Former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr. has apologised for the "explicit language" he used towards Kevin Newman after footage of his intense corner advice went viral.
Jones was in Newman's corner for his super middleweight clash against Elijah Garcia on Saturday (March 28), a bout that was on the preliminary card of Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman.
Newman went on to secure a 95-95, 98-92, 96-94 victory after a slow start to proceedings.
In fact, with Garcia in the ascendancy, the veteran super middleweight contender was given a brutal wake-up call by his coach Jones Jr, who delivered some home truth in the corner.
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"Are you f*****g scared?" Jones Jr began. "He’s b******g you out, okay? Either fight the m********r or f*****g quit. He’s b******g you out right now, okay? Fight or f*****g quit boxing.”
Jones Jr received some criticism for how he approached Newman, who turned things around mid-fight to secure victory.
Roy Jones Jr. apologises after controversial corner instructions to Kevin Newman go viral
On Monday, former multi-weight world champion Jones issued an apology for the language he used towards Newman.
"I just wanted to come on this morning to be apologetic for the explicit language that I was forced to use over the weekend," he said.
"The common approach was not getting the job done and my job as a coach is to get the job done so I had to do what I had to do.”
“It wasn’t what I wanted to do but it was necessary and it got the job done, so I apologize for the explicit language," he added. "I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again but I can’t make no promises because I love boxing."
Since hanging up his gloves, Jones has coached a number of fighters, including super middleweight Andrew Murphy and lightweight Chris Yung.
Topics: Roy Jones Jr, Boxing
Jack Kenmare