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A Conversation With Henry Jones: Race Matters

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Exclusive Interview by Anthony “Zute” George

Amongst all the tension attached to the Coronavirus scare, a look in the mirror is essential. Have you accomplished all the things you wanted to do? Have you been a good person? Are you a racist? If you live in the good old USA, chances are you have been exposed to racism. If you are black and living in America, racism comes with the territory the same way a small carton of white rice comes with your Chinese takeout order. Indeed, racism has been much more than a pandemic ever since the Founding Fathers, all white men, set the foundation for our country.

Yes, there have been improvements, yes, there have been advancements, and there are even some black men, such as Big George Foreman, who has more or less said he has never been a victim of racism, but those things are not the norm. Henry Jones is an example of the norm in America. Henry has been a guy who is very talented and dedicated to what he does but has struggled mightily to make advancements in keeping with his talent. Not because he happens to be black, but because he is a black man trying to make a footprint on a white man’s trade. That is a no-no in America.

Who is Henry Jones, you say? Well, if you have to ask you proved my point. As only die-hard of die-hard boxing fans probably know Henry.

But Henry knows boxing, and like most individuals who work in boxing, he has been a fan from a very young age, “Ali on television, he just fascinated me,” Jones explains. Yet, there was another element to the television production that also caught the attention of Henry, “there was a sidekick of sorts, Howard Cosell, and he fascinated me even more. I thought that was such a great duo on television. They played off of each other, and you can tell the admiration was genuine,” Henry continued. Genuine would also be an optimal word to describe Mr. Jones.

Part of Henry’s honesty is how he was candid about the fact that he did try to box, but admits, “I wasn’t very good at it.” Despite his shortcoming when lacing up the boxing gloves, do not worry there are much more of us out there, Henry’s passion for boxing did not waver, “I kind of lived vicariously through the boxers. I never missed a fight on TV. I really identified with those guys.”

When Henry was a youngster, it was Ali’s first fight with Smokin’ Joe Frazier that dominated the television, although the match itself could not be seen on TV. “Ali did just raise the consciousness for boxing, but for world affairs, and that was special. I was rooting for Ali. I identified with him more. But I had empathy for Frazier because of how Ali was demeaning him. So, I was kind of torn, and I wasn’t too upset that Frazier won because he deserved it. But I knew people on both sides of the fence…overall it was good to see that people were interested, and that helped all of boxing.”

Boxing was not Henry’s only passion. Knowing he would never be a boxer himself, Henry had acting aspirations and was active in the theater in his schools, which he ran into the color barrier of this great country of ours “I was always the understudy to the main character from elementary school, all the way to high school. It traumatized me. I never got on stage.” To add insult to injury, thanks to what he describes as a photographic memory. Henry knew all of the actor’s lines and often had to whisper the lines to the actors chosen over him. This was not Broadway theater you see. They were school productions. Therefore, you would think that at least one-time Henry’s skills for impeccably remembering his lines would have gotten him on stage. It never did, however. I wonder why?

This oppression made Henry even more determined to act, “I was obsessed with getting on stage. So, when I moved to D.C., I started looking for my niche, I got parts in some bit plays.” Henry had noticeable talent, but that was not enough, “This one producer said he could see me playing Othello but in about forty years. I said, ‘forty years??!!’ I quit on the spot. I did not have patience like that.”

Henry put his acting career in the rearview mirror, and concentrated on work in boxing, “I tried color commentary, but that did not work out. They just wanted Ray Leonard and George Foreman at the time.” Henry then saw an ad for color commentary for the ABA, as basketball was also a passion of his, “I drove to Philadelphia to try out. I came in third place out of one hundred people. That let me know I had skills, but I still was not exactly sure what I wanted to do.”

What Henry did know was that he was not ready to walk away from his dream of announcing in boxing, so he approached the D.C. boxing commissioner to look for work. “He told me they had no TV contracts, but suggested I give ring announcing a try since I wanted to be on the mic. I told him that did not really interest me. Then he said something that gave me that epiphany, he said they have never been any major black ring announcers. When he said that, a lightbulb went off in my head.”

