No Need To Be Coy Roy… It’s time to Retire!

26.09.04 – By Jim Amato: Well the initial shock is now over. It took a while. I mean no disrespect to Glencoffe Johnson but I did not think he had a real chance to win. I didn’t really give him a “puncher’s chance” because he did not carry the rep of a big hitter. No I thought Jones had made a wise career move. Fight and beat Johnson who was a respectable opponent who also held a piece of the title. That would set up the rubber match with his nemesis Antonio Tarver to unify their respective titles. If he beat Tarver to regain his past glory there would be other big fights on the horizon. Maybe he could entertain challenges from Bernard Hopkins or Joe Calzaghe. Maybe he would move back up to heavyweight for a long awaited rematch with James Toney. Who would have thought that a guy named Glencoffe would have ended all these possible scenarios.

This was not even a very competetive fight. Johnson jumped on Roy early and kept steady pressure on Roy. Jones had some moments, a flash of his brilliant past now and then. For the most part though Roy was rather ineffective. Still when the KO came I just sat in a state of shock. No way did I see this happening. To me this was an upset of major proportions. I always felt that Roy was a little overrated and had the benefit of fighting at a time when top notch 175 pounders were scarce. I don’t believe in kicking a man when he is down so no point going into that here. I really think this bout was just a case of a once fine fighting machine reaching the end of the line. It has happened to most of the greats, Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Duran, Arguello… They all fought one too many. I hope Roy retires now so fans will be able to put his bad performances of late behind. Fans should remember Roy at his peak and judge his rightful place in boxing history from those performances. One final thought. Who would have thought one year ago that Roy Jones would be kayoed twice and that Riddick Bowe would return with a KO victory ? Go figure!