Back in the mid-1990s two of boxing’s biggest stars were Oscar De La Hoya and Roy Jones Junior. Nearly a decade and a half later, both men had to deal with difficult situations this weekend.
The 42 year old Jones, who is suffering financial difficulties, traveled to Russia and was knocked out by Denis Lebedev in violent fashion. The defeat marked Jones third consecutive loss, and the fourth knock-out defeat of his career.
Back in 1995, it would have been hard for boxing experts, or fans to imagine the ever cautious Roy Jones would still be fighting, and losing by knock-out in 2011.
Jones earned $ 500,000 for the Lebedev fight and is reportedly still looking to fight in this sad stage of his career.
As for Oscar De La Hoya, news of his participation in a drug rehabilitation program was released today.
Many speculators felt De La Hoya would be one of the few boxers to have a “golden” life after his in the ring career days were over. For the most part, De La Hoya has done well for himself since retiring in 2008.
De La Hoya is he leader of Golden Boy Promotions and has been active in several charitable programs.
Unfortunatley, his drug treatment will be coupled with recent organizational problems with Golden Boy Promotions.
Hopkins becomes oldest boxer to win world championship
One fighter which was active in the 1990s, did have a positively memorable weekend; light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal in Montreal, Canada to become the oldest man to hold a legitimate boxing world championship.
In capturing the World Boxing Council’s light heavyweight crown via unanimous decision from Pascal, the 46 year old Hopkins surpassed a record set by George Foreman when he captured a chunck of the heavyweight championship at the age of 45.
Following the fight Hopkins stated he wishes to fight four or five more years and would like to face Chad Dawson and Lucian Bute in the immediate future.
Paramount fighter losses
Charles Huerta of Paramount lost a unanimous decision from undefeated Christopher Martin of San Diego on Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds.
Huerta’s record now stands at 16 wins and three losses, while Martin improved to 22 wins without a blemish on his record.
