One more run left for Roy

Here we are, 10 days from the Jan. 19 fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Felix Trinidad Jr. at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’s going to be televised on HBO pay-per-view, so that would make one think that this is a high-profile fight. That’s more than a little debatable.

Trinidad, a three-division world champion, will be 35 on Thursday. Jones, a four-division world champion, will be 39 next Wednesday. But determining whether this fight is worth shelling out the bucks for the pay-per-view feed perhaps has little to do with age. Look at Bernard Hopkins. He’ll be 43 on Tuesday and if he and Joe Calzaghe tangle, Hopkins will stand a chance at winning.

It’s what Jones and Trinidad have done in recent times that should make all of us think hard about making this purchase. Jones was knocked out in the second round by Antonio Tarver and in the ninth round by Glen Johnson in 2004. Thirteen months after being bombed by Johnson, Jones went through the motions and lost via decision in a rubber match with Tarver. That was Jones’ only fight in 2005. He had one fight each in 2006 and 2007, getting decisions over Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw, respectively. Ajamu isn’t very good. But Hanshaw is a bit better and by all accounts, Jones looked decent against him.

Then there’s Trinidad. He has fought just three times since being stopped in the 12th round by the aforementioned Hopkins in September 2001. That’s three fights in six-plus years. In his most recent fight, Trinidad was taken to boxing school by Winky Wright, who won a very lopsided decision over Trinidad in May 2005 – some two years and eight months ago.

Well, Trinidad will have his chance today to tell reporters why folks should buy this fight as he and his promoter, Don King, will play host to an international conference call. Jones had his turn Tuesday. He said that fans will see him at his best, and that he is going to be at his best because his body is once again used to being at the light heavyweight division and because he has God in his corner.

According to Jones, he suffered the knockout losses to Tarver and Johnson in ’04 because having moved up to heavyweight to take John Ruiz’s championship in March 2003 wreaked havoc on his body. Jones hasn’t even been a big light heavyweight. In his six light heavyweight fights leading to Ruiz, Jones never even weighed in at the 175-pound limit, weighing as low as 172 for Glen Kelly in February 2002. Jones weighed 174 ¾ for a September 2002 fight with Clinton Woods that preceded Ruiz. Jones gained 18 pounds of muscle for Ruiz, tipping the scales at 193.

Eight months later, Jones was back at 175 and he won a controversial majority decision over Antonio Tarver in November 2003. It was after that fight that Jones talked about how hard it had been on him to lose 18 pounds of muscle. On Tuesday, he said it would have been better had the extra 18 pounds been fat, and that he would do it that way if he ever fights at heavyweight again; he did not rule out that possibility.

Six months after their first fight – and 14 months after Jones fought Ruiz – Jones and Tarver squared off in a rematch in May 2004. Tarver asked Jones during the referee’s instructions, “What’s your excuse going to be tonight, Roy?” Minutes later, Jones was caught with a vicious left hand and it was all over. Just four months later, Jones was knocked out even more savagely by Johnson. All apparently because Jones moved up to heavyweight, then back down. Don’t forget, when Jones moved up to heavyweight and won the championship, then moved back down to win the light heavyweight championship, he was the first fighter to accomplish that feat since Bob Fitzsimmons did it 100 years prior in 1903. (Fitzsimmons actually fought many heavyweight fights weighing less than the 175-pound light heavyweight limit; then again, he was fighting many of those heavyweight bouts against opponents much larger.)

“I had to go through a phase when I had to do something for myself, which was come back down and regain the light heavyweight title,” Jones said. “Of course there were going to be consequences in that second fight (with Tarver) in May (2004) because I did something you don’t do every day. It had been (100) years since somebody had accomplished that feat. That tells you that you are going to have to pay a price for that.

“That’s a price to go and do things that are historic. And people don’t understand that. “Well, hey, I don’t mind. I mean, look at Muhammad Ali. He’s paying a price now, but look how far up the ladder he went. He went so high to the top that no fighter probably will ever surpass what he did. He’s suffering a little now, but sometimes we gotta pay a price for whatever we do. A lot of people just fail to realize it.”

Jones spoke in confident, yet in respectful and at times religious tones.“Unless you know God, you probably don’t understand that,” Jones said. “But my Christian brothers and sisters, they understand exactly what I’m talking about because they know. You gotta sacrifice yourself. God sacrificed himself so that we may have life, and we may be forgiven. If you don’t sacrifice, then you wasting your time.“I did my sacrifice and I knew that I was probably going to have to pay a price and I did. … However, I’m back now. My body’s back the way it was, where I want it to be and I guarantee you, he (Trinidad) won’t make 12 rounds with me.”

Not to suggest Jones’ excuse about the knockouts doesn’t wash. But it should again be pointed out that by the time he suffered the first knockout – in the rematch against Tarver – he had already fought Tarver once since coming back down to light heavyweight and he by that time was 14 months removed from his fight with Ruiz.

King offered his two cents. Of course, King is going to sing the praises of Jones. As the promoter of this event, he needs to sell pay-per-view buys so that it bears monetary fruit. But when Jones was talking about why he has not retired, King interjected something that made one think.

“George Foreman, what if he had decided to do that?” King said. “George Foreman came back and won the title at 45.”

King came with another legendary fighter.

“It’s like the Rumble in the Jungle when Ali was being counted out, saying he was too old, he couldn’t to this, he couldn’t do that,” King said. “It was a foregone conclusion from 90 percent of the press that he was going to get destroyed by George Foreman’s awesome punching power.”

Therein lies one reason why it isn’t such a bad idea to buy this fight. King is right. Ali was not a young 32 when he challenged Foreman for his heavyweight championship in October 1974. Since I’m 51, I remember that fight vividly. I had just turned 18 and was a huge boxing fan. Like everyone else, I figured Foreman was going to smash Ali. Foreman, just 25, had been destroying everybody. Ali had already been in two wars each with Joe Frazier and Ken Norton and was not considered in his prime. But he knocked out Foreman in the eighth round.

Foreman fought for less than three more years, retired for 10 years, came back in 1987 and fought seven years before knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round in November 1994 to again win the heavyweight championship. Foreman was two months shy of his 46th birthday.

In other words, if Ali and Foreman can perform magic, why not Jones? A victory over Trinidad would not mean that much in the grand scheme of things, and Jones admitted that. But to him, it would be a prelude of things to come. Jones said his goal is to again fight the best in the light heavyweight division. He said Bernard Hopkins doesn’t want to fight him, but that he would gladly take on Tarver, Johnson or Joe Calzaghe even if it meant going to the UK to make the latter happen.

Frankly, the light heavyweight division isn’t exactly crawling with talent right now. Tarver and Johnson are not what they used to be, and the four champions in the division don’t exactly inspire greatness. Calzaghe is still a super middleweight, but Jones said that if he can make 170 for Trinidad – the agreed upon weight – two more pounds down to 168 could happen. Then again, Calzaghe would probably agree to a catch-weight somewhere in the middle of the two weight classes if talks about that fight ever began.

Jones (51-4, 38 KOs) and Trinidad (42-2, 35 KOs) have both done quite a bit in this sport. But do their past accomplishments alone make this fight worth buying? Probably not. However, if you can convince yourself that either Jones or Trinidad or both can get back to what they once were or close, probably yes.