By Sammy Rozenberg
Most experts predicted a blowout, but a 39-year-old veteran and 35-year-old who was coming off a near three-year layoff, produced a semi-exciting fight. Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) won a unanimous twelve-round decision over Felix "Tito" Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Jones, 39, started slow and allowed Trinidad, 35, to build a minor charge on the cards, but the tempo quickly changed as the fight played out by each and every round. Trinidad performed much better than anyone could have ever expected by starting fast with the majority of his punches targeting the body of Jones. In about the sixth, the noticeable size and speed advantage of Jones began to come into play as he was pushing Trinidad back with right hands and avoiding almost every counter.
During the seventh, a short right hand to the temple caused a delayed reaction before Trinidad went down to his knees. Jones, for whatever reason, did not try hard enough to finish what appeared to be a hurt opponent. It's not clear if Jones felt Trinidad was paying possum or the Pensacola fighter was trying to conserve energy for the later rounds.
After banking the eight and ninth rounds, Jones fired a combination in the tenth to send Trinidad down for the second time in the fight. This time around, Trinidad was off-balance and not seriously hurt. The remaining three rounds played out like the tenth, with Jones pulling further ahead on the cards with his defense and boxing ability. Trinidad was simply out of answers when trying to break through Jones' guard and dealing with a much quicker fighter.
The scores were 116-110, 117-109 and 116-110. Following the decision, Trinidad was unsure as to what he would do next.
"I'm not sure what we are going to do. Jones was fast and fought a good fight. I think the scores should have been closer. I will talk with my father and the people around me and decide what's next for my career," Trinidad said.
Where Jones goes from now is anybody's guess. The likely scenario is for a fight with the winner of the April mega-clash between Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe. There is always the possibility of a catch-weight bout at 170, or a bout at super middleweight limit of 168, against a variety of opponents like Jermain Taylor, middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik or even Winky Wright.
The most money would of course come against the winner of Hopkins-Calzaghe. It all depends on who wins of course. A rematch between Jones and Hopkins has been in discussions at various times in the past and there was no success in getting them in the ring. Jones holds a 1993 decision over Hopkins, widely regarded as one of the more difficult fighters to deal with at the negotiating table.
The second highest payday will come against the winner of the upcoming bout between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik, taking place at a catch-weight of 166-pounds on February 16. Jones weighed 169.5 for the fight with Trinidad. It's reasonable to say he could still make 168-pounds. Both Pavlik and Taylor are big middleweights and could easily become formidable opponents for Jones. At one point in 2007, there was talk of Jones and Taylor meeting at a catch-weight of 170. The plans were scrapped after Pavlik knocked Taylor out last September.
On the undercard,
A battle of Chicago heavyweight rivals saw 40-year-old Andrew Golota (43-6-1, 34KOs) win a unanimous twelve-round decision over 27-year-old Mike Mollo (19-1, 12KO). The scores were 116-110, 116-112 and 118-109.
The first round was seesaw contest between Golota and Mollo, with Mollo starting fast and Golota finishing strong with accurate punches. For the next two rounds, Golota used a left jab to set up hard rights to knock Mollo around. The younger Mollo came back in rounds four and five, landing hard right hands to the head and closed Golota's left eye in the process.
Around the sixth, Golota began to come back with bodyshots to slow Mollo down. The next two rounds saw Golota continue his assault with bodyshots and rights to push an incoming Mollo away. In the ninth, Molla was badly hurt by a combination, but was able to last to the end with pure heart as he appeared to be out on his feet.
Mollo was still exhausted in the final three rounds, using his heart to continue forward in the fight. The physical status led to tenth and eleventh rounds being close. He would start the rounds well and tired midway, which allowed Golota to end them strong with combinations to the head and body. The final round saw Mollo hurt early and hang on for the full three minutes with Golota trying his best to finish him off.
The fight received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Alex Bunema (27-9-2, 15KOs) scored a tenth-round knockout over former junior middleweight champion Roman Karmazin (36-3-1, 23KOs).
After Karmazin built a decent lead over six-rounds, Bunema used right hands to work his way into the fight and began to take over in the seventh and eight rounds. In the ninth, Bunema stunned Karmazin twice with hard rights.
The end came in the tenth when a left hook put Karmazin down. He made it to his feet, but Bunema went after him with hard rights that sent him down for the second time and he was almost out cold on the mat as the ref stopped the fight.
Against the best opponent of his career, undefeated junior welterweight prospect Devon Alexander "The Great" (14-0, 8KOs) won an easy twelve-round unanimous decision over Demarcus "Chop Chop" Corley (31-8-1, 17KOs).
The fight was close for the first two rounds, and then Alexander took off with bigger punches and a much higher workrate. Alexander lost a point in the final round for a low blow. The scores were 116-111, 118-109 and 118-109. Corley, who vowed to retire after his last loss, will likely more forward with the promise to hang up the gloves.
Former welterweight champion Luis Collazo (28-3, 13KOs), returning for the first time since his decision loss to Shane Mosley, won a lopsided ten-round decision over Edvan Dos Santos Barros (9-5-1, 7KOs). The scores were 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90.