Roy Jones, Jr. and Bobby Gunn in a “Showdown” Friday in Delaware!
By: Ken Hissner
It was three years ago when Roy Jones, Jr., 64-9 (46) and Bobby Gunn, 21-6-1 (18) were to have met in the Sand’s Casino in Bethlehem, PA. Gunn instead met former champion Glen Johnson and lost all eight rounds. Jones at age 48 keeps fighting though losing three fights in a row in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He should have hung it up then but went on a club fighter barnstorm of winning eight in a row before getting knocked out by former cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarenelli in 2015.
“I’m very excited to be fighting Roy Jones, Jr. It is actually the highest most Prestige moment of my life in boxing. It is a legacy for me more than a title and I’m coming to win. Roy Jones, Jr., has been a great champion and an all-time great fighter. I am trying very hard and may the best man win,” said Gunn.
Jones disgraced the boxing world when in 2016 he had a contest for someone to meet him and faced the winner Vyron Phillips who had six amateur fights and no professional fights. Why the AZ commission ever sanctioned this match is beyond me. Jones stopped the amateur in the second round of a six round bout. Then Jones beats Rodney Moore who had lost nine bouts in a row. Is it a need for money or his ego that keeps Jones fighting?
Gunn is 71-0 with all knockouts as a bare knuckle fighter and one of the nicest people you want to meet. He too is in his 40’s at 43 and hasn’t fought since December of 2013 against Johnson. DE hasn’t had a show in over two years.
After Amir Mansour stopped fighting there DE was never the same. A young Omar “Super O” Douglas could have been developed into a main eventer but even his opposition was weak due to the matchmaking. He had to leave DE to become a contender.
David Feldman is the promoter and years ago he said he would bring boxing to DE and it looks like he has. There are six bouts listed on box rec with three more without opponents at the Chase Center in Wilmington. Let’s hope the main event doesn’t turn into a sparring session bringing another unneeded black eye to boxing. Feldman seems to have a decent undercard with Frank “Santos” De Alba, 20-2-2 fighting Ivan “Bam Bam” Najera, 16-3, in the co-feature. At stake in the main event and co-feature is for the vacant World Boxing Foundation World titles. Their representative is James Gibbs.