Years after retiring from his boxing career, referring to his fight against Roy Jones Jr, Vinny Pazienza candidly admitted that while he fought with courage and determination that night, inside he thought: “What the hell am I doing in the same ring with Roy Jones?” It has been exactly 29 years since that uneven challenge that confirmed the greatness of the Pensacola Lightning and extinguished the dream of The Pazmanian Devil of achieving yet another feat in a cinematic life. Let’s go back in memory to the Atlantic City Convention Center to relive the emotions of the IBF super middleweight world title dated June 24, 1995.
Vinny Pazienza: towards the world title with popular fervor
Sometimes popularity can push a boxer towards the big stages even more than results and rankings. When people love you, applaud you, and are willing to spend to see you engaged in high-stakes challenges, it becomes inevitable that you will be considered by television and promoters. In 1995, Vinny Pazienza was not one of the best super middleweights in the game, but he had such an incredible story behind him and such a strong bond with the fans that he found himself offered the fight of his life against the number one on the planet. Already a world champion in lightweight and super welterweight divisions, the boxer of Italian roots, exponentially improved under the guidance of Kevin Rooney, former trainer of Mike Tyson, had to deal with a tremendous car accident that according to doctors should have ended his career. The miraculous return to the ring and the subsequent streak of nine consecutive victories, two of which against an aging Roberto Duran, made the “impossible challenge” to his majesty Jones come true.
Roy Jones Jr: the invincible
Rarely in boxing history has a boxer conveyed a greater sense of invincibility than Roy Jones Jr. Disgustingly robbed in the Olympic final in Seoul, despite dominating the home athlete, the Pensacola Lightning got his revenge as a professional by lining up one scalp after another and graduating as a world champion in two weight categories (by the end of his career it would be four). What impressed most about Jones’s clear path even more than his triumphs was the laughable ease with which he achieved them: the American superstar could afford to play between the ropes winning his fights with a pipe in his mouth. His omnipotence, moreover, was not to be related to protective management: among his “victims” were indeed stellar champions like Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, both outclassed by his speed and clearly beaten on points. It is not surprising, therefore, that against Pazienza, the Pensacola Lightning was favored by bookmakers at 12 to 1.
The balance lasts only two rounds
In the ring, it was not just two simple athletes who entered, but two sportsmen capable of providing 360-degree entertainment. The charismatic nature of the two boxers, moreover, was clear from the last instructions given by referee Tony Orlando at the center of the ring, when, contrary to practice and with the approval of the referee, Jones and Pazienza faced each other with ugly faces just a few inches apart, promising each other sparks. However, for two rounds, the classic show of the Pensacola Lightning, accustomed to mocking opponents with grimaces, provocations, and tongues, did not appear, leaving instead space for a very concentrated version of him, intent on exploding rapid counterattacks. Naturally, Pazienza expected to have to deal with the blinding speed of his opponent, and to disarm it, he had prepared with Rooney a tactic based on lateral movements, continuous feints, and sudden offensive sorties aimed at engaging in close combat. However, the strategy had very limited success and allowed Vinny Paz to stay in the game for only two rounds.
The fight becomes an execution
“Do not wake the sleeping dog” is an old proverb that can be adapted to many situations. In this case, Pazienza should have held onto the serious, composed, and measured Jones he had seen at the beginning rather than tease him into a frenzy. But the instinct of the showman was too strong in the Rhode Island boxer: starting in the third round, Vinny tried to inflame the audience with flamboyant gestures of challenge, “dance” steps, and irreverent expressions. Challenged on his own turf, Jones not only responded to provocations with mimicry but also and above all with fists, becoming much more aggressive and starting to hammer the challenger with terrible combinations. Pazienza could no longer approach without being punished, and his workrate suffered miserably. What happened in the fourth round was remarkable, when Vinny Paz failed to land a single blow, something that had never happened in the history of the statistics system called “CompuBox.” The inevitable epilogue occurred in the sixth round, when a now disillusioned and powerless Pazienza was knocked down three times in rapid succession, determining the unavoidable and probably belated stoppage by the referee. The great heart was not enough for the challenger to perform the miracle; Roy Jones’s dazzling career could continue unabated towards legend.