Lou Del Valle vs. Roy Jones Jr.

Lou Del Valle vs. Roy Jones Jr.

Date	July 18, 1998
Venue	The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA light heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Lou Del Valle Roy Jones Jr. Nickname Honey Boy Junior Hometown Long Island City, New York, U.S. Pensacola, Florida, U.S. Purse $850,000 $2,000,000 Pre-fight record 27–1 (19 KO) 36–1 (31 KO) Age 30 years 29 years, 6 months Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) Weight 175 lb (79 kg) 175 lb (79 kg) Style Southpaw Orthodox Recognition WBA Light Heavyweight Champion WBC Light Heavyweight Champion "in recess" The Ring No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 3-division world champion
Result
Jones wins by unanimous decision (118–109, 118–109, 119–108)

Lou Del Valle vs. Roy Jones Jr. was a professional boxing match contested on July 18, 1998, for the WBA light heavyweight championship.[1]

Background

After knocking out fellow former champion Virgil Hill in four rounds, in his first bout for 8 months in April, Roy Jones Jr. agreed to challenge WBA champion Lou Del Valle. Del Valle, a former sparring partner to Jones, had won the WBA belt in September 1997 (which had been vacated by Lineal champion Dariusz Michalczewski in July) by stopping Eddy Smulders of the Netherlands in the eighth round.[2][3][4][5][6]

Despite its billing as a unification bout, Jones was not recognized as the full WBC champion, that being Graciano Rocchigiani[7] with Jones classed as a "champion in recess".

The champion Del Valle was a 15 to 1 underdog.[8]

The fight

Jones would dominate the action, using his speed to out boxed the champion, landed frequently to the body. Del Valle was cut over the left eye from an accidental headbutt in the 7th round. In the 8th a quick counter right left combination sent Jones down for the first time in his career, he made it to his feet and didn't not appear badly hurt. Del Valle wasn't able to take advantage and at the end of 12 rounds all three judges would score the bout for Jones with scores of 118–109, 118–109 and 119–108, making him a three time light heavyweight champion.[9][10]

HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the fight 118–109 for Jones. According to CompuBox, Jones landed 233 of 483 punches thrown (a 48.2% connect rate) against DelValle landing 113 of 286 (a 39.5% connect rate).[11]

Aftermath

Speaking after the bout Jones said "It's very difficult fighting your sparring partner, he knows all your tricks. That's why I don't like to fight sparring partners."[12] He would describe the punch that floored him as a "good shot. A darn good shot".

By October the WBC had demoted its light heavyweight champion Graciano Rocchigiani to an "interim champion"[13] after inexplicably claiming its references in promotions and contracts to the Rocchigiani-Nunn fight as a championship bout, and to Rocchigiani as the champion in its rankings, had been "typographical errors".[14] As a consequence Jones was elevated by the WBC to their full champion, making him a unified light heavyweight champion.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:[15]

Winner	Loser	Weight division/title belt(s) disputed	Result
Derrick Gainer	Kevin Kelley	Lightweight (10 rounds)	Unanimous decision
Preliminary bouts
John Brown	Lemuel Nelson	Lightweight (8 rounds)	Unanimous decision
David Izon	Marion Wilson	Heavyweight (8 rounds)	Unanimous decision
Victor McKinnis	Luis Rosado	Welterweight (8 rounds)	5th-round TKO
Songul Oruc	Carla Witherspoon	Super lightweight (4 rounds)	Unanimous decision
Gabe Brown	Calvin Smith	Heavyweight (4 rounds)	1st-round KO
Elvir Muriqi	Billy Desser	Super middleweight (4 rounds)	Unanimous decision

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO

References

1. "Roy Jones Jr. vs. Lou Del Valle". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
2. "Boxing: American Lou Del Valle wins World Boxing Association light- heavyweight title". The Independent. 21 September 1997. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
3. "Sparring Partner Gets Crack At Jones". Sun Journal. Associated Press. 18 June 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
4. Ed Schuyler Jr. (17 July 1998). "Sparring Partner Wants Jones". Herald-Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
5. "Del Valle Upsets Jones With Dog Comments". The Albany Herald. Associated Press. 15 July 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
6. Gerald Eskenazi (15 July 1998). "BOXING; DelValle And Jones Differ Often". New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
7. "World Boxing Council ratings as of July 1998". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. World Boxing Council. 25 July 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
8. Jay Searcy (18 July 1998). "Del Valle's Not Worried About Jones". The Day. Knight Ridder Newspapers. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
9. Gerald Eskenazi (19 July 1998). "BOXING; Jones Gets Floored for the First Time but Beats DelValle". New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
10. "Jones Goes Down but wins Easily". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 19 July 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
11. "Jones Adds Title With Win Over Del Valle". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
12. Gerald Eskenazi (20 July 1998). "BOXING; First Knockdown Breaks The Monotony for Jones". New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
13. "World Boxing Council ratings as of October 1998". The Vindicator. World Boxing Council. 15 October 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
14. Thornton, P.K. (2011). Sports Law. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 78. ISBN 9780763736507. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
15. "BoxRec - event".

Preceded by vs. Eddy Smulders	Lou Del Valle's bouts 18 July 1998	Succeeded by vs. Tyrone Armstead
Preceded by vs. Virgil Hill	Roy Jones Jr.'s bouts 18 July 1998	Succeeded by vs. Otis Grant