We all love a rags to riches story, but it seems as a society we enjoy a riches to rags story just a little bit more – We’ve seen it countless times as child stars in film and television are given stardom and riches at a young age and before they can appreciate it or process it they have a laundry list of problems while their decline is documented on TMZ.
Jon Jones had not put on a pair of gloves four years ago, the 20-year-old dropped a degree in Criminal Justice to make a run at being a cage-fighter, now he is the number-one light-heavyweight on the planet and primed to be one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest cash cows.
Today celebrity gossip site TMZ were first on the scene to report that the UFC’s light-heavyweight champion had been arrested under suspicion of a DUI and it was later confirmed by Jones’ manager Malki Kawa in this press release:
“I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI. While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time.”
Now I am not going to jump to conclusions that the Greg Jackson trained phenom is going to have a well-publicized heroine problem and release a sex tape anytime soon, but something needs to be addressed as to whether all this is too much for the 24-year-old.
But he isn’t the first to go down a similar road, Mike Tyson was 20-years-old when he unified the WBA & WBC heavyweight titles defeating James Smith and becoming the younger champion in history.
Growing up as a chubby kid in Brooklyn, New York and morphing into the quick, powerful and ferocious power-puncher was a real story that every media outlet grabbed a hold of as he became the biggest stars to grace the squared circle.
In the years that followed he found himself living the high life with an estimated worth of $400 Million the champ partied and lived life to the fullest believing that he was untouchable. Before he knew it he was going through a divorce and domestic violence claims and losing to 42-to-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas.
Comparisons can definitely be drawn between Jones and the tattoo-faced former boxing champion, in the past year he has dominated four former champions in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans while emerging as a pay-per-view draw capping 700,000 buys for his grudge-match with former friend and training partner Evans.
His lapse in judgment is obviously bad for Jones as well as the UFC who recently put him on the payroll to represent their organization as the lone fighter they sponsor and was on the fast-track to replace welterweight kingpin George St-Pierre as the face of the organization.
Today Mike Tyson has been candid about his regrets about dealing with fame, wealth and stardom and despite being a top-twenty boxer of all-time according to Rings magazine he wishes he could turn back time.
I hope that this incident serves as a wake-up call for Jones, he is a young and talented fighter with all the potential in the world so I hope when he’s 44-years-old he’s not speaking about similar regrets.
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