Like him or not you must respect him and what he has accomplished inside of that squared-circle. He rubs a lot of people the wrong way and at times, he's his own worst publicist, as he tends to get so caught up in defending what he's about rather than just letting his accomplishments speak for themselves.

I first came in contact with this then very young brash teenager back in the Golden Gloves Nationals in 1987 in Knoxville Tennessee. Going to the Nationals is a humbling experience; it let's you soon find out that you are not such a big fish in such a small pond. Reaching the Nationals makes you realize that "I'm not as good as I thought," because you run into the best from all over the United States.

Granted that everyone who advances to the Nationals is already a Champion from where ever they reside. Of all those Champions in the Golden Gloves Nationals -myself included- only one stood out heads above the rest. He was only 156 lbs. then and I'm sure no one is surprised to find out that I'm referring to non-other than Roy Jones Jr.

When I was in the tournament I thought I was the best one there until I saw this kid, who was fast as lightning and an extremely powerful puncher. I asked my coach who was that guy. He didn't know; I was so puzzled that the following day I made it my business to be around when they announced his name.

They said Roy Jones Jr. I said this guy is something special. He's not like the rest of us here, he's way better than us. I met many guys who would one day become World Champions from those same Nationals but I knew this was a can't miss guy. From that day on I became a Roy Jones, Jr. fan.

I followed his career from the amateurs through the professional ranks. He's yet to disappoint me in terms of dominating his opponent. True he hasn't remotely fought anyone in quite sometime but that is not his fault; he has already cleaned out his division and will remain Champion there as long as he wants to. There is no one in the Light Heavyweight Division that can really give him a legitimate challenge. Most of these guys are retreads, he's already beat them. The only challenge out there has been the manufactured Dariusz Michalczewski, who fought two life and death bouts with Richard Hall, a guy who Roy Jones, Jr. played with.

I think Antonio Tarver is certainly worthy of a shot at Roy but what my first impression of Roy, the greatness I saw in him, I still see today. Roy is in a class all by himself, and I repeat, there is no real threat out there for him. Is it his fault he's that good? Do you punish and criticize him, because there is no one out there for him to fight that will give him a real run for his money? No, not Bernard Hopkins, either. I'm a Hopkins fan but he is no Roy Jones, Jr. by any stretch of the imagination.

Hopkins is a great Middleweight Champion who rose to the occasion in his defining fight against Félix Trinidad, who was really a blown-up Welterweight -not to demean his accomplishment- but to jump on the Hopkins band-wagon for beating Trinidad is not the answer for Roy. Roy would have KO'd Tito easier and much sooner; too big, and too strong.

Roy Jones, Jr. will only lose at Light Heavyweight if he stays around too long. No fighter is invincible and no fighter can out run Father Time. Roy has practically won almost every round of every fight he's been in. Montell Griffin did give him a great challenge the first time around. Montell's a very good friend of mine but he can't beat Roy Jones no matter how much I wish he could.

Roy should not be punished for beating whomever they've put in front of him. He cleaned out those who were supposed to be a challenge. I commend De la Hoya for probably being one of the best fighters of this era as well; even though he has losses, he has fought everyone that is or was anyone in various weight classes but he had other great fighters to challenge and bring more attention to his achievements.

My nephew also has a chance to be a part of that lineage of this era's great fighters. He's young enough and is not afraid to take on any challenge put before him, but he must keep himself in check outside of the ring to have a shot at obtaining such accolades.

I mustn't forget Lennox Lewis. He too has fought and beat all who were willing to step in the ring with him; he has ducked no one. I know I might be leaving a few fighters out but these are the stand outs that immediately come to mind. Getting back to Mr. Jones, I commend him on stepping up to face John Ruiz. It's a legitimate test for him, after all, Ruiz guy has been 36 rounds with Holyfield, who was one of the best in this era as well.

I still think Roy will win. I see guys with exceptional talent beat bigger guys in the gym everyday. There is nothing special about John Ruiz other than he's the bigger man. In a different era, John Ruiz would have had a hard time being in the top ten, let alone be the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Roy can't beat the super heavyweights that abound these days, but I give him a pretty good chance of beating the smaller heavies.

I don't think Jones needs to fight Ruiz to solidify his place in history, but to stop some of the criticism I guess it's worth the risk and I think that by far Ruiz is the safest risk of all. Claiming a Heavyweight Championship, like him or not, would make him most dominant in the sport.

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