It’s exciting to hear Roy Jones Jr. talk about fighting Joe Calzaghe or Bernard Hopkins or the winner of their fight. BUT, the reality is, he could have fought both of these men a long time ago.
Calzaghe’s championship reign at super middleweight has run from 1997 to the present. Throughout that time there was plenty of talk – speculation – about Jones fighting Calzaghe. It never happened. Nor did the unification match against WBO light heavyweight champion Dariusz Michalczewski.
Jones beat Hopkins for the vacant IBF middleweight title in 1993. The Executioner has tried to get a rematch with Roy ever since. He went unbeaten for nearly 13 years, but still couldn’t lure Jones into the ring.
Roy is also talking about fighting the Taylor-Pavlik winner or dropping further in weight to fight Oscar De La Hoya.
Jones is a first-ballot hall-of-famer. No questions asked. But, as great a fighter as he is, there is quite a lack of “mega” fights on his resume. Some of it has to do with the quality of opposition during his era, some of it has to do with his immense talent, but enough of it has to do with Roy not taking chances.
So why, at 39, do we think he’ll start taking chances?
If you think about the Trinidad fight, it was a perfectly calculated risk on the part of Jones. Trinidad looked terrible against Winky Wright in 2005. Was he really going to look much better against a superior boxing like Jones? In 2008? The only thing Roy had to worry about was Tito’s power – considerable indeed – but it has certainly diminished since his heyday at welterweight.
Ultimately, it was a nice night for both of them to retire on.
Replay. HBO will broadcast the Jones-Trinidad fight on Sat. Jan. 26 as part of a Boxing After Dark card that features heavyweights Alexander Povetkin and Eddie Chambers… Check out Newsday.com’s photo gallery of the fight… Also, Newsday’s Wally Matthews had the best postfight line of all when he wrote, "… the truth is, Jones and Trinidad have a future in boxing, all right, so long as they continue to fight each other." Read his column here.
PPV Success. ESPN.com is reporting that the Jones-Trinidad fight drew better-than-expected numbers. According to the story, the fight had 500,000 buys and $25 million in domestic television revenue.
Say Goodbye. It’s time for Trinidad to retire. He’s had a great career and has nothing left to prove in the game. Same for Roy. He always said he wouldn’t let himself get hurt. It’s time take your own advice. -- CASSIDY
Comments (8)
Please explain to me how people say Jones dodged other fighters? I want names and examples. And don't tell me he dodged Hopkins or Calzaghe. He on numerous occaisions stated publicly he would fight Hopkins for a 60% / 40% money split. That was more than a fair offer being that he was the big money draw. Hopkins knew he couldnt hang with jones so he held it must have a 50/50 split to fight Roy. Roy would have been a business fool to fight Hopkins at a 50/50 split. As far as Calzaghe goes, since when is the pound for pound champion expected to go overseas to Wales to fight a fighter in a smaller weight class? Calzaghe could have had a fight with Jones had he been willing to fight in America. Now, give me specific names and examples of who Jones ducked?
Roy has held (5) titles at one time and he has fought no one and taken no chances ?
Oscar De La Hoya has fought many a nobody and is now looking to fight Steve Forbes and not a word..............
Does Roy have to fight everyone that want's a shot and then rematch them if they lose ?
People say boxing is in a bad state and maybe it is but the commentary is pathetic and only lends support to the issue. I don't really want to knock anyone but let's all be fair.
Please.
Roy Jones is a great boxer and im always excited to see him fight. Im a huge fan of his but I almost think that maybe he should really retire. Like said I love seeing him fight but now Im more and more worried that with every new fight he is taking that something bad might happen. Might be more punishing than what happend with the second Jones and Tarver. I rather see him retire with a victory...rather than another defeat.
Kid Lew. Thanks for the post. But you cannot honestly compare Oscar's record to Roy's... Roy is a great fighter, there is no doubt. But Oscar has stepped up and fought every great name within his weight. You cannot say the same for Roy.
Yes, Elliot. Those are the two most glaring names out there. At the time of the proposed Jones-Hopkins rematch, Hopkins was much more marketable, having just beat Trinidad. Roy not taking a 50-50 fight tells me he didn't really want the fight. Lennox Lewis held 2 of the three belts before his fight with Holyfield, but he took less money to fight Holyfield because he knew it was good for boxing and his own legacy. And yes, Roy should have made the Calzaghe fight happen. Ali traveled the world, so did Ray Robinson. Tell me Elliot, between James Toney and John Ruiz, what were all the great, compelling fights out there that Roy participated in? he fought McCallum and Virgil Hill when they were both shot. And somehow he missed Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank at super middle and Gerarld McClellan at middle.
roy jj vs calzaghe then joe to face tarver no reason why this cant happen if any one needs names its calzaghe not roy
rjj is the man!!! age is not a factor. yall line em up, he'll knock em down. i have to agree that roy has never ducked hopkins. why in the hell would he take a 50/50 fight when he's the one who would have to drop in weight to fight hopkins at that time. i would ask for more money too. that was a risk.
now bobby, if you had to loose weight just to fight hopkins and you are jones wouldn't you want a higher percent.