By Rick Reeno

MGM Grand, Las Vegas - In a fight for the vacant IBF welterweight championship, Randall Bailey (43-7-1, 37KOs) knocked out previously undefeated Mike Jones (26-1, 19KOs) in the eleventh round to capture the title.

They fought at a very slow and tactical manner. Neither boxer took chances in the first round rounds of the fight. They traded punches in spurts during the fifth. Jones seemed to shake Randall up in the ninth, but he never followed up with any combinations. For most of the fight, Jones used the strategy of jumping in, throwing quick punches and then quickly moving out of range to avoid Bailey's hard counter. At the end of the tenth, Bailey's one punch power showed up when he landed a hard right hand to drop Jones for the first time in his career. In the eleventh round, Bailey landed an explosive right uppercut that knocked Jones silly and he went down very hard. Jones struggled bad to make it up and referee Tony Weeks waved it off.