Roy Jones wanted to make his boxing return to Pensacola a special event.
He’s hoping the first-ever joint venture between boxing and mixed martial arts provides that kind of breakthrough.
Jones, 40, a Washington High graduate, who remains one of boxing’s marquee names, presided today at a news conference at the Pensacola Civic Center to promote his March 21 fight card entitled “March Badness.” Viewers can watch a replay of the press conference at right.
The event at the Civic Center features Jones (52-5, 38 KOs), an eight-time world boxing champion, against Omar Sheika (27-8, 18 KOs.), a Patterson, N.J. resident, who fought for a world super middleweight title in 2000 and is well respected for his style.
“I love Pensacola and I’ve been wanting to bring a fight back here,” Jones said. “I think we’ve got a great lineup.”
In addition, the undercard will be headlined by three MMA fights featuring Seth “The Silverback” Petruzelli (10-4, 9KOs) from Fort Myers, who is coming off a national televised win against Kimbo Slice — the first loss of Slice’s career. Another MMA fight will feature Jeff “The Snowman” Monson of Olympia, Wash., who was recently featured in ESPN The Magazine as the most intimidating MMA fighter in the sport.
Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. today and Civic Center officials were pleased with first-day sales. Tickets are priced from $28 to $128 seats at ringside. The event will be offered world wide on pay-per-view at $29.95 through In-Demand, Dish Network, DirectTV and on the Web through SecondsOut.com and MaxBoxing.com
“This is the kind of hybrid event that has never been done on this level,” said John Wirt, the chief promoter for Jones’ Square Ring Promotions Inc. “It’s really nice to be doing this on a national level from Pensacola, where Roy always wanted to come back and do a fight.”
