the head of Jones.
00:43:52That Kiparelli made him inactive so he should exploit it.
00:43:59McCallum going back to the body as he corners Jones.
00:44:02Roy coming out with one of those whirlwind combos.
00:44:06Come on!
00:44:07Come on, Bry 폴!
00:44:26McCallum would do better if he did not even think of a knockout.
00:44:30Just go out there and try to win the fight.
00:44:35Whenever he even thinks power, Roy Jones hits him three or four times.
00:44:41Round seven, a long and rough passage for Mike McCallum.
00:44:46Jones starting to assert himself.
00:44:50We told you about the WBC judges seated in odd places for them as they try to score the fight.
00:44:56There's Barbara Perez. She is seated in the first press row.
00:45:02And as you can see, it's a pretty good distance from what would normally be a ringside perch for a
00:45:07judge.
00:45:07Three judges from Florida scoring the bout.
00:45:10Here's another WBC judge, Marty Dinkin.
00:45:12And he too is at some distance from the ring as he tries to eyeball the action and score it.
00:45:27Let's see, Jones is in the corner trying to get McCallum to open up.
00:45:31He does, shoots that left hand.
00:45:35Let's go.
00:45:37Let's go.
00:45:37Obviously, the younger, quicker, stronger athlete.
00:45:42But if there was a handicap for age, Michael McCallum would be at least even in this fight.
00:45:48And we'll check in with Harold Letterman in a little while.
00:45:50But in the meantime, I can tell you that through seven rounds, the three WBC judges all have Jones leading
00:45:58by reasonably comfortable margins.
00:46:00And as you can see, Harold Letterman is right there in the same ballpark with them.
00:46:04Either of you two guys still think that McCallum is winning the fight?
00:46:07No, no, no, I don't think so.
00:46:09I think Jones has asserted himself in the last three rounds.
00:46:13Do you agree, George?
00:46:14Yeah, McCallum, he let the fight slip away.
00:46:15He had a chance to establish that the reach and everything.
00:46:19Now he's all, he's going to have to get himself a knockout.
00:46:22Because Jones found an adjustment that works for him.
00:46:25He's moving, and whenever he wants, he moves to McCallum's left.
00:46:28And he just doesn't know what to do.
00:46:30Yeah.
00:46:30Roy Jones, when he moves to his right, McCallum's left, in this direction,
00:46:35is able to keep McCallum from landing the jab, and sets up combinations for himself.
00:46:40And left hook leads, and right cross leads, and footwork of the kind that you're seeing here.
00:46:49I think future opponents of Jones are going to be looking at this tape to see how to try to
00:46:56neutralize him,
00:46:57and how to keep him from being the whirlwind that we have been celebrating.
00:47:02I gotcha, gentlemen.
00:47:03That's it.
00:47:04Can we be out?
00:47:09McCallum doesn't have any power if he throws, and Jones is on his left side.
00:47:13He has no power at all.
00:47:14But Jones seemed to pick up rhythm.
00:47:19Which is the soft power.
00:47:22Only momentarily.
00:47:23Only momentarily.
00:47:24He's done it a lot in some of his previous bouts.
00:47:26Hadn't done it any substantial length of time here.
00:47:31But Jones has found himself an ice cream parlor when he moves to the left of McCallum.
00:47:36Sure has.
00:47:37Nothing but sweet stuff happens over there.
00:47:47Not sure why he likes to go into the corner and position himself there,
00:47:50although he does have a history of coming out of the corner with lightning combinations.
00:47:55And this gives McCallum a chance to be effective.
00:47:58I mean, he's stationary here, George.
00:48:00Well, McCallum is having difficulty in every shape of power.
00:48:03He just can't do it that way.
00:48:05You've got to think combinations, and there's no defense for combinations.
00:48:09There's only some defense when you think about throwing five, one hard punt.
00:48:19McCallum able to land against the relatively stationary Jones.
00:48:23Crowd seems disappointed that Roy allows this kind of stuff to go on.
00:48:29Give credit to the fighter that McCallum is.
00:48:32As he takes a hard left and right hand from Jones.
00:48:40Hey!
00:48:43Hey!
00:48:47Get down!
00:48:48Way to run, way to run.
