Sunday, September 08, 2002
Jones retains undisputed title with win over Woods
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Boxing Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. — Roy Jones Jr. came to put on a show — and that was before he even threw a punch against Clinton Woods.
Jones opened his light heavyweight title defense with a dancing, rapping exhibition in the stands Saturday night, then came down into the ring to show Woods what he really does best.
For the better part of six rounds he did just that, pounding a game but badly outclassed Woods with lightning-quick punches until the challenger's corner finally told the referee to stop it at 1:29 of the sixth.
Jones kept his undisputed light heavyweight titles and did nothing to hurt his chances of moving up to the heavyweight division later this year for a possible fight with WBA champion John Ruiz.
The crowd that nearly filled the Rose Garden arena loved it all, cheering Jones as he put on one of the most flamboyant ring entrances ever — complete with him rapping before six dancing girls after a hidden elevator raised him into the stands. Then they cheered even more when he easily disposed of Woods.
“I'm a bad dude,” Jones said. “I stayed focused and kept going. No disrespect to him, but I had a little fun tonight.”
Jones dominated from his first punch — a left hook that shook the head of Woods — and peppered Woods with a variety of right-hand leads, left hooks and straight jabs the entire fight.
Woods, who had never fought outside of England, was the WBC's No. 1 challenger, but he never had a chance against a fighter who is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound in the game.
Woods fought gamely and pressed the attack in the early rounds. But by the fourth round, he had given up chasing Jones and was barely punching as Jones kept up his assault.
“I expected him to come out. People said he was a bum, but he's got a huge heart,” Jones said. “Skillfully, he's not with me.”
That was reflected in punch stats that showed Jones landing 140 of 300 punches to 39 of 166 for Woods. In the sixth round, Jones landed 21 of 26 punches while Woods threw only two punches and didn't land either.
The end finally came with a right hand to the nose that drew blood while Woods was on the ropes. Woods' corner waved a white towel and referee Jay Nady stopped the fight.
Jones improved to 47-1 with 38 knockouts, while Woods fell to 32-2.
It was the first title fight in Portland in 40 years, and it wasn't without its moments. The ring announcer for the undercard was continually booed as he mispronounced names, dropped his microphone and forgot to say who won one fight.
Still, a crowd of some 14,000 showed up at the Rose Garden arena to watch what promised to be a mismatch — a promise that wasn't hard to keep.
Jones was not only the undisputed champion, but his company promoted the fight and his initials were on the ringposts. Woods tried, but the former street fighter from Sheffield, England, was way out of his league.
Jones was such a heavy favorite that Las Vegas oddsmakers didn't even take bets.
In another title fight on the undercard, Winky Wright retained his IBF junior middleweight title when Bronco McKart was disqualified because of repeated low blows in the eighth round.
McKart was giving Wright a decent fight, until he started hitting him with right hands below the belt in the middle rounds. McKart had five points taken from him for low blows, and referee Mike Fischer finally disqualified him after a final right hand that landed low at 2:33 of the eighth round.
“If I had taken one more low blow, I was ready to try out for the Sopranos,” Wright said.
It was the third time Wright had beaten McKart, and the win kept open his hopes of getting a rematch with Fernando Vargas, who beat him in December 1999 in a disputed majority decision.
Wright and McKart were mirror images of each other, two lefties with slick boxing skills. But it was Wright who was the sharper puncher. Punch stats had Wright landing 155 of 505 punches to 114 of 476 for McKart.
“I knew I was getting to him and I think that's why he was throwing the low blows,” said Wright, who was leading on all three scorecards even without the five point deductions.
Wright said he would be in Las Vegas next week to cheer on Vargas against Oscar De La Hoya with the hope he may get a big money rematch.
“I'm rooting for Vargas, but if I were to bet I'd bet on De La Hoya,” Wright said.
Wright, 153 3/4 pounds, of St. Petersburg, Fla., improved to 44-3, while McKart, 153 1/2, of Monroe, Mich., dropped to 45-4.
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Jones retains undisputed title with win over Woods
