BN: How significant was what happened at Seoul โ88 in shaping your career?
RJ: It was very significant, because if that didnโt happen to me the rest may not have happened. But what happened, happened. It drove me for a long time. It drove me a whole lot, because being that I had gotten robbed, it pushed me to a place that I didnโt want to go โ that I wouldnโt have gone if it was me by myself. You feel me?
I came to peace with it when I became heavyweight champion of the world [by beating John Ruiz in 2003]. When I became heavyweight champion of the world I made history, so I was good
โฆI probably never got to peace.
BN: How much do you owe your fatherย Royย Snr for your success?ย
RJ: A lot. He taught me about great foundations, so I owe him a lot. Those great foundations carried me a long way, so I owe a lot to him.
BN: Whatโs your relationship with him like today?
RJ: Not too good today. We donโt have a relationship today. It made me a lot different [as a father] and me and my [six] kids are a lot closer [than me and my father were] because of what I went through. It made me better because I knew what to do and what not to do with my own.
[But] what is meant for you is probably going to be, so if Godโs got that plan for you, youโre going to get it.
BN: How much of your success was because of his successor as your trainer, Alton Merkerson?ย ย
RJ: A lot too. A whole lot, because his military background gave him a form of discipline, which is what I needed to succeed in my pro career. He didnโt know what I knew, boxing-wise, but he had discipline. All I needed was discipline. It wasnโt the boxing skills โ it was more the discipline.
BN: When you were turning professional you had wanted wanted to work with the great Emanuel Stewardโฆ
RJ: It wouldnโt have worked, because he had too many fighters already and I needed my own team. I would not have been the same if I was a Kronk fighter. [Maybe] it would have gone pretty good, but he had too many other fighters around him at that point.
BN: How do you reflect on the fact that you for so long resisted working with the worldโs leading promoters?
RJ: Well, it was the best thing for me, because I needed my own space; my own team. I was in solitary โ I wanted someone who was going to devote their time to me. Me, only me and nothing else. I wanted somebody who was going to devote their time to me and my team. The main two [promoters, Bob Arum and Don King] โ they had too much going on already. It was so me and my team [Jones Jnr was instead guided by Stanley and Fred Levin] could become a player.
I grew up around game roosters and pitbull dogs, and they were two warriors โย and that was what God wanted me to be. He knew my end goal.
BN: Who was the best you fought?
RJ: James โLights Outโ Toney [at middleweight in 1994]. He was 44-0 [and 2] when I fought him; undefeated; the best shoulder-roll fighter that Iโve ever seen. He had power. He had speed. He had defence. He had everything. He could knock you out from round one to round 12, so, heโs definitely the best fighter I ever fought. Heโs in the hall of fame now.
Just, strategy [was the key to beating him with such ease]. You got to have strategy, to beat that.
As a shoulder-roll fighter in my opinion he is and always will be a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather.
He can knock you out in any round. Any fight he fights is going to be an exciting fight because he knock you out from round one to round 12, and he has combinations; he has speed; he does it all. And he ainโt going to worry about playing it safe; he believed in his defence so he ainโt got to worry about playing it safe.
BN: What was your best win?
RJ: Thatโs hard to say. The night I won the heavyweight title, because I made history. Nobody [in 106 years, since Bob Fitzsimmons] never turned pro at middleweight and became the heavyweight champ.
BN: What night were you at your very best?
RJ: That I donโt know. Itโs very hard to say. I felt really good against everybody I fought โ James Toney; Richard Hallโฆ Above 35 [years of age], would definitely have been the night I fought Jeff Lacy [in 2009], but below 35, I donโt know. I felt better in that fight than I had felt in a long time. I was 40, but I felt really good that night.
BN: What, with the benefit of hindsight, would you do differently?
RJ: I would have taken two years off after I lost all that weight and beat [Antonio] Tarver the first time [in 2003]. After I went to heavyweight and came all the way back down, my body needed a two-year break. [Maybe] retire after the first Tarver win, because Iโd sacrificed my body โ my body went through so much. I won the heavyweight title, came back, I recaptured the light-heavyweight title, and my body needed a break. I had been pushing my body hard โ for years on top of years โ and after that weight gain, and then weight loss, my body needed a break and I didnโt give it to it, so my body failed because I didnโt give it to it.
BN: How important was it for you to avenge your first defeat, via disqualification, by Montell Griffin?
RJ: It was highly important because it was my first loss and I never had plans on losing. It was very difficult, especially after being robbed of a gold medal in Seoul, Korea. [Former opponent] Vinny Pazienza hit Dana Rosenblatt and the referee [Tony Orlando] after the referee told him to stop โ he didnโt get disqualified. Riddick Bowe hit Jesse Ferguson several times while he was down and not get disqualified. But when I do it accidentally โ knowing the heart I got, that I donโt wanna hurt nobody โ I get disqualified [Tony Perez was the referee]. It hurt me bad, because I never planned on losing.
BN: The culture around boxing sometimes places an unhealthy obsession on fighters remaining undefeated. Do you think youโd be even more admired than you already are if youโd retired without losing another fight?
