23.05.06 – By Karen Belford: Hello East Side People. This week, I want to discuss a scenario where Roy Jones Jr., one of the top light heavyweights in the world, moves back up to the heavyweight division and faces the best fighters in the division. Surely, at this point in Jones’ career, people likely assume that he’s over-the-hill and ready for retirement. However, I think he’s far from it, and I’m not the only one in this boat, for Emanuel Steward, the great trainer, made similar comments, saying that Jones hasn’t lost anything.
In spite of that, Jones’ reflexes have slowed enough to the point where the best light heavyweights can catch up to him, I freely admit. That said, I still feel that he could be a champion in the light heavyweight division. Although I don’t see the point of it, considering that the light heavyweight division isn’t particularly interesting right now and Jones is better suited at heavyweight, a division that he can potentially dominate with his incredible speed, ring movement and boxing knowledge. Clearly, Jones is selling himself short by remaining in the light heavyweight division. where he’ll never be able to showcase his skills in the same way he can as a heavyweight.
Even at the advanced age of 37, Jones still has enough in his tank to last several more years campaigning as a heavyweight, where he can take Chris Byrd’s mantle and befuddle the huge, clumsy behemoths, most of whom have little in the way of boxing skills.
Incidentally, I think most of Roy Jones’ Jr.’s problems at light heavyweight stem from him having to drop such a large amount of weight, close to twenty pounds, following his defeat of WBA heavyweight champion, John Ruiz, in May 2003. If nothing else, this drastic weight loss depleted him and left him with little energy to fight Tarver in subsequent fights, mostly because it changed his body set point weight. Whereas before, Jones was a natural light heavyweight, who kept his weight always close to that range, following the Ruiz fight, he now was rumored to carry 190 lbs. between fights, forcing him to strip off valuable muscle every time he wanted to fight at light heavyweight. Jones, unlike normal fighters, doesn’t ever gain fat, so when he is forced to lose weight to fight at light heavy, he is stripping off 15-20 pounds of pure muscle, every time he does. There’s no question in my mind that this is the cause of his poor performances in his last four fights. Indeed, it has nothing to do with being old or over the hill. Contrast how well Jones looked against John Ruiz, with the way he performed eight months later in November 2003, when he edged Antonio Tarver in a light heavyweight bout. Although he won the bout, Jones wasn’t the same, fleet-footed, lightening quick puncher as before. It was as if I were watching a completely different fighter, as where the case in his
For the sake of sanity, I’m only listing Roy Jones Jr. against the heavyweights who I personally feel are the top five talents. As far as the other heavyweights go, I don’t see them as talented enough to compete with Jones’ ring movement and speed.
Wladimir Klitschko: With his huge size advantage seven inches, the 6’7″ Ukranian would literally tower over Jones, who at 5’11”, would have his work cut out for him, as did Chris Byrd, in trying to get inside on Wladimir (46-3, 41 KO’s). However, as Lamon Brewster demonstrated, it’s not hard to get inside on Wladimir, if you have patience, intelligence, and a lot of courage. In that regard, Jones would have more than enough, and would quickly get in punching range and feast on Wladimir’s soft chin, landing beautiful hooks and uppercuts, all before Wladimir has a chance to clinch. As the fight further unfolds, Wladimir would start to tire, probably by the 6th round, due to Jones’ constant pressure, and would literally gasp for air, with every body shot that Jones lands. I see the end coming by the 8th rounds, after Jones lands a wipe-like left hook, that knocks Wladimir down, face first on the canvas.
Result: Jones jr. by 8th round KO.
Sergei Liakhovich: (23-1, 14 KO’s) Despite recently winning the WBO heavyweight title over Lamon Brewster, I see Sergei is being the weak link in the bunch. Too many people, he’s considered one of the best heavyweights, yet I think he got off lucky against Brewster, who reportedly injured his left eye early on in their bout, forcing him to fight the remainder of the way with only one good eye. Yet, Brewster still came close to winning the bout, even with such a handicap. I see Liakhovich to be a fighter that tends to fight in bursts, while most of the time, he is passive and absorbs punches, much like a punching bag. Jones, I feel, would have no problem timing Liakhovich’s slow hooks, and counter him with right hands. Although tall, at 6’4,” Liakhovich, oddly enough, tends to give up his size and strength by fighting on the inside against shorter fighters. For Jones, this would be a gift, for he would be able to land five punch combinations for every punch that Liakhovich gets in. I see this fight as a complete shut out for Jones, would easily win every round, en route to taking away Liakhovich’s WBO championship belt.
Result: Jones by 12-round decision.
Audley Harrison: Without a doubt, this fight would be the toughest for Jones to win, for Harrison, 34, has the best combination of size, power and skills of the bunch. However, he is a wildcard, because he hasn’t yet learned how to put it altogether for one bout, largely due to mental lapses in concentration during his bouts. His southpaw stance, combined with his awesome talent, make him a formidable opponent for Jones, who would have a difficult time trying to get within punching range of the 6’5″ giant from Britain. Unlike other large heavyweight’s, Harrison (19-2, 14 KO’s)fights well on the inside, using his beautiful left uppercut to stop his opposition cold, in their tracks. I see Jones rushing in and catching a lot of punches, and perhaps getting knocked down once or twice during the fight, for his efforts. However, I think Jones will do enough to keep the fight close, up until the end. For their fight, it can go either way, most likely ending up a controversial draw.
Result: 12-round Draw
Lamon Brewster: For his part, Brewster (33-3, 29 KO’s) who is presently the most exciting fighter in the heavyweight division, albeit he has a non-existent defense, one that uses his face as a method for blocking punches, rather than his hands. There is no question, however, that Brewster can slug, as he showed against Wladimir Klitschko and Sergei Liakhovich. That said, Brewster is far too slow, and predictable to beat Jones. Still, I think Brewster would have his moments in the fight, yet he would come up badly short, and get a boxing lesson in the process. The fight, indeed, would be a boxing lesson, with Jones landing at will against Brewster’s face. Nevertheless, I don’t see a knockout for Jones, since Brewster, to his credit, can take a heck of shot and still keep coming.
Result: Jones by 12 round decision.
Samuel Peter: The Nigerian knockout artist has one of the biggest upsides in the heavyweight division, with explosive power in each fist and an unpredictable nature, where you never really know what he’s going to do next in the ring. For that very reason, Peter is one of the most dangerous of potential opponents for Jones, for all the normal boxing wisdom goes out the window when facing a brute like him. However, Peter (26-1, 22 KO’s)is not without his flaws, for he is painfully clumsy, slow and he often appears to be carrying around extra weight, something that will likely haunt him throughout his career. At a minimum, this could, perhaps, not effect him all that much, largely because he is a Freoman-like puncher, who cuts off the ring well, and doesn’t need a lot of speed on his punches, considering his strength. However, against someone as quick as Jones, he would be very hard put to land anything of significance, and would likely get frustrated early on. The fight would be ugly in the extmeme, with Jones tattooing Peter’s face over and over, while moving gracefully, like a Matador, to get out of the way of Peter’s bull-like charges. Like in most fights, Peter would get in his licks, yet they wouldn’t be enough to keep the fight competive and he would come out on the losing end of a lopsided 12-round decision.
Result: Jones by 12-round decision.