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"ROY JONES, WALKING A FINE LINE WITH DEATH!
26 September, 2005 by Cliff Rold
HBO PREVIEW GLOSSES OVER JONES’ DANGER!
Following perhaps its best boxing show of the year (more on that later), HBO debuted their 30 minute commercial for this weekends third encounter between Ring Magazine 175 pound titlist Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr. As with any good commercial, the producers at HBO did a good job of magnifying the story of the fight. They looked at the combatant’s troubles in childhood; their duel at age 12; amateur successes worldwide; and the arcs of their professional careers that have brought them to the end of an epic trilogy. That arc has already created two memorable encounters with a controversial decision win for Jones and Tarver’s stunning one punch knockout win in the rematch. Since that night each has faced off with Glenn Johnson, and it is the Jones encounter with him that should be the focus.
JOHNSON FIGHT NOT GIVEN GRAVITY IT DESERVES!
While Tarver was able to split his two battles (24 rounds) with Johnson, Jones was split nearly in half by the rugged Jamaican. HBO’s commercial touched on that night last September, a night that left Jones lying there out cold for some five minutes, and unable to leave the ring for nearly a half-hour. The show quoted Emanuel Steward noting that sometimes a fighter never recovers from the devastating knockout loss that Tarver laid on Jones. The Johnson fight should be all the evidence needed for that. And yet, the selling of Tarver-Jones III continues to be promoted as if the question is whether Roy has one last great performance left, when the real question should be whether Roy belongs in the ring at all!
LEAVANDER JOHNSON TRAGEDY NOT WARNING ENOUGH!
It was troubling on a night when HBO saluted the valiant, tragic death of IBF lightweight champion Leavander Johnson one week ago, that the hype show for Jones-Tarver III would follow the broadcast; troubling because the signs of possible disaster for Jones are even stronger than they were for Johnson. Johnson had taken a brutal beating from Javier Juaregui two fights prior to the battle with Jesus Chavez, but there was nothing in his film reel as frightening an image as Jones against Glen Johnson, and along with that image was a sustained, vicious beating for the nine rounds prior. Across the boundary of all sports, from Hockey’s Eric Lindross to Football’s Troy Aikman to numerous examples in the squared circle, the symptoms of multiple concussion syndrome and the danger are well expressed. Whether Roy suffers from that malady officially or not, common sense tells us that Roy Jones is at greater risk than other fighters.
FAIRY TALE ENDING NOT WORTH THE RISK!
A little over a month ago, I asked the readers of these pages not to spend their hard earned dollars on the spectacle of Jones-Tarver III. I stand by that. Those who are seeking to buy this fight do it likely for one of three reasons. 1) The false hope that they will see the Roy Jones who once dominated the game; 2) To see Jones defeated again out of their own spite for his career long hubris; or 3) To see a train wreck. None of these are worth the risk. There is always rhetoric about men choosing their own destiny; the nobility of going out on your shield; and a high-wire act is performed among all involved in the sport that tries to address the safest way to conduct an inherently violent, and always potentially deadly, sport. Jones-Tarver III happening is conducting that act without a net."-www.ringtalk.com
Well I hope procedures were done to make sure Roy is fit to fight...
26 September, 2005 by Cliff Rold
HBO PREVIEW GLOSSES OVER JONES’ DANGER!
Following perhaps its best boxing show of the year (more on that later), HBO debuted their 30 minute commercial for this weekends third encounter between Ring Magazine 175 pound titlist Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr. As with any good commercial, the producers at HBO did a good job of magnifying the story of the fight. They looked at the combatant’s troubles in childhood; their duel at age 12; amateur successes worldwide; and the arcs of their professional careers that have brought them to the end of an epic trilogy. That arc has already created two memorable encounters with a controversial decision win for Jones and Tarver’s stunning one punch knockout win in the rematch. Since that night each has faced off with Glenn Johnson, and it is the Jones encounter with him that should be the focus.
JOHNSON FIGHT NOT GIVEN GRAVITY IT DESERVES!
While Tarver was able to split his two battles (24 rounds) with Johnson, Jones was split nearly in half by the rugged Jamaican. HBO’s commercial touched on that night last September, a night that left Jones lying there out cold for some five minutes, and unable to leave the ring for nearly a half-hour. The show quoted Emanuel Steward noting that sometimes a fighter never recovers from the devastating knockout loss that Tarver laid on Jones. The Johnson fight should be all the evidence needed for that. And yet, the selling of Tarver-Jones III continues to be promoted as if the question is whether Roy has one last great performance left, when the real question should be whether Roy belongs in the ring at all!
LEAVANDER JOHNSON TRAGEDY NOT WARNING ENOUGH!
It was troubling on a night when HBO saluted the valiant, tragic death of IBF lightweight champion Leavander Johnson one week ago, that the hype show for Jones-Tarver III would follow the broadcast; troubling because the signs of possible disaster for Jones are even stronger than they were for Johnson. Johnson had taken a brutal beating from Javier Juaregui two fights prior to the battle with Jesus Chavez, but there was nothing in his film reel as frightening an image as Jones against Glen Johnson, and along with that image was a sustained, vicious beating for the nine rounds prior. Across the boundary of all sports, from Hockey’s Eric Lindross to Football’s Troy Aikman to numerous examples in the squared circle, the symptoms of multiple concussion syndrome and the danger are well expressed. Whether Roy suffers from that malady officially or not, common sense tells us that Roy Jones is at greater risk than other fighters.
FAIRY TALE ENDING NOT WORTH THE RISK!
A little over a month ago, I asked the readers of these pages not to spend their hard earned dollars on the spectacle of Jones-Tarver III. I stand by that. Those who are seeking to buy this fight do it likely for one of three reasons. 1) The false hope that they will see the Roy Jones who once dominated the game; 2) To see Jones defeated again out of their own spite for his career long hubris; or 3) To see a train wreck. None of these are worth the risk. There is always rhetoric about men choosing their own destiny; the nobility of going out on your shield; and a high-wire act is performed among all involved in the sport that tries to address the safest way to conduct an inherently violent, and always potentially deadly, sport. Jones-Tarver III happening is conducting that act without a net."-www.ringtalk.com
Well I hope procedures were done to make sure Roy is fit to fight...
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