RJ: Of course. If Iโd retired after the first win against Tarver Iโd go down in history as the greatest fighter to ever fight. I retire after that first Tarver fight โ Iโm undefeated, theyโre still talking about me being the greatest fighter in the history of the game. But if Iโm that same person, then Iโve still done that. I just didnโt let my body recover. So if Iโm still, at that point, the best fighter ever, why am I still not the greatest fighter ever? Because Iโm still the same person who did all that.
They donโt say Michael Jordan ainโt the best basketball player โcause heโs lost a few games. He wasnโt the same when he got 40 years old, or 35 years old โย theyโre still going to say heโs the greatest player ever. They donโt say Joe Montana ainโt one of the best quarterbacks ever, because heโs lost a game or two here and there. They donโt say Tom Brady ainโt the best quarterback ever because he didnโt win the Super Bowl in his last season. So why canโt I still be what I am? If I can get the accolades because of what I did in my prime โ but because I went beyond my prime I canโt get the accolades? Bullcrap. But, you knowโฆ
What happened, happened. What I canโt change, why waste time thinking about it? The fact of the matter is Iโm still the same person that did all that. Why am I not the greatest fighter? Because I put my body through tremendous terror just to go to tremendous heights? Because my body went through that at the time, that means Iโm not the greatest fighter that ever lived? Bullcrap. I gotta be.
BN: Why do you still fight on?
RJ: I really donโt. I retired. Iโm concentrating on being a trainer now, but if a fight comes along and that looks like it ainโt unhealthy for me, and I love to entertain โ Iโm in the gym doing stuff anyway โ why not?
I ainโt fighting no more, but I loved it. I loved it. Itโs hard to walk away from because of what I did, and I loved to challenge myself. Even at 54 โ to be able to go eight rounds at 54 [as I did earlier this year, against Anthony Pettis]. That weekend I said [to one of my fighters], โListen, youโre 31 years old โย I just did eight rounds at 54, and youโre telling me I got more energy than you? No I donโt. So donโt give me that, letโs goโ. It gave me even more to work with. Now, as an example, I did an eight-round fight at 54 years old and you telling me youโre tired? No, I donโt want to hear that.
BN: Where do you rank among the very finest of all time?
RJ: I gotta be right up there with [Muhammad] Ali. Nobody had the style, charisma or class that I had. I would only put Ali above me โ and thatโs always. Heโll always be there, because without him I would never have got to become who I was. But out there nobody else had the charisma; the style; the defence; the offence; the movement; the banging; the body shots; the head shots. Nobody else had that total package, ever in the sport of boxing, like I did. Nobody. I donโt care โ nobody had the combinations. Nobody had the total package.
Youโve got to look right now โ thatโs why myย YouTubeย videos are the highest. Myย YouTubeย videos are the most exciting. Nobody ever brought the full package to the capacity thatย Royย Jonesย did in his prime. I ainโt got to say it. Go look atย YouTube. Go show me somebody that meshed [all of that together] โย you ainโt gonna find nobody.
[Ali is] the greatest of all time because of what he went through inside and outside of the ring. Without what he did inside and outside of the ring โย he always was, and still is gonna be, my inspiration underneath God. God inspired me because he gave me life, but Ali is my second inspiration after God.
BN: Whoโs the best fighter youโve seen in the years since your victory over Antonio Tarver?
RJ: Itโs hard to say, because there were a lot. The best fighters out there since the Roy Jones Jnr period is a little of a mix. You put Tyson Fury, [Vasyl] Lomachenko and Terence Crawford together, you got it. Theyโre the top three since me, because theyโll fight anybody โ they ainโt scared of fighting nobody. They fight the best of the best. Really, you can put [Manny] Pacquiao in that too, because Pacquiao fought them all.
BN: Do you think weโll ever again see a fighter win titles at middleweight and heavyweight?
RJ: I donโt know. Iโm not God. I can never tell you. God created me so God can create better than me so I can never know. I donโt know whether we will or not.
Itโs very difficult to do, and itโs very difficult to come back down afterwards and recapture the light-heavyweight title as well. Thatโs why my body took such a hit doing it. People telling me Iโm not the best pound-for-pound fighter ever donโt appreciate what I did, you understand? If you appreciate what I did youโd know without question that Iโve got to be the best pound-for-pound fighter ever, but they donโt give it to me because they donโt care that I did it. They give it to a man [Mayweather] who ainโt taken no chances; who campaigned his whole career undefeated because he ainโt really taken no chances. They all say, โThat has to be the best fighter ever because the 0โ. That canโt be the case, you understand me? The 0 โ youโre telling me thatโs the best fighter ever? No way.
Iโm going to say Michael Jordan ainโt the best basketball player ever because he lost games? No. Heโs still the best basketball player ever. In football, you gonna say the best quarterback ever ainโt the best โcause he ainโt the number one on the yards list? No, thatโs not the case. LeBron James is the highest scoring NBA player, but do that make him the best NBA player of all time? No.
You donโt judge the losses. You judge any fighter โย who was better? You go back to my prime โย nobody. Simple.
BN: Are you at peace in 2023?
RJ: Yes, Iโm at peace.
BN: Given the dangers of your profession and the fact that you had 76 fights, do you ever worry about your health?
RJ: No, I donโt worry about my health. If I was fighting and taking chances โ but Iโm not doing that.
Of course I do [monitor my condition]. Always.
BN: What else do you hope to achieve?
RJ: To coach a world champion. Not yet [close to doing so], but I will be. Itโs a process and it takes time.