By Don Colgan

Greatness is a label that is bestowed far too routinely across the spectrum of modern day sports, and in so doing the distinction continues to widen between recognizing an epic performer, or an epic performance, from something markedly less.  Great performances have a catalyst, springing from powerful individual and team rivalries, individual pride, factors that drive the bar of achievement higher and higher.  Ali did not earn his greatness from stopping Sonny Liston , Floyd Patterson or Cleveland Williams.  It was the three wars with Joe Frazier that revealed the great heart, that magnificent chin, the champion's will to win.

Affirmed had his Alydar and forged three unforgettable Triple Crown moments..  Evert & Navratilova waged war on clay and grass for 16 years.  Reggie Jackson’s three first pitch series clinching home run performance against the Dodgers in the 1978 fall classic.  The New York Islanders four consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the early 1980’s.  Bill Russell’s championship heart and mental toughness leading Boston to title after title four decades ago.  Jackie Joyner Kercee capturing a nation during the 1984 Summer Olympics.  That defines greatness!

Greatness is forged by the trial of fire.  Without that trial of fire, there cannot be true greatness.

It is unassailable that Secretariat was a great, perhaps the greatest thoroughbred of all time.  It is unarguable that Joe DiMaggio, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, Babe Diedrickson Zaharias, George Herman Ruth, Muhammad Ali,  Sugar Ray Robinson, Martina Navratilova, Gordie Howe, Russell and, of course, Michael Jordon are symbolic of greatness and sports immortality.

Over the past dozen years the word “greatness” has been connected to Roy Jones Jr’s name arguably more than that of any athlete in the world.  He was worn the best “pound for pound” crown almost unanimously, prior to his stunning knockout defeat at the hands of Antonio Tarver.  Since he first captured the IBF Middleweight Championship from Bernard Hopkins in 1993, followed by the WBC Light Heavyweight crown from Mike Mc Callum three years hence Roy was an acclaimed world champion.

Some of the names are very forgettable.  Antoine Byrd, Tony Thorton, Merqui Sosa, Lou DelValle, Otis Grant, Rick Frazier, Richard Hall, Eric Harding, Julio Gonzales and Clinton Woods.  All challengers Roy Jones met and vanquished during his title reigns.  All contributed to the growth of the Roy Jones legend, his “greatness”.

There is not a Joey Archer, Denny Moyer, Vito Antofermo, Jorge Ahumada or John Conteh in the bunch.  Jones boxed the weak, forgettable pretenders, who were not viable title threats.  In fairness to Roy, he stopped Panzienza, a worthy ex-champion yet nowhere remotely near Roy’s class.  The flawless points triumph over James Toney was an art form.  Reggie Johnson, Montel Griffin and Virgil Hill were certainly not pushovers.

Roy Jones Jr was not a great fighter.  He fought great!

Yet Roy never had his Joe Frazier.  He never had to “fight the fight”!  To elevate his performance and test his heart or face certain defeat.  Roy Jones Jr was never threatened.  He never permitted himself to be!  He never forced himself to hurdle over the bar and surmount the challenge of greatness. 

Until Antonio Tarver!

Now Roy is an ex-champion.  Knocked out in two rounds by Tarver. To use the adjective “stopped” or “halted” doesn’t do the result justice.  Roy was knocked out! Antonio Tarver didn’t buy into the myth of Roy’s greatness and professed invincibility.  Edged by Jones in their first contest, a bout in which he exposed Roy, revealing a vulnerable titleholder diminished by weak challenges and soft title defenses Tarver made Roy the psychological underdog before the return, confidently predicting to all who would listen the knockout that came to pass.

Then Jones was stopped a second successive time, in nine rounds by unheralded Glen Johnson.  His invincibility in shatters, he went to the back of the class in his division, no more than a 2nd tier contender for his old championship. 

Now he has one more chance at redemption.  A rubber match with Tarver, who is a champion again after convincingly regaining his laurels in his return with Johnson.  Jones enters this contest shorn of great expectation and a shortender in the betting as most in the boxing community forecast a repeat of Jones-Tarver II, another knockout defeat for Roy.
 
Jones legacy, and his place in boxing history as a great champion, rests upon his stopping Tarver and reclaiming the championship.  There is every precedent in boxing history for Jones and Tarver to meet for a third time.  Robinson ducked no one, meeting Turpin, Fullmer and Basilio to reclaim the middleweight crown.  Patterson knew he had to overcome his demons and stop Johansson to regain any semblance of public acceptance.  Emile Griffith made the trilogy an art form during his series with Nino Benvenuti.

Tarver-Jones III will be an enormously heralded bout, providing boxing with a surge of energy and public anticipation that has been swelling with several stellar title bouts on the horizon, including the much anticipated Klitschko – Rahman bout and the promise of continued brilliance by Floyd Mayweather and a possible collision with Ricky Hatton in light of Mayweather’s brutal stoppage of Arturo Gatti.  

If Roy is stopped early by Tarver, he will solidify his place in boxing history as a vastly overrated champion, a product of 90’s media hype, a kinder, gentler version of Mike Tyson.

Greatness cannot be is until Roy Jones Jr  defeats Antonio Tarver. Like Robinson in 1955, when the Sugarman shocked the boxing world coming out of retirement to halt Bobo Olsen in two heats, Ray has to find his way back!