[2][3] Jones made his professional debut on June 8, 1989, scoring a first-round technical knockout against George Young.

More than two years later, on November 22, 1996, Jones scored his most significant victory by handing then-undefeated Mexican boxer Marco Antonio Barrera his first loss to win the WBO super bantamweight title, thus becoming a two-weight world champion.

[4] A minor controversy arose at the end of their fight when Barrera's cornermen entered the ring after he had been knocked down in the fifth round.

[5] In his next fight, on September 12, 1998, Jones was again stopped in the fourth round, this time by WBC super bantamweight champion Érik Morales.

On April 10, 1999, Jones won the vacant IBO featherweight title with a late stoppage of Richard Evatt in the eleventh round.