JONES PUT TO THE TEST By Kenny Perrault

On Saturday, November 7th, 2003 the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada played host to the WBC light heavyweight fight between belt holder Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver and challenger Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones entered the ring first for the second fight in a row as he did against former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz. The opening round was more of a feeling out round for both fighters, with a lot of posing and not much leather being thrown. However, Roy Jones would start a familiar trend here that he would continue throughout the fight, of laying on the ropes and covering up. He has done this many times in the past, laying on the ropes waiting for an opening, only to spring off the ropes with quick, sharp punches but tonight Roy didn't seem able to do that. Instead, he seemed content just letting Tarver unload punches every time Jones would lay back on the ropes.

The first two rounds mimicked one another; a lot of posing by both fighters until Roy would go to the ropes where Tarver landed leather. The third round would bring a change however, with Roy starting to work Tarver's body one punch at a time. When the fight was brought into the middle of the ring it seemed as though Tarver would freeze up not knowing what to do and only pawing his jab at Jones.

The middle rounds would go to Jones as he kept the action live in the middle of the ring. Tarver would start to come alive again in the later rounds though while Jones again retreated to the ropes, allowing Tarver to unload his punches to the head and body. Many of Tarver's punches landed on Jones' gloves and arms of Jones but enough got through to swell his face. Roy continued to work the body, and seemingly who would tire first beginning to suck air in the middle rounds.

The fight through the tenth round almost seemed routine; two rounds Roy would keep the fight in the center of the ring where he landed body blows and occasional shots to the head while Tarver did nothing but look at Jones and now through back. Then Roy would lay on the ropes for a round and take punishment from Tarver's onslaught. The championship rounds went to the Jones. With eyes swollen and Tarver waiting for Roy to land on the ropes, Jones came up huge. Tarver had his flurries but it was Roy who shined in the final six minutes of the fight. In the end the fans got what they've wanted out of Jones ... a FIGHT! It is safe to say that this was probably the most competitive fight of Jones' career.

Was it the drastic weight loss, age, or just Tarver that made Jones seem beatable for the first time? My best guess is that it was a bit of all those things. This was Tarver's fight to win and lose. He could have done more in the middle rounds and in the final two rounds. Maybe it was Roy's body attack that kept him at bay, maybe it was Jones' hand speed or power. Again I think it was a bit of all of the above.

The real winner tonight is HBO. They got a competitive fight out of Jones and a new superstar in Antonio Tarver. Well, on second thought, maybe it's the fans who are the real winners tonight. How long have we waited to see Jones in a real fight with some drama mixed in? In the end, Jones walks away with the Lt. Heavyweight title and the hope for a big payday against "Iron" Mike Tyson. As Jones would say "I fight Tyson or I don't fight at all." The judges scored the fight 114-114, 117-111, and 116-112. I had the fight scored 115-113 in favor of Jones. Jones improves his record to 49-1, 38 KOs and Antonio Tarver drops down to 21-2, 17 KOs.

On the undercard IBF Lt. Middleweight champion had a tougher than expected time against relatively unknown Mexican fighter who now calls Chicago home Angel Hernandez. Hernandez came out trying to get inside to unleash his punches to the head and body and at times he was successful. But it seemed whenever Winky would work behind his jab he couldn't miss with the straight left. In the later rounds however Winky started boxing and that gave Hernandez fits. Winky's straight left kept finding its target over and over again. Hernandez gave a great effort but it wasn't enough. He might have lost tonight but his stock did rise with this gutsy performance. All three judges saw it in favor of Winky Wright 119-109, 118-110, and 117-111. I scored the fight 117-111 in favor of Wright. Wright ups his record to 46-3, 25 KOs, while Hernandez drops to 24-5, 16 KOs.

The opening bout of the broadcast pitted 2000 Olympian Jermain Taylor against Rogelio Martinez. This fight was Taylor all the way; he simply dominated Martinez throughout the fight, looking very crisp and sharp doing it. Martinez couldn't seem to get his offense going at all as Taylor ripped through him round after round. Martinez's corner finally saw enough and stopped the fight in the middle of the seventh round. Rising star Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor improved his record to 18-0, 13 KOs.

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