In his homecoming Saturday night, undefeated welterweight Mike Jones didn’t seem to be in the mood for a long party as he finished off Raul Munoz with a second-round technical knockout at the Asylum Arena in South Philadelphia.
After a tentative first round, Jones came out hungry in the second. He countered Munoz’s offense with an array of body shots before throwing a devastating hook to his opponent’s head. Munoz immediately fell to one knee, and a few seconds later the referee was forced to stop the bout.
The decisive shot came with 50 seconds remaining in the round.
Jones said he expected Munoz to be wild once he was forced to bring his hands down. Jones caused him to do that and earned the 19th knockout of his undefeated career.
“This is home,” said Jones, who grew up in Mount Airy. “It’s fantastic, feels good to be in there. Gave Philadelphia a great show.”
Jones said overall he was satisfied with the results and graded his performance as a “B-minus.”
A native of Kansas, the 5-foot-9 Munoz is regarded as a club fighter and wasn’t expected to pose much of challenge to Jones. Instead, the bout was aimed at keeping Jones busy and giving him more experience. He will return to the ring in the fall, with the location and opponent expected to be finalized in the next week.
Jones, who grew up in Mount Airy, is 25-0. Munoz’s record dropped to 22-14-1.
Earlier this week, Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum announced that Jones’ name would be placed on a list of possible opponents for World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in 2012. The three-name list will be presented to Pacquiao after his next bout, Nov. 12 against Juan Marquez in Las Vegas.
Jones, 28, also is looking to be added to the undercard of Pacquiao’s November fight, which his camp believes will give him more exposure and a better shot at eventually challenging Pacquaio. Last November at Cowboys Stadium, Jones defeated Jesus Koto by a majority decision as the top undercard match of Pacquaio’s successful title defense against Antonio Margarito.
“It’s been a great year,” Jones said. “Be back on HBO soon. I’m going to get a big fight and be a step closer to my goal.”
There is some concern that Jones’ height may be a negative factor in setting up a fight with Pacquaio. At 5-11, Jones has about 41/2 inches on the champion. In his last eight fights dating from 2008, Pacquaio has fought just two opponents of Jones’ stature: Oscar De La Hoya (5-10) and Margarito (5-11).
“I think that two really tough names down the road after this one and then I’ll be ready for a title shot,” Jones said. “And I’ll be ready to take the title. Until then, I’m looking to take on anybody that is in the top 10. That’s who I want.”
He said to fight for the championship would be “a dream come true.”
This was the 13th time Jones had fought in his hometown, but the first since 2009. Philadelphia boxing legend and current WBC light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins was seated ringside. He and Jones train at Joe Hand Gym in the Northern Liberties section of the city.
