Anthony Pettis Bags Majority Decision Over 54-Year-Old Roy Jones Jr
Former UFC and WEC world champion Anthony Pettis (1-0, 0 KOs) picked up a majority decision win over 54-year-old Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. (66-10, 47 KOs), with scores of 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74 in the main event of Gamebred Boxing 4 live on pay-per-view from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.
The event was presented by Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Boxing.
Pettis, a native of Milwaukee who was making his professional boxing debut, managed to pull out the victory with the backing of his hometown fans.
Jones appeared to do enough to get the victory, by using his decades of experience and angles to get the best of Pettis at times. But Pettis managed to get the win on two of the judges’ scorecards.
“Man, he’s 54 years old, but you’ve got to give it up for this guy,” said Pettis. “He’s a legend in the sport, a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Praise God for allowing me to get this opportunity. Give it up for Roy Jones Jr., man.
“I’m going to take it one fight at a time, take it day by day,” continued Pettis. “I’m 1-0 as a pro and I’m excited for what the future holds.”
Jones Jr. said, “For me, I like to come in and entertain the fans. My job is to come in and make sure that the fans get what they paid for, and I’m all good with that. I think it was a good fight. He did a great job and fought a very smart fight. I think I educated him and taught him a lot in this fight. So I think if I fought him again it would be even better because he knows a lot more now. I think it would be a really good rematch.
“I don’t do exhibitions, I fight real fights,” added Jones Jr. “I’m not an exhibition guy, I’m a real guy. I want to win, or I want to lose. But I’m going to go out on my shield, and I want to be able to do it again as many times as I want to. At 54 years old, that’s a beautiful thing, and he already said he’d do it again because one judge had it even. So that’s what I love.”
Pettis concluded things, adding, “I would love to do it again. Let’s go. It would be an honor, bro.”
In the co-main event, former UFC and Cage Rage world light heavyweight champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort (2-0, 1 KO) made his second professional boxing appearance in a six-round heavyweight battle against debuting fellow Brazilian and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (0-1, 0 KOs).
Souza holds an MMA victory over Belfort, but Belfort jumped out to an early lead in their boxing contest, knocking Souza down twice in the third frame. Belfort tried to finish Souza early, but Souza was able to survive and made it to the bell.
Souza had strong fourth and fifth rounds. Belfort rocked Souza again in the final stanza, and although Souza was able to survive until the final bell, Belfort pulled away with the unanimous decision (57-55 and 58-54 twice) victory.
Legendary MMA fighter Jose Aldo faced former top UFC contender Jeremy Stephens in a six-round welterweight affair with Aldo entering a professional boxing ring for the second time and Stephens making his professional boxing debut. The pair first met five years ago in an entertaining MMA struggle won by Aldo that garnered him “Performance of the Night.”
In the squared circle, Aldo and Stephens gave the judges a very evenly matched contest that resulted in a majority draw (58-56 for Aldo and 57-57 twice).
“Jeremy is a tough guy,” said Aldo. “I was very prepared for this fight. This is my second professional boxing fight, and Jeremy is really tough. But I think I did enough to win this fight. I was blocking a lot of his punches, and my corner was telling me I won the fight. So I don’t really understand. I need to go back to my house, see the fight and then train more for the next one.”
Stephens said, “Much respect to Jose Aldo. You know, I’m a big fan of this guy. I watched this guy growing up. He’s put it down for MMA. And it’s an honor to come here, close to the Midwest. Iowa, are you in the house, or what, baby?
“Let’s run it back for number three,” continued Stephens. “This guy is a legend. We put it down tonight, gave you guys a show. That’s what it is!”
Milwaukee’s own undefeated former NABF champion and rising contender Luis Feliciano (17-0, 8 KOs) defeated an extremely durable and game Clarence Booth (21-8, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision (78-74, 77-75 and 79-73) in an exciting eight-round super lightweight bout.
Undefeated rising super featherweight prospect Devin Cushing (13-0, 10 KOs) remained unbeaten, stopping the veteran Damian Marchiano (18-12-1, 7 KOs) by technical knockout.
COMMENTS
TMLT87 04-02-2023
Pointless fight. It was vaguely interesting seeing Aldo vs Stephens and Vitor vs Jacare under boxing rules though.
Leicesterage 04-02-2023
Translated: pretend that the Tyson exhibition never happened.
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