California, PA (July 30, 2009) – Roy “Big Roy” Jones Sr. is spending his second consecutive camp with Roy “Captain Hook” Jones Jr. in California, PA. Alton “Coach” Merkerson, Jones Jr’s long time trainer is still in camp, but Bog Roy is there to remind “Little Roy” of the skills he learned as a kid that made him the pound-for-pound best for a decade. Roy “Captain Hook” Jones Jr. faces Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy in “Hook City” on August 15 in Biloxi, MS. The event, presented by Square Ring Promotions in association with Left Hook Promotions and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, will be broadcast live on pay-per-view.
In Roy’s losses against Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson and most recently Joe Calzaghe, he said he got away from the style that put him at the top of the game. He was “Holding my hands up by my face, in a defensive mode. I needed to get back to being Roy Jones, with my hands at my side, acting cocky and throwing punches from all angles.”
“It’s a lot easier to have someone around that knows from where you came, said Little Roy of Big Roy. “The only problem I will have is that it may add ten more years to my career and I don’t want to do that.”
“Roy Jones Jr. should have never lost to Joe Calzaghe,” said Big Roy. “I don’t want to take anything away from Joe, but Roy fought out of his element. He didn’t do the things he was known for. Physically he was in the best shape I had seen him in years. But he may not have trained for the occasion. You know, you don’t take snow skis to the desert. Right now he is the same old Roy. And he’s the same old knucklehead which will never change.”
Jones felt like his old self, with Big Roy’s assistance, in his last bout against Omar Sheika (KO5) on March 21 and is very excited to show more in his next bout on August 15 against Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy.
A few times a week as part of this camp’s training regimen, Big Roy has a session where he puts the fighters in a circle and calls out a series of feints, pivots, jabs and hooks. It resembles a dance or ballet practice, with Big Roy as the instructor and Roy Jr just one amongst a dozen pupils.
“You have never seen it before and you’ll never see it again,” said Big Roy. “That was just a small portion of it. Some trainers don’t know how to apply the law of physics and the law of gravity. They apply it to golf and all that stuff. Even in building with the crank going up and down and the crane turning, it’s all about that circuit and it’s the same thing in boxing.”
“They think boxing is just about brutally hitting. They don’t think about positioning. They forget about all of those tactics. They worry about getting in shape, but everybody can get in shape. You can only go so far on conditioning.”
“Roy worked really hard to get to where he was. They all said that it was natural, but that was really cheapening it. He had to work really hard, as a kid, to get those skills. I have never seen anyone else do this stuff. But I do know that Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson took ballet.”
Among Big Roy’s other students was “King” Arthur Williams (IBF Cruiserweight Champion). Numerous other fighters also came to Big Roy to get ready for world title bouts. Lindell Holmes won his first world title against Frank Tate (IBF super middleweight title, January 27, 1990) after spending his first camp with Big Roy. Reggie Johnson also went to Big Roy to prepare for the WBA middleweight title clash against Stevie Collins and won his first world title (April 22, 1992). Byron Mitchell went to Big Roy for the first time to prepare for Frankie Liles and won his first world title (WBA super middleweight, KO11, June 10, 1999).
Now he is preparing Little Roy for his next challenge.
In “Hook City,” two of boxing’s dominating left hookers, 8-time world champion Roy Jones Jr. and 2-time world champion Jeff Lacy, go to battle on Saturday, August 15 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi to determine the most powerful hooker and the NABO Light Heavyweight Champion. “ Hook City ” tickets, priced at $150, $125, $100, $75, $50 & $25 are on sale and available at the MS Coast Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000 or on-line at Ticketmaster.com.
The “Hook City” pay-per-view show, presented by Square Ring Promotions in association with Left Hook Promotions and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, is being distributed by Square Ring Promotions, Inc. at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN, DirecTV and Dish Network for a suggested retail price of $34.95, as well as on Super Channel in Canada.