ROY JONES JR: MY CUTMAN DROPPED THE BALL, HAD HE DONE HIS JOB, I WOULD HAVE WON!
By G. Leon
"There's no doubt I would have won, and I'd fight him in Wales to prove it!"
GL: Can you give us some thoughts on your performance and tell us what went wrong?
RJ: "A lot didn't go wrong, I faced adveristy I never faced before and my cutman wasn't really up to par and not ready for the task at hand. He didn't really give me the best chance to win. In this sport you have a team and in this case, my team, mainly my cut man didn't do his job. I think he was in shock because he never seen me like that before and I never put him in exposure like that but it's all good. You have to move forward and do better than that from now on."
You need a Boxing Talk account to read the entire interview.
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20081109/i/r1239694576.jpg
Doesn't surprise me, Roy's worst enemy has always been his own ego. Hope he puts serious thought into just leaving his legacy alone.
He don't know when to quit, just like Holyfield, just like Tyson, just like so many other great fighters throughout the history of the sport. Hope it's just one more for him, the fight with B-Hop, then they can both call it quits.
How can he blame his cutman he was tired anyway just getting tagged off some silly shots then he got the cut, his cut man tried but everytime he stopped it bleeding Joe just ended out hitting it again and making it bleed. So he cant blame him, he would of lost anyway joe has too high of a work rate for jones to cope with.
I agree that Roy has been getting old. The reason I gave him a chance in this fight is because he fought smart and with his hands up against Trinidad.
He made a mistake trying to fight like young Roy tonight. I think he did get taken out of his game plan, and lulled into a false sense of ability because of the first knockdown.
But once again, not being able to pull of the Roy Jones style defense any more does not make Roy shot, or too old to be fighting. When Roy was using traditional head movement, even though that was not to offten, Joe couldn't touch him. That alone was a good measuring stick for what he has left.
When he tried to fight like Roy Jones he got hit, but when he was using more traditional defense he was doing well. I don't think most people noticed that in the 3rd and 4th rounds when Roy was walking down Joe and not hitting him he was taunting him, which was actually a pretty good idea. He let Joe throw, then said "come on!" "hit me" every time.
On the inside he was working a solid uppercut game all night. Nice crisp short shots that are not flashy, but that were getting in consistently.
As for his hands getting slower as the fight went on. Welcome to fatigue. Unlike Joe, Roy has never been a stamina monster of any kind, age didn't help with this at all.
So basically in conclusion, just because Roy can't fight like Roy does not make him shot. Hes reflexes simply diminished below the critical threshold necessary to pull that off. They are still better than most fighters, Bernard included. His hand speed is still quite remarkable. His legs are still great, even though he doesn't have the same stamina he once had. Just look at the double right hand he threw in the closing of the 12th round. You can't do that on shot legs.
As I said, I don't think he's shot because once he's shot we'd definitely know it but he's done as a top class fighter, as Hopkins said in his interview, Jones was a fighter that relied so much on speed and reflexes that he didn't bother learning the basics of boxing, now that he's getting older and everything is slowing down, that lack on boxing fundamentals in getting him into trouble.
As I said, once a fighter like Jones gets old, he's done, retire while he has his faculties, no need to fight on and get hurt which is the road he seems to be taking now. I've seen way too many fighters fight on too long and get hurt.
The first 2 times I rewatched the fight, I just rewatched it to analyze what both of them were doing right and what they were doing wrong, and each and every time I watch it, I see classic signs of a fighter getting old, Jones is an old fighter, maybe not shot but he's old and when a fighter like Jones gets old, he's done. He relied way too much on reflexes and speed, which are normally the first things to go when a fighter gets older and it's very clear that Jones' speed dropped off badly as the fight went on and that his reflexes aren't there anymore, I want to see him retire before he get permanently hurt.
And his legs, while not totally gone aren't fresh, it's a matter of time before his legs are gone as well, it's time to retire for a once great fighter.
There wasn't much slipping from Jones in the fight either, he was doing an alright job of blocking shots with his gloves but even then he was getting hit a lot.
As I told you a few days ago, I'm not trying to take the win away from Calzaghe but it's clear that Jones is past his best, Calzaghe is much closer to his prime than Jones is.
Is Calzaghe better prime for prime? I'm not sure but I don't think so. Is Calzaghe better now? Most definitely.
I agree that Roy has been getting old. The reason I gave him a chance in this fight is because he fought smart and with his hands up against Trinidad.
He made a mistake trying to fight like young Roy tonight. I think he did get taken out of his game plan, and lulled into a false sense of ability because of the first knockdown.
But once again, not being able to pull of the Roy Jones style defense any more does not make Roy shot, or too old to be fighting. When Roy was using traditional head movement, even though that was not to offten, Joe couldn't touch him. That alone was a good measuring stick for what he has left.
