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Tourist Information: Roy Jones Jr. on why he’s facing Mike Tyson

Fighters Network
24
Nov

Roy Jones Jr. is a retired professional boxer, boxing commentator, boxing trainer, rapper, and actor who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes and is the only boxer in history to start his professional career at junior middleweight and go on to win a heavyweight title. As an amateur he represented the United States at the 1988 Olympic games, winning a silver medal in the junior middleweight division after one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history.

Roy Jones Jr. has a scheduled eight round exhibition fight against Mike Tyson on November 28th. I caught up with him by phone at his home in Pensacola, Florida to talk about his reasons for taking the fight. I spent a week with Jones Jr. and his family in Pensacola five years ago for a profile trying to get to the bottom of what drove him throughout his career and why, pushing 50, he was hanging on in the sport despite numerous chilling knockout losses. The results of my time with him shocked a lot of people. This disturbing conversation over the phone picked up pretty much where that profile left off.  

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