Wow………seriously!!
Going into this fight, it was a coin toss as to whether I’d be writing something similar to this report or something closer to “Omar Sheika Stuns Boxing World.” Generally, I think everybody expected a Roy Jones victory last night, hence the 6 or 7:1 odds depending where you looked. I was flip-flopping on my prediction because the images of a bloody, battered Roy Jones at Madison Square Garden still keep me awake at night. I couldn’t help but look at his downslide while shaking my head in disbelief. I thought somehow, he’s got a lot left; this whole thing seems to be mental, a lack of confidence, etc. When I finally landed in Pensacola on Friday, I felt something different in the air.
Almost immediately, I met countless Roy Jones fans. Downtown Pensacola was extremely quiet, not too many souls, but every scattered soul I met seemed to be a rabid Roy Jones fan. A housekeeper at the hotel, a sweet southern lady named Wanda, donned an autographed Roy Jones button to show her support. When I talked to Wanda, and another housekeeper named Deidre, they had nothing but kind words and praise about how great of a person Roy Jones Jr. is. Pensacola had this intimate vibe and a love for Roy Jones that I’ve never seen in another town. And although the town was quiet, I had a feeling that on Fight Night, the entire town was going to come out and lift Roy to a level that even he didn’t know was possible. I was right.
Jones came out donned in a sleeveless Jordan Nike robe while streamers fell from the ceiling at the Pensacola Civic Center. There were 6,539 fans in attendance, which is extremely close to capacity. The crowd gave thunderous applause for Roy as he made his walk to the ring. It reminded me of an Arturo Gatti fight in Atlantic City.
The opening bell rang, and immediately all the questions began to be answered. Early in Round 1, Sheika pinned Jones in the corner, a familiar theme in his recent fights. But Jones just didn’t cover up this time as he had been in recent fights. No, something was different, and that “something” was sitting on a stool next to me: Roy Jones Sr. I had the pleasure of Roy Jones Sr. screaming in my ear the entire night, and I have to admit, it was music to my ears. As he was screaming, “Touch him, just touch him”, every time Roy was on the ropes, Jr. did just that. Instead of covering up, he punched, using sharp body digs in Round 1 as well as a nice right uppercut to set the tone early. As Alton Merkerson sat quietly two stools away from Big Roy, it was clear who was running the corner. And Roy listened, he listened INTENTLY. There was even a lot of clear and direct eye contact between him and Sr. It didn’t appear to be a normal relationship between a fighter and a trainer. This was something different. This was a son taking instructions from his father. I’d bet that if Big Roy yelled out, “Go to your room” during the fight, that Jr. would have listened to him. Jr. was extremely busy in Round 1, throwing more jabs than I’ve seen him throw in a long time, and it became quickly apparent that he was there to put on a show. When Sheika landed a solid left hook, Jr. simply stuck his tongue out and laughed at him. Roy’s left hook was also quickly becoming a problem for Sheika.
In Round 2, Sheika once again had Jr. in the corner, briefly. The attack was halted by a huge left hook that made Sheika back up quickly to the center of the ring. Throughout Round 2, Roy dominated with pinpoint body digs and once threw in a lead right uppercut that stunned Sheika. Roy’s hands were down and he was gaining confidence, landing left hooks easily, a stellar round for Jr.
Round 3 featured Sheika’s best punches of the night as he became more aggressive. But it was still the Roy Jones Jr. show in Round 3. Roy landed his jab at will, over and over again. When Sheika landed a big left uppercut, Jr. laughed at him and responded with a lightning quick combination. Generally when a fighter laughs at a punch, it means he is hurt. But the way Roy threw that combination back at Sheika seemed to say, “Uh Uh, not tonight, my friend.”
Round 4 was an extremely exciting round. Jones would land a jab, throw it again, then again, then again, sharply, as Sheika’s head snapped back over and over again. He simply could not miss his jab as Sheika stood in front of him. Following the jabs, Jr. mixed in sharp combos with nasty left hooks that couldn’t miss and did considerable damage to Sheika’s body in Round 4, just a little insurance in case this fight lasted a while. No worries, it’s almost over.
Round 5 featured vicious left hooks from Roy that never seemed to stop coming. At 1:45 of Round 5, the referee in charge had seen enough. Sheika vehemently argued his case, but as the blood poured out of his right eye, the referee had seen enough landed left hooks for the evening. As the referee moved in, Jr. did a dance that could only make you smile. Was the stoppage too early? In my opinion, if a fighter has no chance of winning a fight, he’s taking considerable damage and not landing anything significant in return, then why should the fight continue? Sheika was totally outclassed from the opening bell. Had everyone known that THIS was the Roy Jones who was going to fight last night, they probably would have sought an opponent with a lot more skill.
Last night, the people at the arena saw something extremely special. The most recent images of Roy Jones Jr. are no longer a desperate man with a bloodied eye hoping the fight would soon end. No. We saw magic last night in Pensacola. And the critics will say that Sheika wasn’t that good. But I’d argue that if Roy Jones had brought last night’s gameplan, footwork, movement and effective combos to Madison Square Garden on November 8, 2008, then maybe Calzaghe would have retired for a different reason. I don’t know what happened last night. Roy gave much credit to his father for helping him get “right”, so maybe Big Roy helped Jr. once again find his confidence.
So what’s next for Roy Jones Jr.? Should he keep fighting or go out on a high note? I’d say both. If he can TRULY keep his game as sharp as he did last night, I think he should continue, maybe one more tune-up, someone a little stronger than Sheika, and then something big…………
I remember being sick growing up, colds, flus, everything really, even through college. And while lying in bed in college, sniffling, feeling achy, all I could think about was going home. There was something about being home that just made everything better, the love from your family, the comfort of sleeping in your own bed, the security of knowing if something turns worse that there’s people there to help you. In my mind, Roy Jones Jr. is not washed up, or over the hill. He was sick. And he did what any sick person would want to do. He went home………….and got better……….much much better.
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