Tweet
A while back I was interviewed by a Florida magazine about RJ and this was the question they asked...I have no idea if the article eevr came out or if my quote was ever used...but I saved it on my comp...figured it is a SURE-FIRE discussion/debate starter!! LOL
Regarding Roy Jones:
1. Where is Jones in his career? Where should he be? Does he still matter? As he talks of fighting again and returning to elite status, what would the 38-year-old have to do to reach that goal (i.e. fight so and so)? Can he do it? Is he risking damage to his legacy, or is it already too late? How has his personality in and out of the ring and choices of opponents affected evaluations of his career?
ICE: I am actually in the process of writing a book on boxing that is sort of like an autobiography that branches off into the many people, places and things I have seen in this game over the years and I have an entire chapter on Roy in it called "The Evolution of Roy Jones, Jr." In it I talk in detail about his rise from amateur star to the awesome champion he became and, of course, I had to talk about his situation as it is now.
There is one part where I talk about how many are saying now that by continuing to fight he is damaging his legacy in the sport and to that I say that anyone who uses his recent fights and future fights as some sort of proof that he somehow wasn't as good as he always claimed he was would be doing a great disservice to the man and to boxing. I mean, to say that the fights with Tarver and Johnson are proof of something negative towards Roy then they would also have to use the fight with Rocky Marciano against Joe Louis, the fights with Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick against Ali and the several losses Sugar Ray Robinson endured very late in his career as proof that he wasn't the greatest pound for pound boxer ever. They don't do that with Louis, Ali and Robinson and they shouldn't do it with Roy, either.
In his prime, say between 1994 and 1998 I would say that Roy stacks up favorably with anybody in or around his weight, including Robinson.
With that being said, I have read recently where Roy has said that a lot of people that are supposed to be friends of his are "hating on him" and saying that he shouldn't be fighting anymore and he is apparently taking that in his mind as some sort of insult. And here's my take on it. Some of those people are speaking what they see as the truth and if they really do feel that way then I commend them for coming out and saying it as opposed to being the type of people that keep being cheerleaders for a man no matter what, even though they know in their hearts that his best day has passed.
To me it's a tough spot because on the one hand you have Roy Jones at well below his best but he is still better than a large portion of the fighters out there. On the other hand, though, you have a Roy Jones, better than these other guys or not, who is clearly not the same fighter he was and many are rightfully wondering why he would want to give these guys who had absolutely no chance of beating him a few years ago a chance now to live off of his name.
If it was up to me I would say that there is one man on this earth who would and could give Roy the greatest, most intelligent and reasonable critique and suggestion and that's Big Roy. Whether Lil' Roy would ask him or not is another story.
And finally, I would be curious to see if someone had access to the many interviews Roy gave back when he was unquestionably at the very top of his game and they could quote him from back then. I for one always, always, always admired Roy's mental strength and common sense approach to boxing and if I was to guess I bet someone asked him a hypothetical question back then that deals with the situation he is actually in now and I would also be willing to bet that he said back then that he wouldn't ever allow himself to reach this point and if he did he would walk away beforehand.
I myself know that feeling of not wanting to give up before my time is passed because boxing truly is like a drug and as much as we may say we want to get out before we get hurt or ruin our reputations we almost always find ourselves saying "If I can still do it, why stop?"
It doesn't come to getting hurt or not anymore. It comes down to figuring out if we want to keep doing it even though we know deep in our hearts that we cant do it as well as we once did.
Regarding Derrick Gainer:
2. Having gone from Jones undercard regular to world champion to former champion who rarely fights, Gainer fell into the negative category of "Is he still around?" in a recent issue of a national boxing magazine. Is this a fair and accurate assessment? What should Gainer be doing with his career? Will he be regarded as anything more than a Jones protege (or, less kindly, someone carried by Jones)? He once broke away from the Jones camp and tried it on his own. Now, he's back. Even as a world champion and world-ranked fighter by the major sanctioning bodies, did Gainer ever shake the reputation as a Jones shadow boxer?
ICE: There was a lengthy period of time where Smoke was looked at by many as a guy that was carried by Roy but at the same time I think if you look back on his entire career as a whole there are some very good wins on his ledger, including victories over Kevin Kelley (in their rematch), Victor Polo and Freddy Norwood.
Smoke was a good fighter without Roy's help and if he benefited from connections to Roy then so what? Muhammad Ali used his own clout to get his own brother Rachman on some of his big shows with him, too, but Rachman didn't produce like he needed to and didn't make it to world championship level. Nobody criticized them and for good reason and they shouldn't do it with Smoke and Roy, either. Smoke produced in certain fights and Roy wasn't there in the ring helping him. He led him to the water but people seem to forget that Smoke actually had to go out and drink it all on his own and he did it well enough to become world champion. I tend to believe that the people who make a big deal out of that are the same people who never liked Roy to begin with.
