Roy Jones Jr. Looking to Come Full Circle

Posted by Jonathan Yaghoubi on 11.07.2008

Jones hopes to turn back the clock against light heavyweight champ Joe Calzaghe.

It's down to this. For Roy Jones, Jr., who 20 years ago stood in disbelief in the middle of the ring following the one of the worst decisions in Olympic boxing history, he's come full circle.

The lightning-quick boxing prodigy from Pensacola, Fla. drew comparisons to Sugar Ray Leonard as he soundly hammered South Korea's Si-Hun Park in 1988 before a rabid and hostile, anti-American crowd on the last day of boxing competition at the Seoul Olympics. An outpouring of outrage and sympathy provided little solace for Jones, however, after being jobbed of the Gold Medal by corrupt judging. Later on after the fight, an ashamed Park went over to Jones and congratulated him as he knew he was the true victor.

This is the 20 year anniversary of that event and now Jones prepares for another watershed moment. For the second time in three weeks, a future hall of fame boxer and one of the great pound for pound fighters of our era will try to prove to everyone that he still has "it."

Just like what Bernard Hopkins dealt with three weeks ago against Kelly Pavlik, Roy now also takes on an unaccustomed role-reversal for him as a decided underdog against world light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who is unbeaten in 45 contests and bested the resilient Hopkins in April.

Back in January, Jones faced five-time world champion Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout was fought at a catch weight of 170 lbs. Jones had a noticeable size and speed advantage, and in round seven, a short right hand to the temple dropped Trinidad to his knees. Jones fired a combination in the tenth round to send Trinidad down once more. In the end, it was clearly Jones' night. The scorecards read 117-109 and 116-110 (twice) all in favor of Jones.

While a win was good for Roy, one has to wonder how much satisfaction could he have taken for that fight. He was fighting a boxer in Trinidad whose best days were clearly behind him. It could not have meant much for Roy if he was serious about being a player again in the light heavyweight division. While he has had a couple of tune-up fights and this one against Trinidad, this is truly his comeback fight. He has had nothing to cheer about since his night back on March 1st, 2003.

It was on that night when Roy Jones Jr. reached the peak of his boxing career. After taking on every challenger he could in the super middleweight and light heavyweight division, Roy was ready to embark on a new challenge when he fought WBA heavyweight champion, John Ruiz. Jones was hoping to become the first middleweight to win the heavyweight crown since Bob Fitzsimmons did it in 1897. The big question was whether or not Roy would still be able to maintain his speed and quickness against the much bigger Ruiz. Well the answer would be that Roy simply had too much talent for the stronger, but slower Ruiz. Jones breezed to a 12-round nod and even though he was a true heavyweight champ, he still campaigned to be a light heavyweight and eventually relinquished the WBA heavyweight title without ever defending it. It was a flawless performance and no one at the time could doubt that he was truly the best boxer in the world and best of pound for pound fighter in his era.

But it seemed that the challenge of moving to heavyweight and that moving back down to light heavyweight would end up being one of the more critical mistakes in Jones career.

Later that year, Jones regained his old belt by beating Antonio Tarver. However, Jones looked weak after coming down from heavyweight to light heavyweight losing 25 plus pounds. In his toughest pro fight to date, he gutted out a majority decision and for the first time, showed signs of vulnerability.

A rematch would occur on May 15, 2004 and what happened after that was one of the most shocking results in boxing history. Tarver's question to Roy "You got any excuses tonight, Roy?" seemed like a death sentence for Tarver but he knew something we did not know. Jones was heavily favored to win, but it was Tarver who scored a KO at 1:41 of the second round. Jones had won the first round, but in the second, as Jones tried a combination, he was caught by a big counter-hook left from Tarver. Jones got on his feet by the count, but for the first time in his career was ruled unable to continue.

It was a stunning loss for Roy but like true warriors, he would go back to the drawing board. Later that year, Jones attempted to win the IBF light heavyweight title from Glen Johnson in a match in Memphis, Tennessee. If the sight of getting KO'd by Tarver was not bad enough, Johnson would knock out Jones 49 seconds into the ninth round in one of the more gruesome knockouts in boxing history. Jones lay on the canvas for three minutes after being counted out and looked as dead any other fighter I had ever seen.

It seemed so clear at this point that Roy's best days were clearly behind him. The big weight gain and then the big weight loss had taken his heart and soul away. He seemed so worry about making history which he did but in a blink of an eye, Roy had become history.

But Roy would come back to the ring once again a year later in a third bout with Antonio Tarver. He regrouped and dug deep in training for that third encounter with Tarver. Despite a gallant and stellar effort, Tarver emerged the victor in a grueling 12-round bout. In the post fight interview, Jones stated that he was still one of the best fighters in the world, and the fight was a warm-up for more fights to come.

At the time, it seemed like such a crazy thought as his hard fall from grace has drawn to Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. Both men of comparable gifts whose only true failing was not knowing when to leave the stage. In his final years, Robinson fell some no names and journeymen who beat a name, not a fighter. And let's not forget the Drama in Bahamas when Ali had his dreadful night with Trevor Berbick.

Even after all those knockout losses, Roy finds himself in the spotlight once again in a huge money showdown with Calzaghe. For one night, Roy has a chance to regain all his past glory and remind people of the Roy Jones of the 90's who never lost a round. For one night, he has a chance to show that Joe does not even belong in the same ring with him.

Let's be honest, before Calzaghe's win over Hopkins in April, Joe hasn't exactly fought a list of hall of famers. Calzaghe is a slapper, a guy who fights with his head up in the air, a fighter whose success and popularity is due as much to careful matchmaking as it is to real talent. Quite frankly, I don't think Joe simply isn't good enough to beat Jones at his best, although he may be lucky enough to catch him when he, like Ali, is nothing more than a name. Here is a chance to put behind that nightmare 17th month stretch he had from 2004-05. This will not be an easy fight for Roy to win but if Roy thinks like the Roy of old, then Calzaghe will have no shot. And if that happens, then everyone needs to get their popcorn ready for a fight 15 years in the making. Jones vs. Hopkins 2 will be our big money fight for 2009.