Tweet
By Thomas Gerbasi - It was an inevitable end, but knowing how it all would come crashing down didn’t make Roy Jones Jr.’s 10th round knockout loss to Denis Lebedev last Saturday any easier to watch.
A right hand started it, looping and thudding. It was the kind of shot the former pound-for-pound king never would have gotten caught with in his prime. In fact, he probably would have laughed at his foe’s temerity for even throwing it before leaning out of the way and ripping off a retaliatory combination as punishment.
This one landed flush though, sending Jones upper body lurching forward. An uppercut followed, but as if in slow motion, the bent over former champion instinctively moved his gloves to cover his head. Lebedev dropped his hands and looked at referee Steve Smoger to stop the fight. When Smoger hesitated, the Russian did what he was taught to do, and a final right finally prompted a stoppage as Jones slowly fell to the canvas.
The official end to the fight came at 2:50 of the 10th round, but it really ended back in 2004, when back-to-back knockout losses against Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson shattered Jones’ mystique, his jaw, and his invincibility.
Then, he blamed it on his cut from heavyweight – where he made history by defeating John Ruiz for the WBA title (his fourth divisional crown) – back to light heavyweight, and if that was the culprit, his grasp for glory cost him what should have been a sterling twilight to his career.
But boxing doesn’t have sterling twilights. It has Rocky Marciano sending Joe Louis flying out of a ring, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick battering Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard getting shut down by Terry Norris. For every Bernard Hopkins, who, at 46, made history by beating Jean Pascal for the world light heavyweight title on the same day his old rival fell face first to the canvas in Moscow, there are hundreds of depressing ends for once great fighters who didn’t know when to leave.
And that’s the ironic point about Jones. As a once per era talent, Jones was accused over the years of ducking his most serious opposition or not testing himself against the best consistently. In other words, he was seen by many as having great natural ability, but not the heart of a true fighter. Sadly, after two crushing knockout defeats that should have led him into retirement, he has shown that in his chest beats the heart of a warrior, as he turned into someone who goes into battle knowing the odds against him, yet still walks forward. [Click Here To Read More]
A right hand started it, looping and thudding. It was the kind of shot the former pound-for-pound king never would have gotten caught with in his prime. In fact, he probably would have laughed at his foe’s temerity for even throwing it before leaning out of the way and ripping off a retaliatory combination as punishment.
This one landed flush though, sending Jones upper body lurching forward. An uppercut followed, but as if in slow motion, the bent over former champion instinctively moved his gloves to cover his head. Lebedev dropped his hands and looked at referee Steve Smoger to stop the fight. When Smoger hesitated, the Russian did what he was taught to do, and a final right finally prompted a stoppage as Jones slowly fell to the canvas.
The official end to the fight came at 2:50 of the 10th round, but it really ended back in 2004, when back-to-back knockout losses against Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson shattered Jones’ mystique, his jaw, and his invincibility.
Then, he blamed it on his cut from heavyweight – where he made history by defeating John Ruiz for the WBA title (his fourth divisional crown) – back to light heavyweight, and if that was the culprit, his grasp for glory cost him what should have been a sterling twilight to his career.
But boxing doesn’t have sterling twilights. It has Rocky Marciano sending Joe Louis flying out of a ring, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick battering Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard getting shut down by Terry Norris. For every Bernard Hopkins, who, at 46, made history by beating Jean Pascal for the world light heavyweight title on the same day his old rival fell face first to the canvas in Moscow, there are hundreds of depressing ends for once great fighters who didn’t know when to leave.
And that’s the ironic point about Jones. As a once per era talent, Jones was accused over the years of ducking his most serious opposition or not testing himself against the best consistently. In other words, he was seen by many as having great natural ability, but not the heart of a true fighter. Sadly, after two crushing knockout defeats that should have led him into retirement, he has shown that in his chest beats the heart of a warrior, as he turned into someone who goes into battle knowing the odds against him, yet still walks forward. [Click Here To Read More]
Comment