Regarding Roy Jones:
1. Where is Jones in his career? Where should he be? Does he still matter? As he talks of fighting again and returning to elite status, what would the 38-year-old have to do to reach that goal (i.e. fight so and so)? Can he do it? Is he risking damage to his legacy, or is it already too late? How has his personality in and out of the ring and choices of opponents affected evaluations of his career?
ICE: I am actually in the process of writing a book on boxing that is sort of like an autobiography that branches off into the many people, places and things I have seen in this game over the years and I have an entire chapter on Roy in it called "The Evolution of Roy Jones, Jr." In it I talk in detail about his rise from amateur star to the awesome champion he became and, of course, I had to talk about his situation as it is now.
There is one part where I talk about how many are saying now that by continuing to fight he is damaging his legacy in the sport and to that I say that anyone who uses his recent fights and future fights as some sort of proof that he somehow wasn't as good as he always claimed he was would be doing a great disservice to the man and to boxing. I mean, to say that the fights with Tarver and Johnson are proof of something negative towards Roy then they would also have to use the fight with Rocky Marciano against Joe Louis, the fights with Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick against Ali and the several losses Sugar Ray Robinson endured very late in his career as proof that he wasn't the greatest pound for pound boxer ever. They don't do that with Louis, Ali and Robinson and they shouldn't do it with Roy, either.
In his prime, say between 1994 and 1998 I would say that Roy stacks up favorably with anybody in or around his weight, including Robinson.
With that being said, I have read recently where Roy has said that a lot of people that are supposed to be friends of his are "hating on him" and saying that he shouldn't be fighting anymore and he is apparently taking that in his mind as some sort of insult. And here's my take on it. Some of those people are speaking what they see as the truth and if they really do feel that way then I commend them for coming out and saying it as opposed to being the type of people that keep being cheerleaders for a man no matter what, even though they know in their hearts that his best day has passed.
To me it's a tough spot because on the one hand you have Roy Jones at well below his best but he is still better than a large portion of the fighters out there. On the other hand, though, you have a Roy Jones, better than these other guys or not, who is clearly not the same fighter he was and many are rightfully wondering why he would want to give these guys who had absolutely no chance of beating him a few years ago a chance now to live off of his name.
If it was up to me I would say that there is one man on this earth who would and could give Roy the greatest, most intelligent and reasonable critique and suggestion and that's Big Roy. Whether Lil' Roy would ask him or not is another story.
And finally, I would be curious to see if someone had access to the many interviews Roy gave back when he was unquestionably at the very top of his game and they could quote him from back then. I for one always, always, always admired Roy's mental strength and common sense approach to boxing and if I was to guess I bet someone asked him a hypothetical question back then that deals with the situation he is actually in now and I would also be willing to bet that he said back then that he wouldn't ever allow himself to reach this point and if he did he would walk away beforehand.
I myself know that feeling of not wanting to give up before my time is passed because boxing truly is like a drug and as much as we may say we want to get out before we get hurt or ruin our reputations we almost always find ourselves saying "If I can still do it, why stop?"
It doesn't come to getting hurt or not anymore. It comes down to figuring out if we want to keep doing it even though we know deep in our hearts that we cant do it as well as we once did.
Regarding Derrick Gainer:
2. Having gone from Jones undercard regular to world champion to former champion who rarely fights, Gainer fell into the negative category of "Is he still around?" in a recent issue of a national boxing magazine. Is this a fair and accurate assessment? What should Gainer be doing with his career? Will he be regarded as anything more than a Jones protege (or, less kindly, someone carried by Jones)? He once broke away from the Jones camp and tried it on his own. Now, he's back. Even as a world champion and world-ranked fighter by the major sanctioning bodies, did Gainer ever shake the reputation as a Jones shadow boxer?
ICE: There was a lengthy period of time where Smoke was looked at by many as a guy that was carried by Roy but at the same time I think if you look back on his entire career as a whole there are some very good wins on his ledger, including victories over Kevin Kelley (in their rematch), Victor Polo and Freddy Norwood.
Smoke was a good fighter without Roy's help and if he benefited from connections to Roy then so what? Muhammad Ali used his own clout to get his own brother Rachman on some of his big shows with him, too, but Rachman didn't produce like he needed to and didn't make it to world championship level. Nobody criticized them and for good reason and they shouldn't do it with Smoke and Roy, either. Smoke produced in certain fights and Roy wasn't there in the ring helping him. He led him to the water but people seem to forget that Smoke actually had to go out and drink it all on his own and he did it well enough to become world champion. I tend to believe that the people who make a big deal out of that are the same people who never liked Roy to begin with.
Comment