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05/16/2004 Archived Entry: "Jones Knocked Out"

Jones Knocked Out
By J.D Vena

It took 15 years for it to happen and after having one of the most distinguished careers in boxing history, Roy Jones, Jr. a belt holder in weight classes from middleweight to heavyweight finally succumbed to mortality. With one crushing counter left hand from arch rival Antonio Tarver of Orlando, the end of Jones’ dominance came to a shocking end. The 35-year old Tarver reclaimed the light heavyweight title with an emphatic and career-defining 2nd knockout.

A few weeks ago, Jones’ longtime boxing coach, Alton Merkerson said that Jones had been showing signs of age. It only makes sense. At 35 and having 50 professional bouts under his belt, that would seem like a likely statement, but many refused to acknowledge Merkerson’s opinion because of the fact that Jones dominated John Ruiz, a top-rated heavyweight just only a year ago. So what happened to the legendary Jones? He made a fateful decision.

In defeating Ruiz last year, becoming the first fighter in over 100 years to win a middleweight and heavyweight world championship, Jones decided that he could do anything. He tossed names like Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson around and the idea of beating them started sounding like a reality to many, including your writer. Then, “Super” Roy decided to would defy logic. He would somehow manage to make approximately 25 pounds of muscle disappear and compete in a division he had previously dominated for seven years. To make matters even more difficult, he would face arguably, the next best light heavyweight of his time, Antonio Tarver. The only thing missing was a blindfold.

As had been the perception of many light heavyweights, Tarver represented an easy task because of the fact that Roy’s dominance at 175 made people frown at the long-time division. How could Jones, who turned pro as a jr. middleweight, defeat such fighters with ease? Many thought that it had to do with a depleted division. But what many failed to realize was that it was a very competitive one when “Super” Roy wasn't involved. The division was one of the very few where you saw the top-rated fighters face each other. Highly skilled and brave fighters like Reggie Johnson, Julio Gonzalez, Montell Griffin, Richard Hall and Eric Harding would have competitive fights with one another. But when they faced Roy, their punches missed their target and they would be hit with blinding combinations. When Roy would dominate them, it would seem to some that the level of skill wasn’t there, because it was only present when they were facing fellow contenders. Never in other opponents would they see such reflexes, balance and timing in the supreme machine known as Roy Jones, Jr.

In Tarver, Jones would face a man who was dropped by an aging Reggie Johnson, who would be broken and battered by Eric Harding, who failed to put away an old Montell Griffin after having him out in the first and twelfth rounds: fighters you’d presume to have better success with if you had a chance with Roy Jones, Jr.

When Roy Jones, Jr. made the weight of 175 pounds for the first time with Tarver, he lost more than just muscle. Roy looked like a depleted man, someone who had been sick. When he was walking to ring my friend’s, who were expecting to see another flawless performance said that he looked like a cancer patient. He did not look like a fighter who should be facing a determined 6’3 southpaw who had been beating all of the top contenders of the division. When the first bell rang, fans would see Jones being measured with jabs, shots that didn’t appear much faster or timed any better than the ones that were thrown at him in previous title defenses. Jones’ otherwise perfect reflexes were off kiltered. Roy was fighting now only a very good fighter in Tarver but a body that he couldn’t control as he once had.

That night I thought he had a very good chance of losing and I also thought that if he attempted to make 175 again, he would lose regardless of who he was fighting. Jones also vowed that he would never again fight at light heavyweight. He should have listened to himself, but the damage was already done. Though it was still difficult for me to fathom a Jones defeat, I told our editor, The Ol’ Spit Bucket and fellow scribe, Frank Lotierzo on Friday, that motivated or not, Jones stood a very good chance of losing last night.

In the first round, Tarver stalked Jones patiently waiting for the perfect moment to strike. At the same time, he measured Roy with stiff jabs, which didn’t appear anything out of the ordinary. After all, prior to facing Tarver the first time, Jones had previously defeated seven title challengers that were throwing southpaw jabs at him. It was nothing new to Jones other than the fact that they were landing.

Jones’ hand and foot speed was still there and he found perfect spots of mixing body shots with straight rights to off-set Tarver’s planned rhythm. That rhythm started to flow in the second round and as Roy was backing up Tarver moved in with a powerful left hand after Roy missed with his right and followed with a left hook. By turning into Tarver’s punch, the impact was that much more devastating. As soon as it landed, Jones wouldn’t have a chance to recover. All of Jones' motor functions were lost before he crashed to the canvas. He bravely struggled to his feet before the count of ten but it was clear that there was nothing there.

Though Tarver may have always had a style and talent to give Jones fits, it is your writer’s opinion that had Jones not moved to heavyweight initially and fought Tarver before moving up, Tarver would not have been able to learn a lot about Roy’s style as he had in their first fight. He would have faced a better Jones and not have developed the amount of confidence he accrued in his first meeting with Jones. Without a doubt, Jones’ weaknesses made Tarver a better fighter and a champion that should reign at light heavyweight for as long as his desire and skills remain in tact.

Boxing is all about making the right decisions. In the late 70’s there was a highly touted amateur boxer named Andre McCoy from New Bedford, MA. Boxing coach Libby Medeiros once told me that though he died in a fatal plane crash, he really died because he was out of shape. How could conditioning have to do with a plane crash? According to Medeiros, McCoy was a great all around boxer but fancied the partying lifestyle.

In a major amateur tournament, McCoy lost to a fighter he had beaten before and never had problems with. Medeiros and McCoy’s chief trainer Bucky Vincent knew that his shortcomings had everything to do with his conditioning and not having his head on straight. Had McCoy won, he would have advanced to another boxing tournament but instead, he boarded a plane for another tournament in Poland. The plane crashed, tragically taking McCoy’s life and everyone else headed oversees.

In 1990, then welterweight champion Marlon Starling moved up to challenge the world’s best middleweight, Michael Nunn when the two were the twilight of their careers. Months earlier, Starling looked sensational in pulverizing Lloyd Honeyghan and despite spotting Nunn seven inches in height, fought Nunn very competitively. In fact, one judge ruled their fight a draw despite the majority decision going to Nunn.

After the fight, I can recall Starling telling Larry Merchant the dread of having to put on rubber suits to move back down to welterweight. On that night, Starling scaled 158 pounds of lean muscle. Though he managed to get down in weight, he was utterly listless against Maurice Blocker, a boxer of less talent and strength than Nunn and who was more or less, a mirror image of Nunn in terms of physique and style. Though Starling was at his best only months earlier, he never fought again. He was a shot fighter. He never should have moved back down in weight and neither should have Jones.

Another example of this overnight demise is what happened to Donald Curry. He was always having trouble making welterweight and was looking to move up and challenge Mike McCallum. He thought he could squeeze in one more title defense against Lloyd Honeyghan before he moved up. Honeyghan happened to be a rugged fighter and probably would have given Curry trouble on his best day but Curry had nothing in their fight and was stopped. Luckilly for McCallum, he was still given his money shot with Curry and was KO's with one punch in the fifth. Like Tarver, McCallum just happened to be a very good fighter at the time they fought but the groundwork was already in place for McCallum.

The controversy of excessive weight loss or dehydration has always been a matter of debate when it comes to shortening careers. Many believe that Riddick Bowe’s fluctuation in weight and rapid weight loss before fights had everything to do with his quick demise and loss of reflexes. The wizardry of Pernell Whitaker was also nullified by a split micro-second of reaction time. For a man who couldn’t be hit by fighters like Julio Cesar Chavez and Azumah Nelson, he shouldn’t have been hit by the likes of Carlos Bojorquez. After 14 years of defensive excellence and never being stopped, Whitaker will have the name of “Carlos Bojorquez” as the last opponent on his record and the only man to have ever stopped him.

For Jones and other fighters who have relied on cat-like impulses, it can only be clear that he’ll never be the same fighter, whether it was mere coincidence or not that he had extreme difficulty in shedding muscle for the first fight. Antonio Tarver is certainly not a bad name to have on a record as being the man that ended a great career. Though he may have beaten any other top light heavyweight last night, Jones would be better served if he called it a day before his long legacy suffers the blemishes which sometimes hurt them.

Replies: 3 Comments on this article

A classic shocking one punch knockout! Terrific for Antonio Tarver.I never thought he would win.Jones vs. Tarver 3 would be a great November Superfight for boxing fans.

Posted by Guy @ 05/18/2004 06:51 PM EST


It's about time! Roy has been running his mouth for years. In my opinion, one of the appeals of boxing is its entertainment value. Like Ray Leonard, Roy's style was more of a "hit and run" style and left something to be desired for the fans. I have always felt that boxing has lost something along the way to becoming "civilized". Gloves off fighters leave nothing to the imagination when deciding on who the "baddest man on the planet" is. Gloves on allows guys like Leonard and Jones to develop styles that do not necessarily settle this debate. These "hit and run" technicians and the "punch and clench" technicians like John Ruiz spoil the sport. Instead of advocating for the removal of safety equipment (gloves), I would like to see referees stepping up proactively and prevent, by taking points away, fighters who turn tail and run in the ring or clench. Until the refs start deducting, this behavior in the ring will continue.

Posted by Robert Kyl @ 05/18/2004 03:55 PM EST


first off congrats go out to antonio tarver on devistating KO of the self proclaimed best in the world , Personally I have never been a roy jones fan but you cannot deny his accomplishments , he fought and beat a slew off ranked contenders ,and basically dominated the lightheavy div , but with his reluctance to make deals with and fight the likes of Michalczewski ,jirov and a few others is what always bugged me , but more than anything it was his big talk personality and his embarissing videos and songs proclaiming his greatness , so when I saw Tarver level him with one shot I heard all the shit he talked and now he's eating those words, oh well , but then after the fight to hear him shrug off the win for Tarver , and not giving the credit , he goes off with "I find it hard to get motivated fighting light heavys... " , or "I need a heavyweight to get up for a fight" , hey ROY wake up you got KOd ,FLATTEND , and now you fall in with the other denial specialists Holyfeild ,Chavez and Lewis and not being able to except defeat honorably to me you were always a 175 lb Nasseem Hamed with numbing power and blinding handspeed along with exceptional reflexes made you the man to beat for quite a while, but it would seem you found your 175lb Barrerra in ANTONIO TARVER so now what ? you were always the reluctant warrior after watching your good freind Gerald McLellan suffer serious injuries in his WAR with Nigel Benn , and who could blame you. but by shying away from going all out with your talent and powerwas to me a great loss but for my money roy... retire now !! go out with only one embarassing loss on your record , but we know thats not going to happen so good luck with heavyweights you'll need it keep that right hand up !!!

Posted by Joey Intravia @ 05/16/2004 06:37 PM EST


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