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Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
July 15th, 2007
“Some Thoughts on Roy Jones Jr.”
It's not that surprising that nobody cared much about the
return of Roy Jones Jr. (51-4-0, 38 KO’s) and his fight against
Anthony Hanshaw (21-1-1, 14 KO’s) that aired on PPV Saturday
night, the same night HBO delighted fans with a -triple header
of exciting and defining match ups.
I read a few articles about Jones vs. Hanshaw on the only real
place for boxing news—the Internet. What really closed the door
of interest about the Jones fight Saturday was that it was on
Pay-Per-View. Why on Earth would anyone pay to see Roy Jones Jr.
in a potentially boring fight, when they could catch three great
fights for the price of subscription to HBO on cable TV?
Even though the venue where Jones vs. Hanshaw took place was
crowded, I figure most fight fans didn’t see it, knowing that it
would be re-aired next week. Most fight fans were revved up to
watch Margarito Williams, Gatti Gomez and Cintron Matthysse.
According to what I read, it was a competitive fight. Hanshaw
opened the first round with a can of ass whoop to win the first
round but that Jones was able to outbox him most of the fight.
Jones knocked Hanshaw down in the 11th round, but instead of
going for the kill, he let up and coasted to a Decision victory.
After the fight, Jones said he just felt he needed the rounds.
That is questionable but understandable. Had the fight been on
regular cable, most fans would’ve at least taped it and watched
it after HBO’s triple-header. While Jones won the fight in his
return to the ring, hardly anyone got to see it, mostly because
it was on PPV.
There was a time when Roy Jones Jr. was electrifying. When he
beat James Toney in 1994, putting Toney down in the third, then
out boxing him to the point of humiliation throughout, I was
amazed. His reflexes and unorthodox style was almost like kung
fu with just the hands. I couldn’t wait to see him fight again.
But after a while, I noticed that he was becoming the King of
the Bees instead of the best fighter fighting and beating the
best fighters. Most of his opponents since 1997 were B class
fighters and yes, that includes John Ruiz, who is arguably the
most B Class HW champion we’ve ever known.
Yeah, he knocked out Virgil Hill with a body shot in 1998 but he
absolutely refused to fight Hopkins or Toney again using
contract negotiations to kill it. He also refused to go to
Germany to fight Dariusz Michalczewski, unless he’d be paid the
ridiculous sum of 25 million. Jones used the negotiation process
to insure that certain dangerous fights never happened. He said
he’d fight the winner of Trinidad vs. Hopkins but when Hopkins
won, he used the negotiation process to insure that Hopkins
wouldn’t fight him. For a man who was being touted as the best
pound for pound fighter in all boxing, Roy was reluctant to ever
prove it against credible opponents.
Roy did what he pleased in the boxing world. It felt like he had
connections with endless pull (see HBO). His mandatory opponents
always looked like made to order tomato cans that were slow,
awkward and not known for having much pop in their punch. There
was often the feeling that there were bigger fish for Jones to
fry but Jones made it clear that anyone who wanted to fight him
had to earn the number one spot and take way less money than
him. When he fought Glen Kelley of Australia—that was it for me.
Like many fans, I was sick of Jones fighting guys who weren’t
top-notch fighters. How could you be the greatest if you always
fought the so-so guys? And all his fights were on PPV. Jones ego
got bigger than anyone he ever fought, even James Toney. It felt
like Jones was scamming the public and being paid big money to
fight little names.
Finally, in November of 2003, he fought Antonio Tarver, a man
who had been calling Jones out for a long, long time. It was a
close fight and I thought Tarver won but the Judges gave the
decision to Jones. There were a lot of fans that thought Roy got
a gift and wanted to see a rematch. To my shock, a rematch was
made six months later in May of 2004 and Tarver knocked Jones
out cold in the second round with a counter punch that Jones
never saw coming. The way Jones went down was chilling. Looked
like his jaw had not been tested in such a long time that
Tarver’s punch was like a bull in the China closet. After that
fight, Jones stock plummeted.
Four months later, in September of 2004, Jones picked an
opponent to redeem himself with in Glenn Johnson. Johnson was
able to control the fight with aggressive pressure and knocking
Jones out cold in the ninth round. Questions about Jones chin
had been answered.
Thirteen months later, Jones got real brave and fought a rubber
match with Antonio Tarver but lost a 12 round decision in what
might’ve been candidate for the most boring fight of the decade.
No longer considered best Pound for Pound fighter. No longer
much considered at all, Jones continued on, fighting Prince Badi
Ajamu in July of 2006, winning a Unanimous Decision. Last
Saturday night, a year later, Jones fights up and coming Anthony
Hanshaw and wins another U.D. Jones has been disappearing as
subtly as he ever appeared.
There is one fight I’d like to see Roy Jones Jr. take before he
retires—and that is against Bernard Hopkins. If he were to beat
B-Hop after all he’s been through and after all Bernard has
accomplished in his own right, Jones will have some redemption
that will be meaningful. Of course that fight would be on PPV
and that…would be understandable.
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Comments can be emailed to Sharkie
7-15-2007
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