Guillermo Jones (born May 5, 1972) is a former Panamanian
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
. He held the
WBA cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2012, and challenged twice for the WBA
super welterweight
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...
title in 1998.
Professional career
Jones made his professional debut in 1993 as a
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
, and was a world champion as a cruiserweight 20 years later in 2013 He won his first 21 bouts in Panama, but was then stopped in Venezuela in two rounds by David Noel of Trinidad and Tobago in September 1997. He avenged that loss two months later in Panama by first round Knockout. Now aligned with promoter
Don King
Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing Promoter (entertainment), promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cas ...
, Jones fought two light middleweight WBA world title bouts against
Laurent Boudouani
Laurent Boudouani (born 29 December 1966) is French former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1999. He held the WBA light middleweight title from 1996 to 1999 and the European light middleweight title from 1992 to 1993. As an amateur, ...
in 1998. He drew once and lost the rematch by split decision in 12 round contests.
Jones fought his way through four weight classes. Later fighting as a cruiserweight in 2002, he fought
Johnny Nelson
Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005, and has since worked as a boxing analyst. He is currently the longest reigning world cruiserweight champion of all time, ...
for the WBO World cruiserweight title, drawing in 12 rounds in his third world title attempt. Most in attendance thought Jones had done enough to win the title from Nelson.
After yet another split decision loss in 2005 to future cruiserweight world title holder
Steve Cunningham
Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and between ...
, Jones rebounded the same year with knockouts of
Kelvin Davis and
Wayne Braithwaite
Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite (born August 9, 1975) is a Guyanese former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2012, and held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2002 to 2005.. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Professional career
The highlight ...
.
Jones got a shot at WBA World Cruiserweight champion
Firat Arslan
Firat Arslan (born 28 September 1970) is a German professional boxer of Turkish descent who held the WBA cruiserweight title from 2007 to 2008. He also challenged twice for the WBO cruiserweight title in 2012 and 2014 and once for the IBF cru ...
on September 27, 2008 and won the WBA world title by tenth round stoppage. He was the heaviest, and the oldest professional fighter from Panama to have achieved a world championship when he became Panama's 28th world boxing champion. After winning the WBA title, Jones created controversy when he went through a two year period of inactivity while remaining WBA world champion.
In August 2010, the WBA finally threatened to strip Jones of his belt unless he defended his world title. As a result, he made his first defense of his world title against
Valery Brudov
Valery Brudov (russian: Валерий Александрович Брудов; born November 27, 1976) in Pskov, Russia is a former professional boxer. He held the WBA interim world cruiserweight title from 2006 until 2007, and challenged twice ...
in October 2010, scoring an eleventh round stoppage in Panama City.
Jones second defense of his title was scheduled to take place on June 25, 2011, against then undefeated Ryan Coyne. A few days before the fight, Jones pulled out, citing a back injury sustained following a training session. Jones later announced he would make a
mandatory defense against
Yoan Pablo Hernández
Yoan Pablo Hernández Suárez (born October 28, 1984) is a Cuban-German professional boxer. He is a former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and ''Ring'' magazine titles between 2011 and 2015, as well as the WBA interi ...
. The fight was scheduled to take place in Germany on August 27, 2011, but the bout was cancelled with no specific reason.
Jones the defended his WBA world title against
Mike Marrone
Michael Marrone (born September 24, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He challenged for the WBA cruiserweight title in 2011.
Beginnings and amateur
As a child Marrone frequented the gym of the Duva family in Florida. He became close to Lo ...
. The fight took place in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
on November 5, 2011, with Jones retaining his title via a TKO in the sixth round. After over a year of inactivity, Jones was declared the champion in recess after he backed out of a title defense against boxer Andres Taylor of Pennsylvania. Denis Lebedev of Russia won the interim WBA World title and then won the vacant WBA World title after Jones refused to fight him. After 18 months of inactivity, Jones traveled to Russia to fight Lebedev and settle matters regarding who the legitimate WBA world champion was, himself or Lebedev.
On May 17, 2013, Jones, the WBA World Cruiserweight champion 'in recess', cut and closed the left eye of Denis Lebedev in the first round. He eventually knocked out the other WBA World Cruiserweight champion 'claimant', Denis Lebedev of Russia, at 1:54 of the eleventh round to settle the issue once and for all as to who the true WBA World Cruiserweight champion was. The bout is the first WBA World title bout in which two defending champions of the same world title belt faced each other. Jones inflicted horrific punishment on Lebedev, inflicting enough damage to Lebedev's right eye to perhaps end his career for medical reasons. Observers felt the bout should have been stopped early, but the Russian Boxing Federation would not stop the bout so it would go the distance, putting Jones in the position of having to knock Lebedev out in hostile territory to keep his title.
In October 2013, Jones was stripped of his title for failing a drug test for his WBA unification fight with Lebedev, with Lebedev being reinstated as full champion. A rematch between Lebedev and Jones has concordantly been ordered by the WBA. Jones again tested positive, and was stripped of the title, however recent allegations of Russian tampering with drug testing has put this finding in doubt. In December 2013, Jones was reinstated by the WBA as Champion in Recess.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Guillermo
Cruiserweight boxers
Doping cases in boxing
1972 births
Living people
Panamanian male boxers
World cruiserweight boxing champions
World Boxing Association champions
Light-middleweight boxers
Welterweight boxers
Heavyweight boxers
20th-century Panamanian people