On February 8th in Pensacola, Florida, we should be seeing the end of an amazing career of an all time boxing great. Roy Jones Jnr is having what he says is his final fight at age 49.
Roy Jones? I can hear you say, he was the best of my generation 20 years ago…. And so he was, a middleweight marvel who was untouchable in the 90’s as he swept aside legends like Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Vinnie Pazienza, Mike McCallum, the list goes on.
A four weight world champion who made his debut in 1989 after being robbed of Olympic gold in a terrible sporting injustice in Seoul in 1988.
He quickly rose to the very top in boxing, beating Hopkins for the IBF middleweight crown in a masterclass and then stood atop of the boxing World for the next ten years picking up belt after belt all the way up to a magnificent win over John Ruiz to capture the WBA heavyweight championship of the world.
Nothing lasts forever however and boxers seem to be the last to know when they have reached the pinnacle of a fantastic career and admit it’s time to hang up the gloves. Jones would be no exception and after beating Antonio Tarver for the light heavyweight belts, he would then be knocked out in the return match in two rounds six months later in May 2004.
Still he didn’t walk away even after Glen Johnson stopped him in nine rounds in his next fight and Tarver would again beat him this time on points.
Three years later he would still be good enough to beat Felix Trinidad over 12 rounds and then take our own unbeaten super middleweight great, Joe Calzaghe 12 rounds in New York before beating former quality fighters Omar Sheika and Jeff Lacy.
Still not the end as he was stopped in two of his three back to back losses over the next three years up in the cruiserweight division which should have really been the end and you would expect family or the boxing authorities to save this once great champion from himself.
Seven years have come and gone in which he has amassed another 11 wins over one KO loss to an over the hill Enzo Macrinelli. These wins, however, were of lowly opposition that would not be good enough to even spar with the Jones of 20 years previous.
Boxing has the ability to be awe inspiring and majestic at its best, as was Roy Jones Jr when he reigned supreme for over a decade or more. Likewise, it can be tragic and sad as it is now when even contemplating another Roy Jones fight, which is hopefully his last.
Lynchburg, Virginia native Scott Sigmon is the 30 year-old cruiserweight who has been handpicked at late notice as the opponent for this final act in the one time magnificent story of one of our greatest ever fighters.
The past has learnt us time and again however that in this great sport of ours, the opponent Chris Sigmon may not have read this script.
READ MORE:
Roy Jones Jr scoffs at Floyd Mayweather’s TBE claims
In the ring with a legend: Brits remember fighting Roy Jones Jr
Roy Jones: I’ll fight and I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks!