| Down goes... Roy? |
| May 22nd 2004 |
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| (By Matt Rock) May 15th, 2004 is a day that will live in infamy for many, if not all, boxing fans. It was a day when an event would happen so bizarre that even the fans of the underdog would scream in disbelief at the site of a fallen icon... literally. It was a day when we witnessed Roy Jones Jr., this great champion whom many believe is the greatest fighter since Muhammed Ali, lose his first match not by technical default in his entire career as a professional fighter. And he lost it in the second round. The prologue... Roy Jones Jr. is believed by most people on the planet earth to be the best fighter pound-for-pound alive today. In the 50 fights previous to this last autrocity, he'd won all but one, which was stolen by the referee due to Jones hitting his opponent on the way down. It would have given Jones a perfect record... and not since Rocky Marciano retired with a perfect 49 wins and no losses has any boxer had a record as clean as Jones'. Even as an amateur he'd only been knocked out once. And then, in November of 2003, Jones faced his amateur arch- nemesis and |
| the biggest challenge of his professional career: Antonio Tarver, a fellow Floridian fighter with his eyes... and heart... set on destroying the current king of the ring. When Roy bounced up to the Heavyweight division to systematically destroy belt-holder John Ruiz, Antonio Tarver just happened to be the guy who took the vacated light-heavyweight belt that Roy left behind. This is where it gets interesting... Roy had planned on staying heavyweight for a big-money fight against Lennox Lewis, then-Heavyweight Champion of the World, or Mike Tyson, who needs no introduction. But when he learned that Antonio Tarver was suddenly the Light-heavy champ, what did Roy do? He went back down to light-heavy and challenged Antonio Tarver. A twelve-round war ensued between the two fighters, and many believed that Roy was having difficulties re- adjusting his weight. But after a 12-round fight with no apparent physical injuries to either fighter, besides the expected ring fatigue, Roy won the fight by majority split decision and re-claimed his throne as Light-heavyweight champion of the world. A re-match, obviously, was beckoned, and both fighters answered the call. They bad-mouthed each other, promised reporters a blood- bath, and trained for a fight that everyone expected would be hard to score and twelve rounds of torture for both fighters. At the first bell, some believed Roy looked a bit dry and sluggish... but everyone with eyes in their head scored the round for Roy. It was in the second round that the unthinkable happened... Tarver threw a left-hook which landed squarely on Jones' chin. Many believe the punch to be lucky, and the handful of Tarver fans say he's just that good. But no matter how you dice it, it was the punch that chopped down the mighty oak that is Roy Jones Jr. |
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| But this article isn't meant to be a blow-by-blow... this is a website filled with editorials in case you haven't noticed. The point of this article is this: Will Roy Jones Jr. declare war on Tarver and, like so many great fighters who battle great wars do, demand a third re-match? After all, no matter how you dice it, Roy beat Tarver the first time they fought, and Tarver beat Roy the second. So to settle it once and for all, they need to fight a third and final bout, winner takes all. But even I'll admit this, and I'm openly a fan of Jones, possibly one of his biggest (or so I seem to think so); Jones won the first bout only barely, a split decision and a close one at that, and he lost the second fight outright, so perhaps he'd be smart to leave the light-heavyweight division all-together. But I |
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| say this as a boxing fan, not a Roy Jones fan... if he trained hard enough and wanted that belt back bad enough, Roy Jones Jr. could win a rematch via KO and take that belt back out of Tarver's dead hand. If Jones goes back up to the heavyweight division instead, or even after a third Tarver fight, he'd be a very welcomed face there. He has plenty of opposition to destroy and lots of big-money fights to win there. In my opinion as a fight fan, this is the worst class of heavyweight fighters in the history of the sport. The entire division is filled to the brim with boxers of only mediocre skill, and the only prominent face that fans get excited about is newfound champion Vitali Klitchko, who took |
| the vacated belt left behind when Lennox Lewis retired recently, in a standoff bout between Vitali and South African-southpaw Corrie Sanders. Vitali is a promising young fighter with over 30 wins and 2 losses by way of disqualification, most recently against Lennox Lewis himself, and the one prior to the other prominent face in the heavyweight division, Chris Byrd. And neither Byrd nor Vitali contains the fire that a true fighter needs... to be a fighter revered by the people, you need to possess more than just braun and skill. You need character. You need ambition. You need fiery hand speed and brutal power, and you need to play a less calculative game and go right for that early KO. You need to be like Roy Jones Jr. So Jones has plenty of options. He's already called out Tyson several times, and has more recently called out Vitali. He could take Tyson in only a few rounds, easily banking the biggest breeze of a fight in his career. For that one I'd say Roy wins by KO in four. Vitali would be more of a serious challenge to the 35- year old fighter, as Klitchko is smart and powerful, and was capable of winding Lennox Lewis and knocking out the highly- regarded Corrie Sanders. I honestly think Roy could beat Vitali, though... it wouldn't be a knockout, but it might be a TKO as Vitali's been proven to wound easily time and time again, and Roy is brilliant at uncovering faults in his opponents. I'd call the fight a twelve-rounder, Roy by Unanimous Decision. Roy also has Chris Byrd, whom I'm sure he'd beat... and that's really about it. The only other options Roy has is retirement, which I personally would cry about, or fighting Tarver a third and final time. Roy, you owe it to us, your truest fans. We support you even after you lose. We call on you to do us a favour, we the people who adore you, who cheer you, who idolize you. We, the people who got excited to see you in "The Matrix: Reloaded" and were angered grotesquely that they cut most of your scenes. We, the fans who died a small bit when you were cut short by a left hook. Do us one favour Roy, and after that we'll let you go off and do whatever you want. Roy... go knock out Antonio Tarver in four rounds or less. Destroy him. Kill him. Make him die in that ring or kill himself afterwards. Punish him for us. You owe us that. |
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