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You may remember Antonio Tarver’s shocking KO of Roy Jones Jr, but the Glen Johnson one was much worse.
The aura of Roy Jones Jr collapsed in dramatic fashion in 2004.
Many observers thought that Antonio Tarver defeated Jones when the two faced off in late 2003, so a rematch was booked. In a stunning result, Jones lost his light heavyweight belts and suffered the first “true” loss of his career — a disqualification vs. Montell Griffin had stood as his only defeat at the time — as Tarver knocked Jones out in the second round.
Later that year, Roy took on IBF light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, a rugged Jamaican with an incredible workrate and a penchant for winning in enemy territory. He won his title by beating Clinton Woods in England, and he came to America to put away an all-time great.
Johnson was the early aggressor and Jones looked like a shell of his former self. The 6-to-1 underdog looked on his way to victory, and then he took it out of the judges’ hands by using his own. A thunderous right hand and a follow-up left violently crashes Jones to the canvas. He didn’t come close to getting up and was down for about 15 minutes afterward.
The scary KO and the defining victory of JOhnson’s career can be seen at the top of the page, starting at about 5:30.
Johnson (54-21-2) retired in 2015 after ending his career at cruiserweight. Only two of his losses were by knockout, and he was always willing to fight the best. Jones (66-9) retired in 2018 after beating Scott Sigmon on UFC Fight Pass.