By Tom Donelson
Mention Roy Jones, and you will be guarantee a debate. He is the enigma for most boxing fans and pundits as we try to sort out his career. With knockout defeats at the hands of Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, Jones' fall from boxing pundits’ graces have been in full bloom. When he defeated John Ruiz, he was hailed in many corners as the greatest. When he lost to Tarver in their rematch, he was essentially demoted to boxing purgatory.
On October 1st, Jones faces Antonio Tarver for the IBO light heavyweight championship belt but this fight is not about a minor title. It is about whether Roy Jones still has something left in the tank or were the losses to Tarver and Johnson an indication that Jones finally got old. On paper, Tarver is heavy favorite. Following his loss to Glen Johnson last year, Tarver rededicated himself and came back strong to easily decision Johnson in their rematch early this year. Tarver showed us just what kind of fighter he really is against Johnson. He demonstrated patience, boxing skill and an abundance of ring generalship. One has to wonder what flaws Jones saw in Tarver's arsenal that swayed him to change his mind about coming back to the ring and challenging the man that knocked him out with a single punch.
So what does Jones gain by beating Tarver? He puts himself back on the map by beating the best light heavyweight in the world and reestablishes a career that took some major hits when he was knocked out in his last two fights. What makes this fight intriguing is we now see Jones as a mere mortal. We are not automatically assuming that this fight is in the bag for either fighter. Should Jones beat Tarver, he will have some multi-million dollar options against either Hopkins or Johnson. What boxing fans and pundits will be looking for is the old Roy Jones. Many fans want to see the return of the same Jones that used to carve up the light heavyweight division on a regular basis. If that Jones shows up, then we can look forward to a great encounter. If Tarver wins again, then questions about Jones' overall career will be asked.
Jones has to pull out all the tricks in order to win this bout and he will need to regain some of the magic in order to accomplish this feat. At the age of 36, Jones is not the fighter that he once was and in Tarver, he found a style that he could not solve. For the first time in a long time, the odds will be stacked against Jones.
There was a time when Jones was regarded as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the last 30 years. For nearly 15 years, he dominated three different weight divisions and his victory over Ruiz is looking more impressive with every Ruiz win. Granted the heavyweight division is at a same poor level not seen since the early 30’s, still Ruiz has proven to be one of the better heavyweights in the division. Since he lost to Jones, he has beaten Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo and Andrew Golota. Whatever you want to say about Ruiz, he beat a few top ten fighters over the past five years including Kirk Johnson and Evander Holyfield. Since James Toney's win over Ruiz was reversed due to Toney testing positive for steroids, Jones is still the last man to beat Ruiz.
Before the second Tarver fight, I wrote that Jones may belong in the top ten of all time light heavyweights; it would be pressing it to put him in the top five. I still stand by that. Too often pundits are swayed by one fight in determining a boxer's career. I wrote that while Jones' victory over Ruiz was a remarkable feat, it was not in the same category as Michael Spinks beating Holmes. Even today, that analysis still stands. Jones has had a remarkable career that is hall of fame worthy. While there is no doubt that the light heavyweight division that Jones dominated was one of the weakest, if not the weakest, in the past century, Jones still beat everyone in front of him with ease. Until the Tarver fiasco, only Montell Griffin beat Jones by disqualification in a fight that Jones was clearly coming on to win the fight
The bottom line is that Jones’ place in boxing history should be secured. He was a very good light heavyweight but not the greatest in that division. He was a very good middle and super middleweight and he did beat a legitimate heavyweight in Ruiz. The coming October, we will see if Jones still has any of his greatness left or that maybe, Father Time has finally grabbed a chokehold on the fighter once regarded as "Superman".