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No match Jones punishes Hall until fight stopped in 11th
Posted: Sunday May 14, 2000 01:04 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Roy Jones Jr. came out swinging and Richard Hall had no answer Saturday night in their world light-heavyweight championship Saturday night. Jones knocked Hall down twice in the first round and then turned the challenger from Jamaica into a punching bag until the fight was finally stopped midway through the 11th round. "I probably could have pushed the issue, try to get him out, what would that do for me? You don't try to rush to do things," Jones said. "You can run into a head butt or a big shot. These people wanted to see a fight. They wanted to see an entertaining fight." Jones improved to 42-1 after his sixth consecutive successful title defense and his 34th knockout. The undisputed champion landed a flurry of hard shots to Hall in the 11th round, including a pair of uppercuts that he unloaded from below his knees. By then, Hall was virtually defenseless as he got worked into the champion's corner. Jones landed a half-dozen hard blows to the head before referee Wayne Kelly stepped in at 1:41. Jones, 31, showed no sign of age against the 28-year-old challenger. The champion, consistently ducking under his taller opponent, stunned Hall about 90 seconds into the fight and sent him to the canvas with a right-left combination. "People have me losing before I even fight," Hall said. "I want to show them I'm a lot better fighter than they think I am." With about 30 seconds left in the opening round, Jones landed a right hook that dropped Hall again. "After [surviving] the first round, I knew I would be back," Hall said. Both fighters threw plenty of punches, but the champion connected with 320 of his 512, while Hall landed just 106 of 485. The statistics were more one-sided for power punches, with Jones landing 273 of his 421 and Hall connecting on just 94 of his 247. The fight was part of an eight-match program that drew 13,211 to the debut of pro boxing in Conseco Fieldhouse, which opened in November as the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. In a co-feature, Bernard Hopkins retained his IBF middleweight belt with a unanimous decision over Canadian Syd Vanderpool. The left-handed challenger, 24-2 with 23 knockouts, had a 4 1/2-inch height advantage over Jones. At times, Jones appeared to be toying with Hall, dropping his fists and dancing in the ring. Hall's 77 1/2-inch reach was not a factor against Jones (74-inch reach), who was encouraged frequently by chants of "Roy, Roy, Roy" from the partisan fans. Hall disagreed with the decision to stop the fight, although it was the obvious move at the time the way Jones was pounding him. "He shouldn't have stopped the fight. I was fine. We were in a fight," Hall said. "I got thumbed in the eye, but it didn't affect me. Jones is a good fighter, but I did more than he expected me to do in this fight." It was the 16th victory in 17 championship fights for Jones, selected Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America, "I wanted to put on a beautiful performance," he said. "The fans gave me that opportunity and I'm happy not to disappoint them. Hall is a strong guy. He took a lot of my punches, but I'm a fighting machine."
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