All In A Day's Work

It's 7:28 a.m. last Saturday. Roy Jones Jr. wakes up in his Jacksonville condo and checks his THINGS TO DO list. All he has planned is a U.S. Basketball League game in the afternoon and an IBF world super middleweight championship fight at night. Hits the snooze button.

7:44 a.m. Carpe diem. Jones screens a videotape of Eric Lucas, his opponent in the title bout. Lucas is arguably one of the better super middleweights in all of Quebec. He's 100 to 1 in Vegas. "I woke up early, all restless like it was Christmas morning," Jones says. "I talked to myself and I said, 'Self, can you do all this in one day?' And self said, 'I ain't scared.' Then me, myself and I got together and said, 'Let's go do this.' " That settled, they all take a shower.

9:34 a.m. Jones ladles nine teaspoons of sugar into his cup of coffee, eats a Gummy worm and dispenses some diet secrets. This from a guy who has gained 12 pounds in the 16 hours since he weighed in at 166, the increase due in part to an extensive sampling of the Burger King menu during a drive-thru in a white stretch limo.

9:58 a.m. Jones sits for a haircut and discusses the possibility that today's activities might sap his strength. Nobody mentions Samson. "The whole idea behind playing the basketball game is to wear myself down," Jones says. "Maybe that'll make the fight a challenge for me." What's next? The Ironman Triathlon?

10:51 a.m. "This is not a publicity stunt," Jones says of his oddball sports double-header. He empties his trash. Fifteen reporters trail him to the curb.

12:23 p.m. Jones arrives at the University of North Florida gym, where his Jacksonville Barracudas have a game with the Treasure Coast Tropics.

"I've seen it all in this game, playing from Israel to Brazil to the Philippines," says journeyman center Mike Hackett of the Barracudas. "But I never thought I'd play a game where my point guard is warming up to defend the super middleweight championship of the world."

1:43 p.m. Jones is introduced, and 1,965 fans give him a standing ovation. Not bad for a guy shooting 24% from the floor and 45% from the free throw line.

1:49 p.m. In the opening minute of play, Jones, who averages 20 minutes, four points and two assists per game, launches a shot from the top of the key. Air ball.

1:53 p.m. Jones commits a charging foul, sending a Tropics big man crashing to the floor. The three-knockdown rule is not in effect.