Indeed, boxing has had some iconic ring announcers, Johnny Addie, Jimmy Lennon, SR., Chuck Hall, Ed Derian, Jimmy Lennon, JR., and Michael Buffer, are among the all-time greats. All of these gentlemen are white. Where is the great black boxing ring announcer? “Someone had to be the first,” Henry declared.

Henry’s quest did not consist of smooth sailing. There were many rough waves along the way. But Henry always remained diligent and optimistic and is happy to report that, “The drought is now over. I am about to ink a contract with a network out of Detroit called Impact Network. I will be their ring announcer for boxing starting in April. They have twelve fights scheduled this year. Thirty-six fights scheduled next year. I never wavered. I knew I had the skills.”

Henry’s contract should not be taken lightly. As a black ring announcer was never a welcomed dynamic. And prominent black men in boxing such as Don King, Rock Newman, Butch Lewis, Al Haymon, and Floyd Mayweather, JR. never lifted a finger to help him along. Indeed, promises were made to Henry Jones by these men, but empty promises were all they were. Henry is open about how these men did not do right by him. He even challenged Promoter Butch Lewis when he held a boxing card at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, and not did call upon Henry Jones for his services, “I asked him what’s wrong with this picture? You had a fight card at the most iconic venue for black people, and I am the only black ring announcer out here, and you had Ed Derian from Philadelphia as your ring announcer. He said, ‘Oh my God, I was not even thinking like that.’ I said obviously not. He apologized to me and said going forward I am going to have this gig. Well he died soon after that. But he was the only guy to ever apologize to me.”

Henry said that all the other top promoters of color promised him work and never delivered, “Even Floyd, even Oscar De La Hoya.” Which is sad on the surface, but becomes even less tolerable when you learn that Henry had always gone that extra mile to sell tickets for prominent boxing events, and has at best only managed to announce the undercard fights for the big promotions, “I sold $33,000 worth of tickets for Oscar when Amir Kahn fought Lamont Peterson. Thinking that was going to impress him enough to bring me on board. I never heard from him again. And I did it at only fifteen percent, so tell me who walked off with the lions share of it?”

The question is, why? Why not use Henry, especially for fights in D.C.? Where Henry has been a prominent ring announcer at local shows for thirty-one years. “I am going to leave it people’s intellect of curiosity as for the reason why I kept getting kicked to the curb. I don’t think I have to say it because a reasonable-minded person would know what it is all about.” All due respect to Henry, but it must be said because way too many people are not reasonable when it comes to race matters. They are either ignorant, resistant to the truth, or indeed themselves a racist. Henry Jones has been oppressed for years from something he has done very well because of the color of his skin.

That is what Henry is saying, as well as asking, “Why have you never seen another black ring announcer other than me? It is kind of odd isn’t it?”

When you think of how racism has reared its ugly head in America, it really is not that odd. But, as mentioned before, they have been a lot of powerful black men in other circles of boxing, so, “Why that one position?” Henry asks. Even the black men who could have changed the makeup of the position refused to move the needle. Why? “In retrospect, I am glad they didn’t, because I do not owe any of them anything,” Henry explains.

Henry also explains that his ‘aggressive’ approach might have hurt his chances. “I never kissed up or bowed down to anyone. I had some run-ins with network producers, and I think they thought I was just too ‘aggressive.’ I was just being assertive. You call a black man aggressive, but you call a white man assertive for the same situation. One guy said straight to my face, I was ‘arrogant.’ Really? But Michael Buffer has ‘supreme confidence’ for acting the same way. It is kind of like they were telling me to ‘stay in my lane, boy.”

There have been people who have helped Henry Jones along the way that he is very appreciative of. Two men, in particular, are forever in the good gracious of Henry.

