Roy Jones Jr vs Eric Harding

Roy Jones Jr retained the WBC, WBA and IBF light-heavyweight championships when Eric Harding, suffering from a torn muscle in his left arm, was unable to answer the bell for the 11th round at the New Orleans Arena on September 9, 2000. The vacant IBO title was also at stake. Jones entered with a record of 42 victories and one defeat, the latter having been reversed by victory in his return contest with Montell Griffin, while Harding was unbeaten in 20 professional appearances. The challenger had earned his position as the IBF’s leading contender by defeating Antonio Tarver over 12 rounds less than three months earlier. Before a crowd reported at 13,000, Jones was made a 30-to-one favourite, but the contest proved considerably less comfortable than those odds suggested.

Harding, a tall southpaw with a high guard, made the early rounds awkward for the champion. Jones was cautious and spent much of his time looking for a clear route through the challenger’s defence. Harding advanced behind his right jab and was prepared to lead, while Jones waited for opportunities to counter rather than forcing the pace. Judge Dick Flaherty gave Jones the opening round; Kenny Saintes also preferred the champion, but Barry Orgeron scored it for Harding. In the second, the challenger threw an overhand left, which Jones blocked with his right arm. Harding immediately felt damage in his left biceps, although he did not disclose the full extent of the injury until later. Flaherty and Orgeron awarded him the round, while Saintes scored it for Jones.

Harding continued to trouble Jones in the third. His height, southpaw stance and raised gloves reduced the champion’s opportunities to land the sudden lead hooks and right hands with which he usually unsettled opponents. Harding was not landing heavily, but he remained the aggressor and prevented Jones from establishing a settled rhythm. All three judges gave the third to the challenger. Jones began to find the range in the fourth, directing lead right hands towards the body and stepping away before Harding could answer. There were no knockdowns, but Jones’s punches were becoming cleaner and more accurately placed. All three officials scored the fourth for the champion.

The fifth remained competitive. Harding stayed close enough to make Jones work and continued using his right hand despite the growing limitation in his left arm. Flaherty gave the round to Harding, but Saintes and Orgeron awarded it to Jones. The champion increased his activity in the sixth, striking to the body and following with short punches to the head. Harding’s high guard continued to offer some protection, yet his inability to use the injured arm freely was narrowing his offence. Jones took the sixth on every card and became the more assertive fighter during the seventh. He advanced more readily, made Harding give ground and landed the sharper single blows. The seventh was also scored unanimously for Jones.

Harding produced another useful effort in the eighth. He continued to press despite having largely lost the effective use of his left hand and succeeded in making the champion retreat for portions of the round. All three judges awarded the eighth to the challenger. Jones afterwards acknowledged that he had not prepared with his customary thoroughness, having divided his attention between training and promoting the event. His performance reflected that admission. He remained the quicker and more accurate man, but he was often tentative and did not display the sustained combinations that had marked many of his previous championship appearances.

Jones took firmer command in the ninth. Late in the round he landed a hard right to the head which stopped Harding in his tracks and left the challenger momentarily stationary. Harding remained upright, but the punch was the clearest indication that his resistance was beginning to weaken. Jones continued applying pressure in the tenth, while Harding increasingly held when the champion moved within punching distance. The challenger’s left arm was by then hanging with little useful movement, and his offence had been reduced almost entirely to the right hand. Jones swept the ninth and tenth rounds on all three official cards.

When Harding returned to his corner after the tenth, trainer Al Gavin decided that he had taken sufficient risk. Ringside physician Dr Jerry Rosenberg was summoned to examine the injured arm. Harding winced when the doctor touched the biceps and was unable to raise the arm properly. The contest was consequently stopped before the 11th round, with the official result recorded as a retirement at 3 minutes of the tenth. Harding later explained that the muscle had torn when Jones blocked his overhand left in the second round and that he had contested most of the fight with only one effective hand. No knockdowns occurred, and there were no serious fouls.

Jones was leading on all three scorecards when the retirement was ordered, although the margins varied considerably. Saintes had him ahead by 98–92, Orgeron scored 97–93, and Flaherty had the champion only two points in front at 96–94. The official figures reflected Harding’s success in making the early and middle rounds untidy rather than any sustained command of the contest. Jones landed 101 of 318 punches, while Harding connected with 54 of 408, an indication of the challenger’s activity but also of Jones’s defensive effectiveness. The victory raised Jones’s record to 43–1 with 35 stoppages and completed his seventh defence of the WBC title, sixth of the WBA championship and third of the IBF belt. Harding suffered his first defeat, but his ability to remain competitive for ten rounds with a disabling injury ensured that the contest was remembered as one of Jones’s more difficult light-heavyweight defences.

People remember Roy Jones as untouchable, but Eric Harding made him look ordinary for long stretches. Harding had earned his chance by beating Antonio Tarver and came unbeaten, awkward, tall and southpaw. He wasn’t there merely to collect a cheque.

Harding’s high guard and steady pressure stopped Jones from producing his usual show-reel work. Even after tearing his left biceps in the second round, he stayed competitive and won rounds with one useful hand. That tells you plenty about his character, but also about Jones’s preparation. Roy admitted he hadn’t trained properly, and it showed. He was hesitant, economical and far from his best.

Jones eventually found the right hand, took control late and was comfortably ahead when Harding’s corner stopped it after ten. The stoppage was correct. Harding couldn’t lift the arm. Jones deserved the victory, but this wasn’t a masterclass. It was an underprepared champion getting through a difficult mandatory challenger.