00:48:50Put this hand out there.
00:48:51There you go.
00:48:52All right, Harold.
00:48:53We're two thirds of the way through this fight.
00:48:55How do you score it?
00:48:56Larry, I got it 79-73.
00:48:58Seven rounds to one, Roy Jones.
00:48:59I tell you something, he's making this tough by laying on the ropes.
00:49:02There you go.
00:49:03I think he could do a lot better if he took him into the middle of the rig.
00:49:06I mean, Roy Jones, when he slaps him with a left hook, and then he steps to the side,
00:49:10and he throws that straight right hand, or he leads with the straight right, steps to the left,
00:49:14and then throws the double left hook.
00:49:15He's killing McCallum.
00:49:16So, I don't know why he's laying on the ropes, but be as it may, he certainly is landing enough
00:49:20power shots to be winning mostly every round.
00:49:22I thought laying on the ropes cost him that round, but I'm probably in a minority of one.
00:49:28Here you see it.
00:49:30How are we doing, guys?
00:49:31All right.
00:49:32He's trying to fight out of the corner, but not being very effective against a veteran of this caliber.
00:49:40I think you lay on the ropes for 45 seconds and let the other guy punch you, and you don't
00:49:44punch him back.
00:49:45I don't know how that does you any good in the scoring.
00:49:53Round nine.
00:49:55A restive crowd in Tampa, looking for the Florida favorite son to produce some of his customary fireworks,
00:50:02and he has at moments during the fight.
00:50:05They have not had the same effect on Mike McCallum that they do on most of Roy Jones' opponents.
00:50:12McCallum, whenever he decides to put a four-punch combination together, he will see some good results.
00:50:18But waiting to hit Roy Jones with one shot is not going to help him.
00:50:23McCallum able to get to the body with the right hand.
00:50:25Pause with the left.
00:50:26Jones, once again, goes back into the corner.
00:50:37Jones excites the crowd with a few power shots and then moves back into a cautious, defensive pose.
00:50:44Showing a lot of respect to 39-year-old Mike McCallum.
00:50:53Now Jones remembers to go to the body inside.
00:50:57Something he was neglecting to do early in the fight.
00:51:01Now, McCallum, if he want to prove that he can do something, he's going to have to throw combinations now.
00:51:05Now, at the age 39, he's got to think, hey, I better pull this thing out.
00:51:09There's no second chance for me.
00:51:14Sure, this guy's hitting me, but I used to spar with my trainer, Charlie Shatt.
00:51:18He'd do the same stuff for me.
00:51:20I missed him with one shot, he'd hit me with five.
00:51:23But you've got to use combinations back.
00:51:27You've got to set that up.
00:51:28You're going to need to bring it to work.
00:51:30You're going to need to bring it to work.
00:51:47McCallum is doing good, but he's only landed one punch at a time.
00:51:51Come back, Mike McCallum!
00:52:03Tactical boxing match.
00:52:07You know what he's here now?
00:52:09Your hands are free, let's work.
00:52:10Certainly the kind of fight that Mike McCallum might have wanted to get Roy Jones into.
00:52:14Is he doing enough?
00:52:15George Foreman says not twice.
00:52:17No, he's allowing this guy to get nothing but combination after combination off.
00:52:26When you're in there with those young opponents, you've got to be the one throwing the combination.
00:52:31Jones fading, throwing a right-hand lead.
00:52:34Temporarily stunning McCallum.
00:52:36McCallum shows his chin, comes back with some other good stuff inside.
00:52:40Jones pauses to clear his mouth.
00:52:43And we're three quarters of the way through with a scheduled 12 round.
00:52:47You go round, you're going in 10, baby.
00:52:49You're going in 10.
00:52:51Way to work.
00:52:52Way to get that quick stuff off.
00:52:54Let's do it.
00:52:55I got you.
00:52:56I got you.
00:52:57There you go.
00:53:00There you go.
00:53:03Only got three rounds, an amateur fight.
00:53:06You're way over an amateur fight.
00:53:08You're way over.
00:53:09These three rounds, you have to give everything, Michael.
00:53:13This is all.
00:53:14This is it.
00:53:15Keep your chin-down hands up and jab, jab, jab.