The first is Michael Buffer. “Michael wrote the foreword to my book and has been my mentor. He is a class act. Oscar De La Hoya just came out of the Olympics and he had a fight scheduled in my hometown of Rochester, New York. I knew the Promoter up there and called him to ask him if I could announce the fight. He told me the network wanted Buffer to do it but wanted me to still go up there anyway. I dressed the part; I went to the weigh-in and prepared myself as if I was going to be the ring announcer. I was hoping that his flight might get delayed, or he might get laryngitis, but God don’t bless no mess (laughing). That is not how I should have gotten it anyway. Michael showed up. And when he saw me, he looked me up and down. I stood up to meet him, he asked me how I was doing, I replied, ‘I would be doing a lot better if you didn’t take my job.’ He said, ‘oh, you must be Jones. He said no hard feelings, it’s just business.’ I said, ‘absolutely sir, I was just kidding.’ I asked him if I could sit with him and learn the business a little bit. Not only did he say yes, he acknowledged that I knew the fighters better than him because it was my area, and I could help him out. I observed how he interacted with everyone. He was a consummate professional. There were two fights left when the TV cameras went off, so, Michael said to me, ‘It is a shame that you are all dressed up with no place to go,’ so he handed me the microphone and said, ‘let me see what you got.’”

Michael observed Henry work the last two fights and was impressed. He said I had, “Je Ne Sais Quoi.” Which is a French term that describes when someone has an exceptional quality that you cannot quite put your finger on. To Michael Buffer, Henry Jones stood out, and he wanted to help him anyway he could. Michael introduced Henry to Bruce Buffer, who you may know as the dynamic ring announcer for The UFC, but at that time, Bruce was Michael’s agent. Bruce helped Henry get announcing gigs on undercard fights at various venues in Atlantic City, as well as the iconic Madison Square Garden. “Michael helped me get to a certain point. But he was not going to take a back seat for me, which I understand. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Michael Buffer.”

There was at least one boxing event that Michael Buffer had to take a backseat to Henry Jones. Which brings us to another extraordinary person during Henry’s request, Hall of Fame boxer Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson. Henry explains, “I did not know him from Adam. But the first fight I announced of his in D.C. it was in a high school, I saw his unmistakable talent. He was the total package. After the match, I went up to him and told him he was going to be champ one day. He said to me, ‘you see it too.’ He went on to compliment me on my ring announcing style, and promised me when he became champion and fights on TV he is going to make sure that I am the ring announcer. That was in 1988. Ten years later, February 22nd, 1998, at the D.C. Armory on ESPN, he wrote it in his contract for me to be the ring announcer.”

Henry indicated that “Too Sharp” was the only fighter to ever step up for him like that. Just like with so many promoters, other fighters have said they were going to do that for Henry but never made an attempt.

I asked Henry why he thought nobody else did what Mark Johnson did for him? Afterall, fellows like Don King, Floyd, and the like appear to have more clout than a fighter who competed in the lower weight divisions, “Because they did not have the character that Mark did. He was a man to his word. Those other guys were about themselves and were not willing to do that. I forgave all of them. But you have to have a certain courage to step out and do something for somebody else.” was Henry’s reply.

Another person who has always been a man to his word is “Bad” Brad Berkwitt. But Brad might not have been so “Bad” if it were not for Henry Jones, Henry explains, “In the early 2000’s, I met him at the DC Tunnel where I was ring announcing that night and he was ringside covering the card. We hit it off and I gave him the nickname “Bad” for two reasons, the obvious reason to capture people’s attention with a moniker, and the other is because he really is a “Bad” guy (In the good sense, of course), former military man, family man.

Speaking of writing, Henry Jones has also scribed. His book, It’s More Than a Notion!! “A lot of it is about my life. My family. Just the dynamics of dysfunction, overcoming challenges that a lot of families can relate to. Basically, to survive to win.” Michael Buffer wrote the foreword to the book, and there are plans to make it into a film.

Henry Jones has indeed lived a fulfilled life. He has overcome oppression and has experienced great disappointment from other black men. Men who could have done more for him, but for whatever reason, did not live up to their promises. Despite that disappointment, Henry Jones is in a great place and is bound to get more recognition introducing fighters on The Impact Network. All we need now is for this horrible Coronavirus to go away so we could enjoy boxing once again. Will that happen in April, when The Impact Network is set to air fights?

Stay tuned…

To purchase a copy of It’s More Than A Notion!!, you can order it on Amazon.com and Firstbooks.com. You can also email Henry Jones for an autographed copy at therealkokid@gmail.com.

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