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Roy Jones Jr. ... one of boxing's most talented fighters, loved and hated in equal portions by the sweet science's fans, pound for pound king to some, "Reluctant" Roy to others; the man who could do it all and do it well, that is until he met Antonio "Magic Man' Tarver... Actually that may not be a true statement, I believe Jones' problems began long before he ever set foot in the ring against Mr. Tarver. Let's rewind to July 18, 2003, shall we? On that date Bragging Rights Corner.com in conjunction with Doghouseboxing.com posted an interview by Aladdin Freeman with Richard Hall as Hall was preparing to meet Julian "Mr. KO" Letterlough. Hall stated during said interview that Jones had tested positive for anabolic steroids use when the two met back in May of 2000. (Hall neglected to tell Mr. Freeman that he too had tested positive, but his omission didn't go unnoticed or unmentioned when Mr. Freeman and his editor went on a quest for the truth regarding this bit of disturbing news). The events that followed Hall's statement are now part of boxing history.
Braggingrightscorner.com was accused of posting rumors and gossip, even Jones' trainer Alton Merkerson and Jones' adviser Brad Jacobs came to the rescue but their attempts at damage control couldn't derail the truth. And the truth is that Roy Jones Jr. through his attorney admitted to the Indiana Boxing Commission that he had used steroids prior to this fight. Pursuant to his admission Roy agreed to certain terms and conditions dictated by the Indiana Boxing Commission regarding the episode. (Those of you who doubt internet reporting, please refer to The Ring magazine's January 2004 issue which acknowledges and credits Aladdin Freeman for the report). Shortly after Mr. Freeman's story, the BALCO lab story broke BIG, implicating many high profile figures in the world of sports. The lab was shut down and a federal probe is ongoing. As a refresher, BALCO was manufacturing a so called designer drug designed to mask the use of anabolic steroids. While other 'chemists' may achieve similar results in the future, for the time being at least, things have become a bit hairy for some athletes, and the world of boxing whispered the names of Shane Mosley and Roy Jones, Jr. as the two who would probably suffer the most from the demise of the BALCO lab. Shane Mosley has fought twice since the BALCO scandal which broke in September 2003, looking horrible against Oscar de la Hoya, (September 2003), (although he was gifted the decision), and even worst against Ronald "Winky" Wright, (March of 2004), (who wouldn't be denied the decision). Roy Jones, Jr.'s first performance following the BALCO debacle was against Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver in November of 2003. Do you remember how Roy looked then? To put it in the words of Joe Calzaghe, he looked... "human for a change."
I was shocked to see Jones looking spent and seemingly out of it in his corner in between rounds, being pummeled by Tarver as he laid against the ropes for a great part of the fight. The bout was close and of course the decision went to Jones Jr. But sometimes in winning, you lose just as much, and Roy lost a lot of credibility here. So what did Roy do? He began to make excuses... ranking in first place was the excuse about having had to come down in weight from the November fight against John Ruiz -never mind that he had six months in which to lose 18 pounds... Heck, I know guys who do that in a fraction of the time, for a whole lot less money and still manage to win fights. He made excuses about other things too, but Antonio Tarver wasn't having any of it. Team Tarver pressed the issue and a rematch was agreed to. Roy's pride was on the line; he even said the second time around would be more than personal. This rematch was about Roy Jones Jr. having to save face, plain and simple.
The encore was scheduled for May 15, 2004, four years and two days following the Richard Hall fight. Oddly enough, Richard Hall was scheduled to fight in the Jones-Tarver 2 undercard. (In case you are wondering, he got knocked out in four rounds). In what will go down as a classic moment, Tarver delivered the first blow of the night before the timekeeper had a chance to ring the opening bell. As referee Jay Nady asks the two combatants if they have any questions, loudly and unequivocally the cool as a cucumber Antonio Tarver replies: "Yeah, I have a question... Are you going to have any excuses tonight, Roy?" Ouch! Roy goes out and as a shell of his old self steals the first round from a cautious, somewhat hesitant Tarver. He scored with flurries, but neither the power nor the speed are evident. He wins the round nevertheless. Things change quickly in the next stanza, possibly prompted by the exchange between Tarver and his trainer Buddy McGirt. Following the first round McGirt tells Tarver that he is giving Roy too much respect, Tarver replies don't use that word around here, and McGirt ends it by saying, "then go and get yours." Unlike Vernon Forrest who received a similar message against Mayorga but got the beatdown of a lifetime instead of respect, Antonio Tarver stalked his man, and counterpunching off a Jones right to his chest, Tonio misses with a right cross, then delivers a crushing left hook to the jaw of Mr. Pound for Pound No More... Only 1:44 seconds had transpired in the round, and Roy was flat on his back, attempting to get up, only to fall on his face, attempting to get up again, beating the count but clearly hurt. Referee Nady waved him off, getting no argument from Jones or his corner, and we watched in disbelief as the untouchable Roy Jones Jr. struggled to make it to his corner, on very unsteady legs, defeated soundly and in embarrassing fashion by Antonio 'Magic Man' Tarver.
Was Tarver's blow that devastating? Before you answer the question,
please feel free to revise Tarver's record here: http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=014043 In case you are wondering what is my point, my point is that something is wrong with this picture. A super human fighter, an untouchable super champion who has flashed speed, power and tremendous ring generalship throughout his career all of a sudden can't take a punch from a man who is not known for his punching power?? I don't know about you, and with no disrespect intended for Antonio Tarver, I am not buying it. Something has happened to Roy Jones, Jr., let's cut the crap and be real.
I recall Manny Steward's pre-fight comments about Roy losing weight the right way this time, having a conditioning trainer, etc, etc. He spoke as if Jones was new to the game. Steward's comments run second to his laughter evoking high praise of heavyweight Ty Fields. Everyone is playing up to Tarver's punch as if it had been delivered in unisom by Tarver and Mike Tyson in his prime, puhleeze, gimme a break! Roy's comments as he arrived in Pensacola were disgraceful. They brought to mind the words of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who as a guest on ESPN2 FNF earlier in the evening said -and I paraphrase- Roy should take his hat off to Tarver and move on. Coming from a guy who is accused of being immature and egotistic, Floyd Jr.'s advise couldn't be more on target. During the Pensacola interview Roy claimed that Tarver's left hook from hell was a lucky punch; he said nobody has really beaten him, he went on and on and on, posturing, very defensive and making a total fool of himself. I was truly disappointed as flashbacks of a classy Tito Trinidad after his obliteration at the hands of Bernard Hopkins came to mind.
Roy Jones Jr. needs to dig deep within and recognize that for
some reason, and he should know the reason better than any of
us, he has been beaten, soundly too. Roy Jones Jr. is in serious
denial. Roy Jones Jr. is now simply.... human.  Copyright 2006 by BlackAthlete.net, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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