00:53:18Right hand to the body.
00:53:19You see those two right hands, but don't reach.
00:53:21Just try and stay.
00:53:22Eh?
00:53:23Beautiful work, Michael.
00:53:26Let's see.
00:53:27Jones from the corner.
00:53:29Landed a good right hand inside there.
00:53:32Second.
00:53:34Let's go, Michael.
00:53:41One of the things that's clear from this fight is that Jones isn't that comfortable when they're in the center
00:53:47of the ring.
00:53:48He's having a hard time working McCallum from the center of the ring, creating openings, stepping in.
00:53:56Because Roy is so quick, he looks to punch and jump out before he can follow up.
00:54:02Yeah, the fight seems to always end up with Jones close to the rope.
00:54:07Very interesting, guys.
00:54:09Two of the three WBC judges who seemed early on to be giving the close rounds to Jones gave the
00:54:16ninth round to McCallum,
00:54:17a round in which Jones was dominant in punch stat numbers.
00:54:23Landed twice as many punches as McCallum, and yet, in that round, two of the WBC judges say,
00:54:29well, let's give it to the guy in the light view trunks.
00:54:36Well, to be perfectly honest, if Roy is winning the fight,
00:54:43from the appearance of the fight, it's not like he's winning the fight 11-to-1.
00:54:48He's not pitching a shutout.
00:54:50Some of these rounds that he's getting are close rounds because he's laying on the ropes,
00:54:56and McCallum is doing very well against him in the middle of the ring.
00:55:01McCallum, if he's going to win this thing, he's going to have to gamble a little bit.
00:55:05You just can't stand out there for the chance of your lifetime.
00:55:08You can have to get up, take a chance on getting punched, but get in there and land that right
00:55:11hand.
00:55:12Incidentally, in case you're wondering, we're seeing the WBC judges' scores round by round.
00:55:16We are not seeing the Florida judges' scores round by round.
00:55:20Those we won't know until the end of the fight if it goes the distance.
00:55:23Oh, really?
00:55:26Well, usually, Roy is the judge, the jury.
00:55:31The executioner?
00:55:32The executioner, the attorneys, everything.
00:55:38McCallum seems to have no power when he throws the overhand right.
00:55:42Can't do anything with it.
00:55:44Well, George McCallum was never a big puncher.
00:55:46Even in his heyday, he was a hurting puncher.
00:55:50He'd beat you down, but he was never a paralyzing puncher.
00:55:53I think his punches have more snap when he goes to the body.
00:55:56He's just a lot more comfortable throwing body punches.
00:55:58He throws that thing over, and it's like he doesn't even have a right hand.
00:56:01Only when he goes underneath.
00:56:05Roy Jones is not bending over much to make that effective for him.
00:56:09Hey, heavy fellas, come on.
00:56:10Let's mix now.
00:56:11Let's work.
00:56:12Let's work.
00:56:14Referee Brian Gary has been largely unobtrusive here.
00:56:18That's a good job.
00:56:27That right hand almost stopped to McCallum in his threat.
00:56:34You get the impression that Roy would have to accumulate a lot of punishment to get McCallum out of there.
00:56:40McCallum seems just...
00:56:41Whoa!
00:56:42Just as I said that, Roy says, wait a minute.
00:56:46Three!
00:56:47Four!
00:56:49Four!
00:56:51Six!
00:56:52The bell has rung in the referee.
00:56:54He doesn't even know it.
00:56:55He's got the count.
00:56:56Okay, now he knows.
00:56:59So the first knockdown of the bout comes right at the end of the tenth round.
00:57:04Quick right hand over the top by Jones.
00:57:08All right.
00:57:17Here's the punch at the end of the round.
00:57:21McCallum looked like he was already heading back to the corner anticipating the bell,
00:57:25but it was a clean punch that sat him down on his pants.
00:57:29I don't think it hurt him very much.
00:57:33The old warrior hanging in there.
00:57:36Get the water.
00:57:38It closes out.
00:57:39It's stuck out!
00:57:40It is out!
00:57:41Well, that was one of those close rounds that could have gone McCallum's way,
00:57:45but the knockdown seals it for Jones.
00:57:47Exactly.
