Roy Jones: Finally, a Reason to Fight
 (May 18, 2004)
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Roy Jones Jr.
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Like a lightning bolt sent from the heavens, and with snake-like precision, Antonio Tarver’s left hand irrevocably brought down Roy Jones, JR. and his aura of invincibility once and for all. Few ever imagined Jones losing, let alone being knocked senseless. As a shocked boxing world looked on, that is what happened as Jones was comprehensively handed his first-ever legitimate defeat. Never mind the Montell Griffin hiccup, we all knew Jones was on his way to winning that bout. With Jones’ career coming to a close, many of us felt that we would never see him truly bested in the ring. Tarver made sure that we were wrong.
Pugilistic prognostication is an inexact science at best, and a matter of luck at worst. Who, outside of Tarver and possibly his team, could have possibly foreseen the happenings of Saturday night? Now Tarver can call for all the doubters to crawl and eat their words the way Muhammad Ali did after upsetting Sonny Liston, the way Buster Douglas could have after whipping Mike Tyson.
Tarver probably falls right between Ali and Douglas in terms of perceived ability, but that did not make his win any less of a surprise. That’s because Roy Jones, JR. has simply looked like Superman until Saturday night, to use a name Don King likes to reference Jones with. But, have we been duped all along by a master businessman in Jones? Is he really the super man that we thought him to be, or just someone who got by on hand-picking opponents during a weak era?
Jones’ abundant potential can be traced back to a point long before being robbed of a Gold Medal in the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. Jones turned professional soon after those Olympics, and in the 15 years since, has lost only one fight that has never really been considered a loss at all, and only a handful of rounds. His only loss was avenged by a vicious first round knockout, and he beat very good fighters in Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, albeit a long, long time ago. Then he elected to start taking on no-hopers like Rick Frazier and other guys who would have had a hope, except that they were fighting Roy Jones, JR.….guys like Julio Gonzales, Derrick Harmon and David Telesco.
It’s kind of like the neighborhood tough guy who made his bones and his reputation by beating down a guy or two. You know how it goes, a couple of witnesses to the carnage go and spread the word that this guy is no one to mess with, and tales of his fistic glory grow to mythic proportions. After that, no one dares cross him, because he is now the “neighborhood tough guy.” Jones made his reputation as the tough guy by beating Hopkins and Toney long ago, and has not had a serious challenge until his first fight with Tarver. He became that guy in all our eyes not just by winning, but by winning with ease, and, in many cases, indifference. That’s why the struggles with Tarver came with such jolting force.
Jones’ lackluster performance in the first fight with Tarver could be explained away by the muscle mass weight loss, but what are we to make of this most recent fight? The truth is, Jones hasn’t had a serious challenge in so long because he is so talented. He is as great as we thought he was, and his skill level is clearly off the chart whether he is fighting a cop or a serious contender. This time, however, it just wasn’t enough to have extraordinary talent, and as Jones himself said, everyone gets caught. It happens to the best of them, and Jones is no exception. Then again, neither is Tarver. The fair thing for Tarver to do would be to grant Jones the rematch that Jones granted him. Tarver deserves accolades of the highest order for achieving the unthinkable, a one-punch knockout win over boxing’s Superman. But he has not done what many observers have already proclaimed, and that is show that he is the best light heavyweight in the world.
One-punch knockouts are great, exciting, and stunning, especially when delivered from an underdog fighting against an established champion. In that scenario, however, they hardly ever prove superiority. If we are to believe that they do, we must then pause and ask ourselves whether Hasim Rahman proved that he was the best heavyweight in the world when he flattened Lennox Lewis. Jones is far from finished if he chooses to fight on, and knowing Roy, he will refuse to go out on anything less than his terms. If there is a next time for Roy, it will be he who has something to prove. With just one punch, he can do it.
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