Roy Jones’ Doubleheader Gets Off to a Good Start

Roy Jones Jr. glanced at the scoreboard, waved to the crowd and made a grand exit Saturday, heading off to complete a unique doubleheader.

The IBF super middleweight champion played 16 minutes in a U.S. Basketball League game, helping the Jacksonville Barracudas beat the Treasure Coast Tropics less than seven hours before defending his boxing title against Canadian Eric Lucas.

Jones scored five points on two-for-four shooting, all in the first half of the game at the University of North Florida Arena. He went to the bench for good 29 seconds into the fourth quarter, but didn’t feel comfortable starting his preparations for the fight until Jacksonville opened a double-digit lead with seven minutes remaining.

“I didn’t want to leave until we had it under control,” said Jones, who missed his first two shots--one of them a 20-foot jumper that barely brushed the bottom of the net--before making two layups and a free throw that finished a three-point play.

“This is exciting to me. It means a great deal to me,” the beaming champion said. “It’s something I always wanted to do, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And now I’ve done it.”

Deion Sanders played baseball and football for Atlanta’s Braves and Falcons within a 24-hour period in 1992, but no one before Jones had ever fought for a title and played another sport on the same day.

“I’m warmed up. Now I’m going to narrow the focus,” Jones said, adding that he planned to eat and then rest for about four hours before heading to the Jacksonville Coliseum, where he was to meet Lucas.