00:57:48Let's do it!
00:57:49And all three WBC judges scored it a 10-8 round.
00:57:53So now, unquestionably, at least for the WBC's interim light heavyweight title purposes,
00:58:00McCallum would need a knockout to win.
00:58:02Time!
00:58:02I got time!
00:58:03Time!
00:58:04And there you see Harold Lederman saw it.
00:58:06Let's get it!
00:58:07Hold it up!
00:58:07With the same situation as James.
00:58:09And now referee Brian Gary wants the moisture wiped up out of McCallum's corner.
00:58:15All right!
00:58:15All right!
00:58:16Let's go!
00:58:16Let's go!
00:58:17Let's go!
00:58:18Rest benefit any fighter more than the other at this point, George.
00:58:21Let's go!
00:58:21Yeah, no doubt about it.
00:58:23McCallum got a chance to clear his head just a little bit more.
00:58:25If not, if only just to last this round.
00:58:48Jones still safety first, blocking McCallum's punches with his gloves.
00:58:52As he backs up and tries to set himself to fire combination.
00:58:57McCallum's still going to the body.
00:59:02McCallum needs a knockout now.
00:59:04You can forget about that body and go for everything now.
00:59:15Boy, 39 just isn't what it used to be, huh?
00:59:20No, Young is 47.
00:59:2347 is young.
00:59:2439 is a little bit troublesome.
00:59:25But then you get that second win, don't you, George?
00:59:28Jones landed a good right-hand shot.
00:59:37You get the feeling Jones will continue to look for the opportunity to land power shots,
00:59:41but he just isn't going to risk much.
00:59:44Surely he feels that he's in control of the fight on the scorecards,
00:59:47and clearly he's going to be satisfied to pound out a decision.
00:59:52Which I think would be a moral victory for McCallum at this stage of his career.
00:59:58And an encouragement to the half-dozen or so fighters who might be looking at a Roy Jones fight down
01:00:03the road.
01:00:05Now, something has to happen.
01:00:0739 may become a lively number for the lightweight fighters, too, huh?
01:00:11You were great at 39, George.
01:00:13You were tremendous at 39.
01:00:14Do you remember it?
01:00:15No, no.
01:00:15It was yesterday, you know?
01:00:19I'm only 39 now.
01:00:28Great right hand again bothers McCallum.
01:00:31Piston-like Lettsford Jones.
01:00:33McCallum throws him into the ropes.
01:00:37I'm not impressed with your hand speed, young man.
01:00:40He's telling them, don't go flow-showing on me now.
01:00:54Don't hold the ropes, Mike.
01:00:56Don't hold the ropes and punch him now.
01:00:57Come on.
01:01:01Time.
01:01:04One round to go.
01:01:06Keep it just like that, brother.
01:01:08Keep it just like that.
01:01:09Way to work.
01:01:11Way to work.
01:01:13Cool him down.
01:01:13Keep it just like that.
01:01:14My head, you're making.
01:01:16What are my head, you're making?
01:01:18Huh?
01:01:18That's what I'm doing.
01:01:20Just the second one here, huh?
01:01:21Just the second one here.
01:01:22Very close, aren't you?
01:01:23Knocked down, huh?
01:01:24Yeah, the knockdown's got you up.
01:01:28We need some tape over here, guys.
01:01:29Like that, okay?
01:01:30Keep it just like that.
01:01:33Hey, HBO.
01:01:34Just like that.
01:01:35Keep working.
01:01:35Y'all watch.
01:01:36I'm a bad man.
01:01:37All right.
01:01:38Probably can fight all day.
01:01:39There you go.
01:01:40Last one, baby.
01:01:41Last one.
01:01:42We won.
01:01:42We won.
01:01:42We won.
01:01:43One round away, baby.
01:01:44He's a real champion.
01:01:45Okay?
01:01:46All right, fellas.
01:01:47It's the final round.
01:01:48There you see the leaping right and a staccato barrage of little left hands.
01:01:57I don't think any of them did any damage.
01:01:59It's almost like playing the piano on McCallum's ribs.
01:02:05They do score.
01:02:09And speaking of scoring.
01:02:14Harold, 11 rounds.
