Roy Jones Jr. stops Vyron Phillips in two, hints at continuing boxing

PHOENIX – Roy Jones Jr. only needed one punch. Then, he said thanks to a sparse card at Celebrity Theatre and a pay-per-view audience that was wondering why it had spent $ 11.99 to watch an online exhibition that included MMA, pro wrestling, flying chairs and maybe a dancing bear or two.

What was missing was even a facsimile of anything resembling a competitive event. Oh yeah, there was no goodbye from Jones, either. A reason to watch, perhaps, was to see a legend say farewell.

But Jones didn’t.

Instead, he waved a quick right hand in the face of somebody named Vyron Phillips. Phillips’ went down and was finished, a TKO victim in the closing minute of the second round.

As it turns out, a random fan would have had as much of a chance at collecting the $ 100,000 that URShow.tv offered for a victory over Jones.

Jones opponent for the event was chosen through voting on Facebook. As a pro MMA fighter he was either 5-3 or 6-3, depending on the source. He was 6-1 as an amateur boxer.

All of that was good enough for the Arizona State Boxing and MMA Commission to grant him a license for a sanctioned bout. But it could have been a driver’s license for all that it mattered. Phillips, 33, didn’t belong in the ring against a 47-year-old Jones or any other seasoned pro.

Jones praised him in the aftermath. Thanked him, too.

But he offered little else. There was no clue as to what the future Hall of Famer might do next.

“I don’t have anything planned,’’ he said before the URShow.tv exhibition.

Media and fans are calling for his retirement after he suffered a brutal knockout on Dec. 12 in Moscow. But Jones, a Russian citizen, would not say definitively that he has answered his last opening bell.

“You just never know what’s going to happen,” said Jones, whose record improved to 63-9 with 46 KOs if the victory over Phillips is considered legit.

Phillips, who grew up idolizing Jones, had some advice for him during an interview in the middle of the ring.

“I’d like to see Roy go away from this,’’ he said. “Maybe, coach. I don’t want to see him get hurt.’’

It was good advice, worth a lot more than $ 100,000.