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| Date | September 7, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO, WBF, IBA, NBA and The Ring light heavyweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jones wins via 6th-round technical knockout | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Clinton Woods , billed as Rumble at the Rose Garden, was a professional boxing match contested on September 7, 2002 for the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO, WBF, IBA, NBA and The Ring light heavyweight titles. [1]
Having opened 2002 with a dominating victory over his IBF-mandated challenger Glen Kelly in early February, unified light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. mulled his next fight. Cable network HBO pushed Jones to face long-time middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, whom he had previously defeated nine years earlier, but Jones refused to budge on his demands that he should be paid more than Hopkins and that fight fell through. Dariusz Michalczewski, the WBO and lineal light heavyweight champion was also discussed as a possible opponent, but neither he nor Jones would agree to fight in each other's respective countries. With Jones two biggest fights squashed, Jones turned to another mandatory challenger, Clinton Woods, the WBC's number-one ranked contender. Woods was in attendance for Jones' fight against Kelly and said at the press conference, "I've been told I'm the best in Europe, I think I deserve a shot. He's the greatest fighter. I hope to be the greatest fighter." [2]
In early May 2002, Woods was officially announced as Jones' next challenger. Original plans called for Jones, who had yet to fight professionally outside of his native U.S., to travel to Woods' native United Kingdom to face him in either his hometown Sheffield Arena or London's Wembley Arena. [3] However, Jones would do an about face in late July and decided against fighting in England and opted to stage the fight in the U.S. at Portland, Oregon's Rose Garden. The venue change had come about due in large part to Jones' partnership with the Oregon-based Nike's Air Jordan brand. Air Jordan president Larry Miller disclosed that Nike had "provided an undisclosed amount of money to make the fight happen." adding that Nike was not entering the boxing business and the Jones fight was a "one-time deal." [4]
Jones made a lengthy, extravagant entrance performing his song "And Still" from his recently released debut album Round One: The Album .
| Title(s) on the line | IBF light middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wright defeats by 8th round DQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The co featured bout saw IBF Light middleweight champion Winky Wright face No. 1 contender Bronco McKart. [5]
Wright had twice faced McKart before, winning a split decision in May 1996 and an unanimous decision in September 2000, although this was the first with a major world title on the lime. [6]
This was the first world title bout to be held in Portland since Denny Moyer defeated Joey Giambra for the inaugural light middleweight title in October 1962.
McKart was competitive with Wright in the early rounds, but Wright would landed the more accurate punches as the bout progressed. After warning McKart earlier (and after compliances from Wright) referee Mike Fischer would deduct two points from McKart in the 6th round for low blows. He would take another in the 7th and two more in the 8th. After the 5th point deduction McKart turned his back and appeared unwilling to continue, prompting the referee to disqualified him. [7]
At the time of the stoppage two judges scored the bout 68–62 the other has it 69–62. HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the fight 69–61 for Wright. According to CompuBox, landed 155 of 505 punches thrown (a 30.7% connect rate) against landing 114 of 476 (a 23.9% connect rate).
Speaking after the bout Wright said "I knew I was getting to him and I think that's why he was throwing the low blows. If I had taken one more low blow, I was ready to try out for the Sopranos" When asked about the winner of the upcoming unification bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas (who defeated Wright in 2000) Wright responded "I'm rooting for Vargas, but if I were to bet I'd bet on De La Hoya".
Jones dominated an overmatched Woods from the opening bell. Woods would land only 39 punches through six round while Jones punished him throughout, landing 140 punches, 122 of which were power punches. Jones did not score a knockdown during the fight, but the rounds were so lopsided in Jones' favor that all three judges scored several rounds 10–8 in Jones favor. The end came after a particularly lopsided sixth in which Jones landed 21 punches to Woods' zero, the fight was stopped midway through after Woods' corner, having seen enough, waved a white towel to signify surrender. Referee Jay Nady then stopped the fight, giving Jones the victory by technical knockout. [8]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Roy Jones Jr. (c) | def. | Clinton Woods | TKO | 6/12 | note 1 |
| Junior Middleweight | 154 lbs. | Ronald Wright (c) | def. | Bronco McKart | DQ | 8/12 | note 2 |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Lemuel Nelson | def. | Johnny West | TKO | 7/12 | note 3 |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Emmitt Linton | vs. | Charles Whittaker | NC | 4/10 |
^Note 1 For WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO, WBF, IBA, NBA and The Ring Light Heavvyweight titles
^Note 2 For IBF Junior Middlweight title
^Note 3 For vacant NBA Lightweight title
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | BBC |
 United States | HBO |
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