01:02:17Give it to us, Harold.
01:02:20Shoot it to us.
01:02:20Larry, I hate to disappoint you.
01:02:22I got a 109-99, 10 rounds to 1, Roy Jones Jr.
01:02:26The only thing I can say is I'm buying this guy a map of New York State so he can
01:02:30find
01:02:31Canistola, where the Boxing Hall of Fame is, unless he hitches a ride for George Foreman.
01:02:43The crowd right now, apparently, is more entertained by a fight going on out there in the bleachers someplace.
01:02:51They're not watching as Mike McCallum launches what may be his last assault to the body.
01:02:57And Jones comes back with counter punches to the head.
01:03:01Pattern of the fight throughout.
01:03:02Now, valued effort by 39-year-old Mike McCallum.
01:03:07Solid, defensive, and controlled boxing display by 27-year-old Roy Jones.
01:03:14Jones, we would guess, well ahead on the scorecards of the Florida judges.
01:03:19And we know, well ahead on the scorecards of the WBC judges.
01:03:25I tell you, if Mike McCallum had a good overhand right, this could have been a different fight tonight.
01:03:31He just has no power on top.
01:03:34Everything is under.
01:03:35Yeah, because the opening was there for the overhand right.
01:03:38He created a good opening by going to the body.
01:03:40He just did not have the finishing power.
01:03:45Jones continually landing that right-hand lead now.
01:03:55A little of the old Ray Leonard Bolo wind-up there.
01:04:08Some of the crowd now turning its attention back to the ring action.
01:04:12Although apparently that fight in the bleachers is still going on.
01:04:18You can see the number of spectators who have their heads turned away from the ring.
01:04:26Roy Jones is actually looking at the clock.
01:04:30Trying to wait this fight out, wait for the last 10 seconds and throw a dominant floor.
01:04:34I think he wants to let McCallum finish the fight.
01:04:37I agree.
01:04:38But I'm not sure he could have done anything about it if he wanted to finish the fight early.
01:04:42And when the final bell sounds, you will see one of those mutual embraces drenched in mutual respect.
01:04:49I don't think he wanted to let him finish it at all.
01:04:51You think he wanted to knock him out?
01:04:53He just had not enough power in the last round.
01:04:55Got him.
01:04:55You see he has.
01:04:56Why don't you finish?
01:05:07There's the mutual embrace.
01:05:14Referee did a good job of stepping in there to protect McCallum as the bell sounded.
01:05:31Does this diminish your opinion of Roy Jones at all?
01:05:34Roy Jones is probably the greatest middleweight around, but it's going to happen for him in the middleweight.
01:05:39Light heavyweight, he's going to stay away from that if he wants to maintain his greatness.
01:05:43Well, and if you can't be great at 175 in your assessment, then you can forget that heavyweight fantasy that
01:05:48everybody's talked about, right?
01:05:50Well, you've got to grow.
01:05:51It may take a lot of years to grow into that.
01:05:53It hasn't happened this year.
01:05:55He's 27.
01:05:56You think he's still growing?
01:05:58Yep, he grows.
01:05:59Yeah?
01:05:59I know what you're saying.
01:06:01Your body gets more settled.
01:06:04Just think about Finn, you used to be, George.
01:06:07I used to be Finn.
01:06:10When you were 11.
01:06:25You know, Roy can do just about anything, but I'm not sure that ring announcer is within his reach.
01:06:31He put the new in the wrong place.
01:06:34That's what I'm thinking there.
01:06:35You know, he had the sequence a little out of sync.
01:06:38Hey, I'll be!
01:06:46Well, we've been keeping you up to date in a general sense with the WBC judges scoring of the bout.
01:06:53And once again, there are six judges scoring, three from the WBC and three from Florida because of a head
01:06:58-to-head dispute between the two jurisdictional bodies here.
01:07:02So, Denkin scores it for Jones, 116-111.
01:07:06Kazmarek scores it for Jones, 119-108.
01:07:10That means 11 rounds for Jones and one even.
01:07:13Well, with the 10-8 round, maybe one round for McCallum and 11 rounds for Jones.
01:07:17And then Barbara Perez with a 117-110 scorecard.
