On Saturday night, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis strapped on the 16oz gloves for the first time in his combat sports career. Headlining the stacked Gamebred Boxing 4 event in his hometown of Milwaukee, ‘Showtime’ squared off with legendary pugilist Roy Jones Jr. in an event that brought the worlds of mixed martial arts and professional boxing together like never before.
Anthony Pettis came out and immediately attempted to dictate the pace of the matchup, keeping Jones Jr. on the ropes for the majority of the opening round. As the fight progressed, Jones Jr. began to let his hands go and attempted to move forward rather than allowing ‘Showtime’ to pressure him. As Jones Jr. moved forward, Pettis had no issues firing shots at the boxing legend.
What Pettis lacked in clean strikes, he more than made up for in volume throughout the eight-round affair. After 24 minutes of action, we went to the scorecards where the commentary team felt the decision would be clearly in favor of Jones Jr. As it turns out, Anthony Pettis’ was more than enough to get the nod on two of the three scorecards, securing a win for the Milwaukee native in his professional boxing debut.
Official Result: Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis def. Roy Jones Jr. via majority decision (76-76, 77-75, 78-74)