"You don't want to go out losing," - Roy Jones

Posted on Wed, Jan. 05, 2005 Jones fears loser tag but he's a winner to Pensacola fans BILL KACZOR Associated Press PENSACOLA, Fla. - Roy Jones Jr. says the only thing that would make him step back into the ring would be getting labeled as a loser, but to dozens of adoring children and military boosters the hometown boxing great was a knockout Wednesday. Jones, a former champion in four weight classes and once acclaimed as the world's best pound-for-pound boxer, presented a pair of autographed gloves that were awarded in a drawing to benefit wounded Iraq war veterans. A fiberglass pelican painted in his likeness was also unveiled during a ceremony at the National Museum of Naval Aviation. It is one of several pelicans depicting various themes that are displayed around Pensacola as part of a fund-raising effort for the Pensacola News Journal's Newspapers in Education program. Jones, 35, has been concentrating on his career with HBO after losing his last two fights. "I'm a commentator right now," Jones said as he signed autographs and had his picture taken with school children and other fans. "I don't know about fighting. "I've accomplished enough." Jones in 2003 joined Michael Spinks as the only light-heavyweight champions to also win a heavyweight championship. He then returned to the light-heavyweight ranks last year only to be knocked out by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson in a pair of championship fights. "You don't want to go out losing," Jones said Wednesday. "I would never give up because things didn't go my way. So, that's the only considering factor that I have that would make me come back." Fans submitted $5 telephone calling cards to participate in the drawing for the gloves. The cards will be given to hospitalized troops. "I came out here to support the troops and I won something," winner Deborah Houlihan said. Jones recalled that Pensacola Naval Air Station, where the museum is located and his father once worked, gave him a substitute gold medal when he returned from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul after losing a disputed title match to a Korean boxer. Retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, president and CEO of the museum's fund-raising foundation, hailed Jones for being a good role model. "They say the measure of success is where you started, where you wound up or where you might have been," Fetterman said. "I don't think there's any question that Roy Jones has answered those questions." -Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio - Sports 18:57