20.09.04 – By Coach Tim Walker: Is there any enormous reason to care about the upcoming bout between Roy Jones Jr. and Glengoffe Johnson other than seeing one of the world’s best in action? I mean it’s pretty apparent that Roy has an overwhelming shot at winning this fight. It’s also no secret that Glengoffe is a decent aggressive B level fighter who gives it his all but suffers more defeats at the hands of upper level boxers than victories. Against Roy, arguably the best light heavyweight in the world over the last decade plus, do we really expect anything different?
I for one do expect something different and will definitely tune in for this bout but it won’t be to see Roy Jones take on Glengoffe Johnson and though I’m predisposed to watch the skillful Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson do work it won’t really be to see him either. I will be tuning in for one reason, to see if RJJ shows up instead of Roy Jones. We all know who RJJ is. He is the nastier meaner brutal alter ego of Roy Jones. He is the one that seeks and destroys.
RJJ showed up in the second bout with Montell Griffin and landed a left hook to the chin so solid that when Montell got up from the canvas he was a cruiserweight. RJJ is the one who threw hooks to the bodies of Lou Del Valle and Virgil Hill so hard that Del Valle was lifted off the mat with each blow and Hill lay on the mat in obvious pain from a shot to the ribs. RJJ is the one who, in dominating unanimous fashion, beat Bernard Hopkins and James Toney while giving Toney an up close and personal view of the MGM Grand Hotel logo that was freshly painted on the ring floor. And it was RJJ who showed up when Vinny Pazienza did the horizontal mumbo three times in round six of their IBF Super Middleweight bout.
You see what really concerns me is whether a third fight with Antonio Tarver will be any different from the first two. Roy won the first bout but it was excessively uninspiring. Tarver clearly won the second bout with the left hand that is still being heard around the world. In the first fight there was a business-minded Roy and a hungry Tarver. In the second fight there was a Roy who made the rookie mistake of backing straight up and a Tarver who capitalized on that mistake. I no longer want to see Roy in the ring I want to see RJJ in the ring. RJJ is a motivated destroyer with pin point accuracy and relentless desire. RJJ sees what he wants, realizes you have it and comes to take it. RJJ is very similar to maybe…Antonio Tarver?
It is difficult to mentally negotiate a fight of this magnitude but if you take two big rigs, fill them with fireworks and put them on a 50 mile per hour crash course with each other and then you can fathom the potential of a RJJ vs. Antonio Tarver bout. No other bout in any other division is as intriguing or unpredictable as that bout! No other bout will be as watched by so many and no other bout has the potential to be as great as this bout does. Still it all hinges on whether RJJ or Roy Jones shows up.
We much know that Tarver, who has coveted Roy Jones’ position for years, is definitely coming to fight. He and his trainer Buddy McGirt wholeheartedly believe that they have the formula for beating Roy Jones 10 out of 10 times. I wonder if those odds remain true when RJJ is considered.
On Saturday, September 25 I will be watching with both eyes open and all my senses in tune to see which version of this potentially all time great boxer shows up. Will it be more of the same or will it be that rare occasion when the mask is turned to the other side and Mr. Hyde comes in the form of RJJ? If RJJ does resurge from his hibernation then the rubber match between Tarver and Jones will be very interesting, very interesting indeed.