Roy Jones Jr.'s Big 5: Griffin's dramatic loss

The Great 5 of Roy Jones Junior: The dramatic loss to Griffin

The first fight with Montel Griffin, which also leads to Superman's first professional loss

Roy Jones Jr. is one of the most iconic boxers of the 1990s and early 20th century. "Superman" is known for his expressive style and often likes to finish off his opponents with a knockout. Aggressive and attractive gameplay makes Roy's fights very enjoyable to watch. In a series of articles, we will recall his best matches throughout his exciting career. We have already described the Virgil Hill and Bernard Hopkiss clash, after which Jones also won his first world title.

At number three on our rankings is his first match with Montel Griffin. A bloody rivalry started between the two as early as May 21, 1997. The arena of the collision is in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both boxers enter the bout undefeated, so the night won't end well for either of them. The 10cm taller Roy Jones has 34 straight wins in the professional ring, while the 'Ice', who is only 1.70m tall, has a 26-match winning streak that has seen him capture the World Light Heavyweight title boxing union. Roy is first in the ranking of the authoritative magazine "Ring" and world champion of the WBC, which is a title in a third different division for him. In just his last fight, "Superman" won the belt of the World Boxing Council after a success over Mike McCallum.

Now, however, the test before him is even more difficult and he must show that there is no drop in form. Roy Jones is the more experienced and definitely has the height advantage. However, the beginning of the match shows that at last an opponent has been found to successfully oppose Roy. In the first rounds, it is Griffin who accumulates more points.

After the first eight rounds, however, two of the judges gave a slight advantage to the defending WBC belt boxer, who turned the tide with each passing round. In two of the referees' cards, Jones leads, 77-75 and 76-75, respectively. However, the third judge felt that Griffin landed more accurate hits and his card read 76-75 for the challenger.

A ninth, decisive round is ahead, which turns out to be the last of the match. In the first two minutes of it, Griffin controls the pace and is the more aggressive. But just after the 120 second mark came Roy's moment as he landed a powerful right. The champion then cornered his opponent in an attempt to secure the knockout victory. With just 45 seconds left in another stoppage, Griffin drops to a knee in an attempt to avoid the heavier blows. However, Jones managed to land a left and right straight combination that finally sent Montel to the ground. Referee Tony Perez stopped the bout with 33 seconds left in the ninth round.

Everyone is waiting for a TKO victory for Roy Jones. The celebration in the champion's corner begins because he has defended his title. However, Perez's decision is a disqualification for an elbow. The decision resulted in Jones' first professional loss and also made Griffin the new World Boxing Council Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.

After the match, Roy said that he wasn't sure Griffin was knocked down and that's why he continued his combination. According to him, he didn't read the referee's sign, and he didn't look at where his opponent's knee was, but he only tried to find his face. According to the champion, Perez did not try to stop him at all. Something every judge should do at a time like this. The referee's explanation is that he tried to continue the fight, which was the more appropriate action, but Griffin was hurt so badly that he didn't have a chance to last another 33 seconds left in the round. Thus, Perez's only decision was to disqualify Jones for gross violation of the rules.

However, Griffin acted exceptionally sportsmanily and only five months after this clash gave Roy Jones a chance to get revenge. A match in which Jones wins after just 151 seconds and shows that he is definitely the more deserving World Boxing Union light heavyweight champion.