Chalk One Up For The Underdog: When Jerry Jones Beat Carl Williams And Was So Close To A Shot At Riddick Bowe

The underdog, be it in general life or, better still, and far more admirable and brave, in the boxing ring. We love them, at least we should do. One fine book lists all the upsets the ‘dogs’ of the sport managed to pull off over the years, at least during the 1990s (‘Rocky Lives’ by David E. Finger), and back in March of 1992, heavyweight warrior/one-time contender/eventual trial-horse Jerry Jones pulled off such an upset.

Going in with the accomplished Carl “The Truth” Williams, this was in Atlantic City, NJ – Williams, of course, being a tall, athletically gifted lefty – Jones, who was a small (in terms of weight) heavyweight, held an 8-4 record. Jones had lost three of his last four. That said, Jones had managed to hang tough with Ray Mercer (dropping a close decision that made “Merciless” work hard), and Jerry had seen off future WBO champ Michael Bentt.

Williams, arrogant to the point of overlooking his “tune-up” foe, paid the price. In a good action fight that went out on ESPN, Jones dropped Williams twice; he banged away almost non-stop, and, having used his own southpaw skills to good effect, the underdog made darn sure he would not be denied. Jones walked away with a 12-round UD win; this over a man who had pushed Larry Holmes as hard as Jones had pushed him on this night, and who had also swapped leather with Mike Tyson (albeit briefly), Tim Witherspoon, Mike Weaver, and plenty of other top names. Williams was now 25-5.

But Jones would not be allowed to celebrate for long. Enticed by Rock Newman into a fight with the at the time hot Alex Garcia, Jones was promised a shot at ruling heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe should he beat Garcia. The August 1992 fight saw Garcia win a 12-round decision over a Jones who, by his own admission, was not sufficiently trained for the fight. The title defence Bowe would take in Washington DC at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium now saw Jesse Ferguson get blasted out in double-quick fashion. But Ferguson picked up the kind of big payday Jerry was left to merely dream of.

Today, having battled blindness in one eye, as well as a spell of homelessness, Jerry – back in a good place and looking to get his life story/memoirs out there, and ever so deservedly so – looks back on the Williams win, the Garcia loss, and what might have been.

“My memory isn’t what it once was,” Jerry informs me. “But the Williams win, that got me ranked. I was shot by 1996, so that was perhaps my last good win. Carl Williams, I didn’t like his attitude. At the weigh-in, he said he was gonna knock me out. I had actually looked up to him [as a fighter].

“I went on to blow a chance, a big chance – a fight with Riddick Bowe. Rock Newman told me, [if I] beat Alex Garcia, I would get a fight with Bowe. I lost that fight [with Garcia] due to a lack of good training. It was my fault, I guess, anyway. And Jesse Ferguson got the fight instead. Today, I’m just trying to take care of my bills. You know how it is, robbing Peter to pay Paul…..”

Too many of us know how it is, unfortunately. But Jerry Jones sacrificed a heck of a lot in the ring, and he, perhaps more than plenty of us, deserves better today.

After being manhandled, at times outboxed, and ultimately well beaten by Jones, Williams walked into further decent paydays in fights with the likes of Tommy Morrison and Frank Bruno, while Jones would fight just six more times, with him losing each of these final fights.

Sadly, Carl passed away from throat cancer, this in April of 2013. Jerry is still fighting the good fight today, some 31 years after he exited the ring. Jerry’s life story really does need to be put out there! Can anyone help?