By Cliff Rold
When it was first announced, I penned a column for Boxing Scene asking whether a 2008 Roy Jones Jr.-Felix Trinidad bout would be a punch line, a bad joke if you would, or a prize fight. Saturday night, at Madison Square Garden, the boxing world was treated to a best case scenario. For twelve highly professional rounds between future Hall if Famers, Jones-Trinidad was a prize fight.
The only real prize on the table, victory, was achieved by the 39-year old Jones (52-4, 38 KO) of Pensacola, Florida. The former-four division titlist was slow to open up, but as he began to do so in the third and fourth round, one could catch glimpses of the fighter once revered as the best in the world.
There were glimpses and shades of what made Trinidad a Puerto Rican icon (42-3, 35 KO) as well. The right hand to the temple that dropped and seriously hurt him in the seventh round could have been a precursor for the end if Tito were as old in heart as he is in body at 35. He was not. Tito dug deep to survive, as he had so many times in his multiple trips to the canvas over the years and continued to press the action. He never stopped trying to win and he never stopped trying to land his vaunted left hook. That he never landed that punch was indicative of his foe’s remaining qualities more than his talent. Jones, even at 39, was not going to play the victim that once was Oba Carr, Yori Boy Campas or David Reid.
So, we got an entertaining show from the old veterans and that’s not so bad. What might be bad is to lay too much credit at the feet of either for that show. How much credit should they get?
Let’s go to the report card.
Speed: Muhammad Ali used to boast that he was fast enough to cut out the lights and be in bed before the room was dark. Jones, on his best day, might have been faster than that. Judged by the standards of everyday fighters, and judged by what was needed Saturday night, Jones is still quick of hand but the speed of his youth is long gone. Against Trinidad, Jones in combination was able to keep Tito off balance but the split seconds he’s lost kept him from being able to overwhelm Tito the way he once might have. Trinidad was able to throw hard but his right hand in particular lacked snap. There was a lone moment in the bout, the Jones right hand in the tenth round which dropped Trinidad for a flash knockdown, that came so sudden it literally dropped jaws throughout the arena, a collective awakening of the memories eye to what a prime Jones truly was. Pre-Fight Report Card: Jones A-/Trinidad B-; Post Fight: Jones B+/Trinidad B-
Power: Jones stunned Trinidad more than once throughout the night and Trinidad got a couple nods of approval from Jones for a single hard shots, but there wasn’t much of the sort of jaw (and rib) shattering power each man became famous for. The most notable power display was in the noted seventh and it was classic Roy, the sort of quick counter that former Light Heavyweight titlist Reggie Johnson could empathize with. Clearly, when he sits on his shots, Jones still is capable of painful results. Trinidad likely still carries thunder in the left hook, but the former Welterweight couldn’t land it against his Light Heavyweight foe and his echoing body shots did little to slow Roy down. Pre-Fight Report Card: Jones B/Trinidad B; Post-Fight: Jones B+/Trinidad B
Defense: In the pre-fight report, I wrote that “At his best, [Jones] could stand along the ropes, picking off shots and slipping from side to side, even against men with decent hand speed.” On numerous occasions Saturday, Roy would invite Trinidad to the ropes and do just that. Regardless of whether he could be as successful against a Joe Calzaghe, it was vintage enough to frustrate Trinidad. Trinidad was never hard to hit at the elite level, but did a good job covering up to protect against flurries and kept himself in the battle. Pre-Fight Report Card: Jones A-/Trinidad C+; Post-Fight: Jones A/Trinidad B-
Intangibles: Not much of surprise in this category. History said that when Trinidad gets dropped, he finds ways to survive and come back with firm resolve. He is a fighter of great character. Jones has been a mixed big over the years when dealing with adversity (and that is largely a product of his skill at avoiding it altogether) but, as noted before the fight, “advantages in speed, power and defense probably prevent Tito from landing a hard shot” and subsequently testing any of Roy’s intangibles. That will come against another man on another day. As it stood, Jones never wavered in opening up against a man known for power. Given his recent chin issues, it is clear Jones still has a fighter’s heart. Pre-Fight Report Card: Jones B; Trinidad A-; Post-Fight: Jones A-/Trinidad A-
Overall Report Card Advantage: Jones B+; Trinidad B
The pre-fight and post-fight grades remain the same even if the fight did not come off as predicted by this scribe. Jones did not overwhelm Tito, instead opting for the wisest method available and outboxing him.
The page turns now to the future for each man. After Saturday, each still has a potentially lucrative one. Trinidad looked a bit soft at the weigh-in on Friday but didn’t appear to be in the ring one night later. It can be assumed that he would be able to comfortably make 160 or 168 lbs., and that those weights would be more effective than 170 was. Fights with young tigers like World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik or old rivals like Oscar De La Hoya at those weights are not inconceivable, though the latter is much safer than the former.
Jones on the other hand turns in one direction: April 12, 2008. That is the day that Bernard Hopkins will defend the Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight belt against World Super Middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Love it, like it or loathe it, the business of boxing says Jones is the most likely, and most profitable, opponent for the victor of that bout. Jones insisted at the press conference after the fight that he’d fight ‘anyone’ but anyone kept morphing into Calzaghe or Hopkins. Can he defeat either?
Based on what was seen Saturday, Jones could still be competitive with the 43-year old Hopkins, with every chance to defeat him. Jones-Hopkins II, which is closing in on a generation overdue, again rises to the surface and it is a more dangerous bout to Hopkins legacy than Jones health.
Jones could lose and balance would be supplied to the arguments about which man, he or Bernard, is the greater fighter. Hopkins backers have always argued that their man lacked necessary experience when he was decisioned by Jones in 1993; Jones fans would point to Jones being more gone than Hopkins with a loss in 2008. A Hopkins loss in 2008, at a point when he is considered to be the physically sturdier man even with his more advanced calendar age, would make it difficult to debate his merits over Jones forever more.
Jones-Calzaghe? That’s a different story and the more likely fight. The growing sentiment seems to be that Calzaghe, the seven years younger man at 36, should beat Hopkins in April. Should he (and it’s a task that won’t be easily accomplished) Calzaghe will be heavily favored to beat Roy. A win for Joe there would pad his savings. For Roy, it would be a chance to walk into the twilight with the scalp of an undefeated opponent considered no less than the third best fighter in the world at a time when he appeared far from that level. The implications of that on Jones historical standing would fill a number of pages.
Lots of if between now and when and those are report cards for another day.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
