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Roy Jones Jr wins unanimous decision to capture IBC title

Roy Jones Jr is still entertaining in the ring, but sudden knockout victories may be a thing of the past.

Jones won a 12-round, unanimous decision against previously undefeated Anthony Hanshaw on Saturday night, capturing the vacant IBC light heavyweight title.

The scorecards favored Jones 114-113, 117-110 and 118-109.

It also was just the second win in five fights for the former middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight champion.

The decisive moment came in the 11th round, when Jones (51-4) landed a quick right to free himself from the ropes, then staggered Hanshaw with a left-right combination.

Hanshaw (21-1-1) stumbled and fell to his knees after Jones appeared to bump him but he was back up after a few seconds.

In his younger days, Jones was renowned for being so quick he could keep his hands at his sides and dance away from danger before landing a big punch in the blink of an eye.

But in recent years he had struggled to retain that form, and the first round was no different. Jones flailed at air on his first several big punches, then found himself backed against the ropes, fending off a barrage from Hanshaw on four occasions.

Early in the second round, he brought the crowd to its feet when he got off the ropes with a sudden blow to the head that backed away the aggressive Hanshaw. A minute later he landed a left with a thud that enlivened the crowd again, and the fight was quickly on level terms.

The middle rounds were relatively unspectacular, with Jones spending much of the time backed against the ropes, fending off dozens of close-range punches from Hanshaw. But few seemed well-placed or powerful enough to stop Jones from mockingly wiggling his hips or high-stepping when he danced free.
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