Guillermo Jones
Encyclopedia
Guillermo Jones is a Panamanian boxer best known for losing three world title fights in controversial decisions. He is the current WBA
Cruiserweight
Champion.
He won his first 21 bouts in Panama then went abroad and was stopped in two rounds by Venezuelan David Noel. He avenged the loss by first round KO and promoter Don King gave him a WBA title fight against Laurent Boudouani
in 1998.
He drew once and lost the rematch by split decision.
After these fights he went up four weightclasses until fighting as a Cruiser starting in 2002.
He fought Johnny Nelson
for the WBO title, again scoring a draw.
After yet another split decision loss in 2005, this time to undefeated contender and future title holder Steve Cunningham
, he rebounded the same year with KOs of Kelvin Davis
and ex champ Wayne Braithwaite
.
Jones got a shot at champion Firat Arslan
on September 27, 2008 and won an undisputed fight by TKO. He is the heaviest and oldest professional fighter from Panama to have achieved a world championship and became Panama's 28th World Champion. After winning the title Jones went through an extremely long period of inactivity (even for modern day boxers) and over 2 years later had still not made a single defence of his title. This was put down to a combination of fight postponements & 'out of the ring' problems.
In August 2010 the WBA finally threatened to strip him of their belt unless some action was taken by Jones and his promoter to rectify this. As a result he signed to make his first defence of the belt against Valery Brudov
in October 2010 and retained his title with an eleventh round stoppage in Panama City.
Jones second defence of his title was then scheduled to take place on June 25, 2011 against the undefeated Ryan Coyne. However just a few days before the fight Jones pulled out, citing a back injury sustained after he fell out of the ring following a training session.
Following this latest cancellation he then announced that he would make a mandatory defence against WBA interim champion Yoan Pablo Hernández
. The fight was scheduled to take place in Germany on August 27, 2011, however once again a title fight involving Jones was cancelled this time with no specific reasons given. Hernandez would instead go on to challenge IBF
champion Steve Cunningham
in October 2011, winning the belt via a technical decision in somewhat controversial circumstances.
Following the cancellation of the Hernandez bout it was announced that Jones would now defend his title against career heavyweight Mike Marrone
. The fight is scheduled to take place in Florida
on November 5th 2011.
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
Cruiserweight
Cruiserweight
Cruiserweight is a weight class in boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom....
Champion.
Career
"El Felino" started to box in the paid ranks 1993 as a welterweight and later at junior middleweight.He won his first 21 bouts in Panama then went abroad and was stopped in two rounds by Venezuelan David Noel. He avenged the loss by first round KO and promoter Don King gave him a WBA title fight against Laurent Boudouani
Laurent Boudouani
Laurent Boudouani is retired professional boxer. He is a former WBA world light middleweight champion and a welterweight silver medal winner at the 1988 Olympics.-Olympic results:*1st round bye...
in 1998.
He drew once and lost the rematch by split decision.
After these fights he went up four weightclasses until fighting as a Cruiser starting in 2002.
He fought Johnny Nelson
Johnny Nelson
Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson is a former professional boxer from Sheffield, England. He was the WBO cruiserweight champion for over six years, having successfully defended the title 13 times. Nelson also held the European and British cruiserweight titles...
for the WBO title, again scoring a draw.
After yet another split decision loss in 2005, this time to undefeated contender and future title holder Steve Cunningham
Steve Cunningham
Steven Ormain Cunningham is an American professional boxer. Nicknamed USS Cunningham in reference to his 1994–1998 US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and .-Amateur career:...
, he rebounded the same year with KOs of Kelvin Davis
Kelvin Davis (boxer)
Kelvin Davis is an American boxer. He is a former IBF-champion in the Cruiserweight weight class.Known as "Concrete", Davis, a compact pressure fighter, turned pro in 1999...
and ex champ Wayne Braithwaite
Wayne Braithwaite
Wayne Braithwaite is a professional boxer. Nicknamed "Big Truck", Braithwaite looked like an invincible force that would rebuild credibility in the cruiserweight ranks, but the invincibility was short lived....
.
Jones got a shot at champion Firat Arslan
Firat Arslan
Firat Arslan is a German professional boxer of Turkish descent best known to win a WBA cruiserweight title at the age of 37....
on September 27, 2008 and won an undisputed fight by TKO. He is the heaviest and oldest professional fighter from Panama to have achieved a world championship and became Panama's 28th World Champion. After winning the title Jones went through an extremely long period of inactivity (even for modern day boxers) and over 2 years later had still not made a single defence of his title. This was put down to a combination of fight postponements & 'out of the ring' problems.
In August 2010 the WBA finally threatened to strip him of their belt unless some action was taken by Jones and his promoter to rectify this. As a result he signed to make his first defence of the belt against Valery Brudov
Valery Brudov
Valery Brudov is a professional boxer.Brudov won the interim WBA Cruiserweight Title with a TKO win over Luis Andres Pineda in late 2006.- External links :...
in October 2010 and retained his title with an eleventh round stoppage in Panama City.
Jones second defence of his title was then scheduled to take place on June 25, 2011 against the undefeated Ryan Coyne. However just a few days before the fight Jones pulled out, citing a back injury sustained after he fell out of the ring following a training session.
Following this latest cancellation he then announced that he would make a mandatory defence against WBA interim champion Yoan Pablo Hernández
Yoan Pablo Hernández
Yoan Pablo Hernández Suárez is a Cuban professional boxer. Hernández has been featured in the top 10 rankings of Ring Magazine at Cruiserweight. He is the current IBF Cruiserweight Champion.-Amateur career:...
. The fight was scheduled to take place in Germany on August 27, 2011, however once again a title fight involving Jones was cancelled this time with no specific reasons given. Hernandez would instead go on to challenge IBF
IBF
IBF may refer to:*International Boxing Federation is one of several boxing organisations* International Bandy Federation former name of Federation of International Bandy , an international governing body for bandy...
champion Steve Cunningham
Steve Cunningham
Steven Ormain Cunningham is an American professional boxer. Nicknamed USS Cunningham in reference to his 1994–1998 US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and .-Amateur career:...
in October 2011, winning the belt via a technical decision in somewhat controversial circumstances.
Following the cancellation of the Hernandez bout it was announced that Jones would now defend his title against career heavyweight Mike Marrone
Mike Marrone
-Beginnings and amateur:As a kid Marrone frequented the gym of the Duva family in Florida. He became close to Lou Duva who promoted and represented Marrone. At the National Golden Gloves tournament in 2003 he competed at Heavyweight with 201 lbs limit. He went up to superheavyweight and beat...
. The fight is scheduled to take place in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
on November 5th 2011.