01:07:22And nobody is expecting, quite frankly, that the Florida judges will do something dramatically damaging to the Florida fighters' career.
01:07:30Although, of course, they'll have scored the fight according to their own integrity.
01:07:33Ladies and gentlemen, Judge Paul Herman, Judge Jay Cassis, and Judge Rick Bays all score the bout 120-107
01:07:49for the new WBC light heavyweight champion of the world, Roy Jones Jr.
01:08:01Jones Jr.
01:08:05That's a whitewash.
01:08:07That means that all three Florida judges scored all 12 rounds for Jones with a 10-8 round accompanying the
01:08:16knockdown in round 10.
01:08:19Final punch stat numbers, and you can see that Roy landed 45 more punches.
01:08:23Greatest of all time.
01:08:26Final punch stat numbers, and you can see that Roy landed 45 more punches.
01:08:30McCallum threw 116 more.
01:08:34Thus, the big difference in connect percentage.
01:08:37Jones landed considerably more than 50% of his power shots.
01:08:42And, of course, a lot of those were leads.
01:08:44Lead left hooks, lead right hands.
01:08:48And the judges saw the fight more one-sidedly than did our own Larry Merchant.
01:08:53Larry stands by in the ring now with the winner.
01:08:56Okay, Roy, congratulations.
01:09:00Why did you seem to be having problems with McCallum during this fight,
01:09:06or do you feel it was an easy fight for you?
01:09:09First of all, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to come out here and doing all that I
01:09:13do.
01:09:13It was a terrific thing I had.
01:09:15I'm glad to turn out a great night.
01:09:16I congratulate this man.
01:09:17He has bribed me tonight.
01:09:18He did a terrific job.
01:09:20I have faith in him.
01:09:21Roy was a great champion, but he still got to come with a long way to go.
01:09:24Mike McCallum was not really hard for me.
01:09:26Mike was a technician, and it's like, why go out and take a crazy chance with a guy that I
01:09:30can outspeed and outbox?
01:09:31You know what I'm saying?
01:09:32I want to learn.
01:09:33I want to see the different shots coming at me.
01:09:34I haven't had a chance to be in the ring with someone as talented and skill-wise as Mike McCallum.
01:09:38What did he show you that some of your recent opponents didn't show you?
01:09:42He showed movement.
01:09:43He showed pressure.
01:09:44He had a great jab.
01:09:45You know, I could have blocked the jab more.
01:09:47I could have counted the jab more.
01:09:48But I came into the fight with a bruised right hand.
01:09:50Knew it coming in, so I wasn't going to come in and kill myself.
01:09:53Plus, I have a lot of respect for Mike McCallum.
01:09:55I could have faked him with his right hand all night long.
01:09:58I dropped him with a really didn't mean to drop.
01:09:59I just tried to throw a quick before he wouldn't count on me.
01:10:01He throws one punch that I threw a lot, which is a check hook.
01:10:03When a man comes at you, he throws the hook.
01:10:05I wasn't going to go in and get hit with the hook on purpose.
01:10:07I didn't know he was going to throw it.
01:10:09How would you have done against a Mike McCallum of 10 or 12 years ago?
01:10:13I would have picked up the pace.
01:10:14I would have been adding more.
01:10:15I would have forced the issue at him because in his day, he didn't like.
01:10:19I mean, he was good, but the way to beat him was press him.
01:10:21Don't let him come to you.
01:10:22But tonight, you know, he's a, you know, he was the man.
01:10:25I'm the man.
01:10:26Are you comfortable at light heavyweight and looking forward to fighting some of the other
01:10:31light heavyweights out there?
01:10:32No, I'm not really comfortable.
01:10:34I'm a little small for light heavyweight, but I'm looking forward to fighting.
01:10:37I'm not fighting anybody.
01:10:37I don't care.
01:10:38Virgil Hill said some stuff today in the paper talking about all the people I fought was
01:10:41James Toney and Mike McCallum.
01:10:43Where has he fought?
01:10:44Timon Harris, and he lost that.
01:10:46So, you know, if you go ahead and take care of your business, Virgil, when you come back,
01:10:48we can get it on.
01:10:49I'll be waiting.
01:10:50Just call my house.
01:10:51Thank you very much.