When he tried to fight like Roy Jones he got hit, but when he was using more traditional defense he was doing well. I don't think most people noticed that in the 3rd and 4th rounds when Roy was walking down Joe and not hitting him he was taunting him, which was actually a pretty good idea. He let Joe throw, then said "come on!" "hit me" every time.
On the inside he was working a solid uppercut game all night. Nice crisp short shots that are not flashy, but that were getting in consistently.
As for his hands getting slower as the fight went on. Welcome to fatigue. Unlike Joe, Roy has never been a stamina monster of any kind, age didn't help with this at all.
So basically in conclusion, just because Roy can't fight like Roy does not make him shot. Hes reflexes simply diminished below the critical threshold necessary to pull that off. They are still better than most fighters, Bernard included. His hand speed is still quite remarkable. His legs are still great, even though he doesn't have the same stamina he once had. Just look at the double right hand he threw in the closing of the 12th round. You can't do that on shot legs.
Lol, the fight is 5 days old!
Why in god's name have you watched it three times already?!?
Just to analyze what they were doing, and to see if Shawn was right in what he told me a few days ago, but I just don't see it. And I like to watch these fights when it's fresh in my mind before another big fight comes up for me to watch.
Its become more and more apparent to me that Joe was simply the better fighter. Jones was also doing much much better in the rounds before the cut than after it.
He appeared to be ramping up the activity levels. The round he was cut was actually one of his best rounds before the cut.
The timing and combinations that he did throw did not scream of a shot fighter.
You need to stop looking for Roy Jones and just watch the fight like its any other fighter in there.
He fought very well. He was putting punches together well. He was finding his target well, his hand speed was excellent. I think he ran out of steam in the 10th round. In the later rounds he seemed to burn himself out in the first part of the round, then took the rest of the round off.
Even looking at it from a career standpoint the probability of him being "shot" is next to none.
fighters become "shot" from incurring excessive amounts of brain damage. Roy made a career out of being untouchable. He basically has 20 or so fights worth of wear and tear on his brain.
Most of the problems I see in Jones come from the natural aging process. His reflexes slowed down a bit, but not hugely. His hand speed is a touch slower, but again, not buy a huge margin. Hes stamina is not the same. He does not show the signs of a shot fighter.
He still has bounce in his legs, he can still slip punches, and he can still put punches together.
As hard as it is to believe. I think the answer might be that GASP Joe Calzaghe is better than Roy Jones.
The first 2 times I rewatched the fight, I just rewatched it to analyze what both of them were doing right and what they were doing wrong, and each and every time I watch it, I see classic signs of a fighter getting old, Jones is an old fighter, maybe not shot but he's old and when a fighter like Jones gets old, he's done. He relied way too much on reflexes and speed, which are normally the first things to go when a fighter gets older and it's very clear that Jones' speed dropped off badly as the fight went on and that his reflexes aren't there anymore, I want to see him retire before he get permanently hurt.
And his legs, while not totally gone aren't fresh, it's a matter of time before his legs are gone as well, it's time to retire for a once great fighter.
There wasn't much slipping from Jones in the fight either, he was doing an alright job of blocking shots with his gloves but even then he was getting hit a lot.
As I told you a few days ago, I'm not trying to take the win away from Calzaghe but it's clear that Jones is past his best, Calzaghe is much closer to his prime than Jones is.
Is Calzaghe better prime for prime? I'm not sure but I don't think so. Is Calzaghe better now? Most definitely.
3 times, haven't changed my opinion that Jones is done.
Its become more and more apparent to me that Joe was simply the better fighter. Jones was also doing much much better in the rounds before the cut than after it.
He appeared to be ramping up the activity levels. The round he was cut was actually one of his best rounds before the cut.
The timing and combinations that he did throw did not scream of a shot fighter.
You need to stop looking for Roy Jones and just watch the fight like its any other fighter in there.
He fought very well. He was putting punches together well. He was finding his target well, his hand speed was excellent. I think he ran out of steam in the 10th round. In the later rounds he seemed to burn himself out in the first part of the round, then took the rest of the round off.
Even looking at it from a career standpoint the probability of him being "shot" is next to none.
fighters become "shot" from incurring excessive amounts of brain damage. Roy made a career out of being untouchable. He basically has 20 or so fights worth of wear and tear on his brain.
Most of the problems I see in Jones come from the natural aging process. His reflexes slowed down a bit, but not hugely. His hand speed is a touch slower, but again, not buy a huge margin. Hes stamina is not the same. He does not show the signs of a shot fighter.
He still has bounce in his legs, he can still slip punches, and he can still put punches together.
As hard as it is to believe. I think the answer might be that GASP Joe Calzaghe is better than Roy Jones.
It seems like he will have at least 1 more fight, his team has been saying he got out of his gameplan now Jones is blaming his cutman, all these excuses leads me to believe that he's going to fight on.
Looks like the stars are aligning for B-Hop vs Jones II.