Please retire Roy Jones, before boxing retires you

By: John McCormick A old timer once told me that the sport of boxing is about "hitting and not getting hit". If that is the case, nobody during the 1990's and early 2000's did this better than Roy Jones Jr., 54W-8L (40 KO). Jones had a stellar Amateur career, winning many national titles such as the Junior Olympics and the National Golden Gloves, and ended his amateur career with a record of 121 Wins and 13 Losses. Jones represented the United States in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games where he was robbed at the hands of the local judges. That loss propelled Roy Jones into professional boxing with a bang. * Roy Jones captured world titles in 4 different weight classes spanning from Middleweight all the way up to Heavyweight, all while defeating future hall of famers such as Bernard Hopkins, Virgil Hill, and James Toney. Roy was at the top of many experts pound for pound lists for almost the entire decade. However his demise began just as his biggest night ended. On March 1st 2003, Roy Jones Jr. defeated John Ruiz for the Heavyweight championship of the world, an accomplishment beyond recognition. That was the last time that we saw the Roy Jones Jr that we all knew. * They say that you are only good as your last fight. If Roy would've retired on that night, he would've been remembered as one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boxing gloves, perhaps some may have said he was the greatest. Instead, he chose to go back down to light heavyweight to face Antonio Tarver and get knocked out. Roy continued to fight, getting knocked out 3 more times in his next 11 bouts. * Now at the age of 42, Roy has again announced that he will be fighting again on December 10th. If he continues, the damage done may be permanent. Roy not only has been knocked out four times in his last 12 bouts, but he stays on the canvas, out cold for long periods of time after the fight has stopped. It is time for Roy Jones Jr. to hang up the gloves for good before they hang him up. We have seen too many boxers end up with permanent disabilities, and in some cases have died due to injuries from the fistic art. For every other bout that he continues to fight, he is flirting with tainting his legacy even more than it already has been, and even worse permanent danger. Roy, please hang them up, like you should've March 2nd 2003.