By Jim Dower: Roy Jones Jr. (65-9, 47 KOs) looked sensational tonight in stopping Bobby Gunn (21-7-1, 18 KOs) at the start of the 8th round to win the vacant World Boxing Foundational World cruiserweight title at the Chase Center in Willington, Delaware. The fight was on pay-per-view.
Gunn, 43, suffered a nose injury that seemed to limit his effectiveness in the fight. In the 7th, Jones staggered Gunn with a three-punch combination. However, instead of going after Gunn to finish him off, Jones seemed to take it easy on him by taunting and landing jabs.
Jones could have finished Gunn if he wanted to, but he definitely held back when he had him ready to be taken out at the end of the round. This was vintage Jones with the way he fired combinations, hammering Gunn with lead left hooks, and skillfully getting out of the way of his big shots. The fight was similar to the match between Jones and Vinny Pazienza, except that Jones far older and slower than he was in that contest.
Jones and Gunn fought at a slow pace for the most part. If Jones had pushed at faster pace, he probably would have taken Gunn out much faster, but there were a lot of boxing in ringside that might not have been too pleased with seeing an early ending to the fight.
Gunn seemed to realize that Jones had stayed in 1st tear in the fight, as he said afterwards, “I think he took it easy on me.”
It’s pretty clear that Jones did take it easy on Gunn. The difference between the boxing skills of Jones and Gunn was incredible. Jones was so much more skilled. That’s not to say that Gunn was a bad fighter. He looked powerful, and showed some nifty moves for a fighter his age. He just didn’t have the boxing pedigree that Jones had with his Olympic experience earlier in his life.
Jones has always wanted to win a cruiserweight title, and now he’s got one in winning the WBF belt. It might not be one of the major titles, but it’s still a title. Jones can be proud of that. There are not too many fighters that win cruiserweight titles at age 48. Jones looked like a fighter a lot younger 48 tonight.
It’s good news for Jones’ career that he was able to get a victory tonight, as it was third consecutive victory since being stopped in the 4th round by Enzo Maccarinelli in December 2015 in Moscow, Russia. However, if the win for Jones gives him ideas that he can compete with the top contenders in the cruiserweight division, then he needs to hold back on taking any risky fights. Jones has been knocked out three times in the last eight years since 2009. These were BAD knockout losses for Jones with him flat on his back and seemingly unconscious. It might not be a good idea for Jones to take on any of the talented cruiserweights in the division. Beating Bobby Gunn was a nice feather in Jones’ gap tonight, but he should stop at this level and not rake any risky fights.
In under card results, the hard hitting undefeated junior middleweight contender Kanat Islam (23-0, 19 KOs) stopped Robson Assis (16-4, 9 KOs) in the 1st round. Islam was all over Assis from the start of the fight, hitting him with big power shots, and not really caring if he got hit back. Islam dropped Assis with a big right hand.
Assis tried to get back to his feet, but his legs were completely gone and he couldn’t stand up. The fight was halted at 2:12 of the 1st round. Islam suffered a bad cut over his right eye from a head clash. It was good that he ended the fight when he did, because the cut would have been a problem for him if the fight had lasted longer. The 32-year-old Islam didn’t show much in the way of hand speed or boxing skills, but his power was very good. Islam is from China. He was attacking Assis a lot like Gennady Golovkin attacks his opponents. He wasn’t giving Assis any breathing room with his nonstop punches.
In other results on the card:
Frank De Alba UD 6 German Meraz
Joey Tiberi TKO 4 Bryan Timmons
Dagoberto Aguero MD 6 Olimjon Nazarov