01:10:53Roy, back to you.
01:10:55Jim and George.
01:10:56All right.
01:10:56Thank you very much, Larry.
01:10:58George, Ray Leonard used to say to me all the time, and I'm sure you probably feel the
01:11:01same way, that one mark of a great fighter is when he doesn't allow the crowd to influence
01:11:06him to do things that aren't wise in the ring, when he accepts the easy possibility of
01:11:11a safe decision and preserves the fireworks for another day.
01:11:15Does this fall into that category?
01:11:16Maybe, but Muhammad Ali, he would spell it out.
01:11:19He'd hit you and hurt you and think, I'm not going to get hurt, too.
01:11:22I'm going to stay out of the way.
01:11:24So, safety, number one, it doesn't please the crowd, but safety is what happened today
01:11:28with Roy Jones Jr.
01:11:30Yeah, and if you can fight in your home state before an adoring home crowd and not respond
01:11:35when they're booing because you're not knocking the guy out, then that shows your discipline,
01:11:38right?
01:11:39Yeah, discipline, but that's not what we pay and buy tickets for.
01:11:43So, you think maybe he'll sell fewer tickets next time.
01:11:46Larry, let me bring you in here a second.
01:11:48I'll be back to you, George.
01:11:49Okay.
01:11:49Don't go away.
01:11:51Your take on the whole evening here as we move on to other topics.
01:11:55Junior Jones' upset over Marco Antonio Barrera.
01:11:57Roy Jones' easy decision over Mike McKellen.
01:12:01Well, it was your basic night of boxing when things happen that you can never possibly think
01:12:08will happen.
01:12:08Things that you never saw before.
01:12:10I've said on many occasions that you would think that price fights, a sporting event between
01:12:15two guys would have a certain limited number of things that can happen.
01:12:20But when you come into a price fight with two sets of officials, when you have a Junior Jones'
01:12:26manager and promoter giving up their cuts of the purse.
01:12:36New Mexico's news leader.
01:12:39Now, Diane Anderson and Nelson Martinez.
01:12:42Health Beat with Dr. Barry Ramo.
01:12:44Weather with Howard Morgan.
01:12:45And sports with Terry McDermott.
01:12:47This is Action 7 News, live at 10.
01:12:52I don't mind paying the price of a stamp, but I'd like it to get there in a timely fashion.
01:12:57Is it the holiday rush that's slowing the mail service in Rio Rancho?
01:13:01Or is it just poor service?
01:13:04That all depends on who you talk to.
01:13:05Good evening.
01:13:06I'm Augusta Myers.
01:13:07Diane Anderson has the night off.
01:13:09I'm Nelson Martinez.
01:13:10The holiday season is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the U.S. Postal Service.
01:13:15Sometimes letters and packages get lost or misplaced.
01:13:18But some Rio Rancho residents say theirs is not just a holiday problem.
01:13:22That's right.
01:13:23Our West Side reporter, Mike Sims, went looking for some answers.
01:13:27Thank you for calling Grizzly Plumbing.
01:13:28How may I help you?
01:13:29Folks at the Grizzly Plumbing Company in Rio Rancho say business is booming, but not because of the speedy mail
01:13:36service.
01:13:37Some mail never gets there at all.
01:13:39People never receive it.
01:13:41Sometimes we never receive it.
01:13:42Um, and sometimes it just gets there three weeks after we've mailed it.
01:13:49Craig Econopoli says he's complained to postal officials in Rio Rancho, but without satisfaction.
01:13:57So now he collects payment checks in person instead of trusting the U.S. mail.
01:14:03Merry Christmas.
01:14:04Merry Christmas.
01:14:06And Action 7 News has learned Craig isn't the only Rio Rancho resident who's unhappy with the postal service.
01:14:13So where does the mail go once it leaves the Rio Rancho post office?
01:14:17It comes here to the main station in downtown Albuquerque where it's sorted by big machines.
01:14:22And postal spokesmen say sometimes that's part of the problem.
01:14:25And there it goes all the way under the
01:14:25You've got no paper on the mail.
01:14:25So when there are news, there are other people who have alternated.
01:14:26Or make the information that you don't even notice of people who are working in the legal군.
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