When I was a wrestling fan growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s every once in a while they would have a “loser leaves town match.” In these matches, the loser would ultimately retire from the sport (or show up at another federation a week later) while the winner continued on. When I see this boxing match between once two great legends, it’s hard for me not to think of those old wrestling matches. For both of these guys, their best days are behind them, arguably way behind them. However, it is still in intriguing match-up from the sense that they are expected to be somewhat evenly matched, and because these two names were some of the biggest starts to come out of boxing over the last twenty years. Not every match can have a ton of meaning in the grand aspect of the sport, but if you are fan of the sport then maybe you can justify this one as paying homage to two great warriors of the past.
Roy Jones Jr. (51-4 38 KO’s) is believed to have a little more in the tank the Trinidad at this point, although not much. Jones has won his last two matches, after dropping three in a row, two of those by knockouts. The first knockout came to the hands of Tarver by a second round KO, a complete shock, to say the least. That fight was a rematch of a majority decision Jones had held over Tarver. Prior to that Tarver fight Jones had perhaps one of the most impressive streaks of boxing history where he went nearly seven years hardly ever dropping a round on a judges scorecard. He was considered by many to be the best pound for pound fighter of this generation, but the Tarver loss obviously shook him of that boxing god persona. The two losses following the Tarver KO was a freighting brutal ninth round KO by the hands of Glen Johnson, and then a decision loss to nemesis Tarver. A win over an inactive Trinidad hardly gets him back into the mix of the best fighters in the world, but it will keep him noticed, and a victory there, plus name power alone, will get him another title shot, if that’s the path he chooses to take. Jones always had the personal of being a business man over a boxer and people feel he is taking this fight merely for a payday. There is also rumors that he is having a hard time making the agreed upon catch weight of 170 pounds. In boxing it’s hard to determine what is true and what is talk, but this isn’t the first time Jones has used the weight loss excuse. After the Tarver loss he says weight loss was to blame after coming down from the heavyweight limits where he beat then WBA champion John Ruiz. If he can make weight he should have a clear size advantage.
Trinidad (45-2 38 KO’s) will be fighting for the first time in his career over the 160 pound mark. It’s been said Trinidad walks around at around 190 pounds, but it is also believed that he will simply have too much meat on his bones at 170. Also, this will be Tito’s first fight since he was somewhat embarrassed and shutout on the scorecards on May 14th 2005 against Winky Wright. This is also only Trinidad’s third fight since 2002. If there are weight rumors regarding Jones then of course there are rumors regarding Trinidad. Trinidad is training in his home country of Puerto Rico, but it is being reported that he is training with fighters of little note. For an apparent big fight like this it is a surprise to hear that Trinidad is sparring against either lesser known pros or amateurs. It appears he too may be fighting for just a paycheck. After all, what else could send him out of a nearly two year retirement which he apparently enjoys greatly? It’s also a question to see if Trinidad can carry his weight all the way up to 170. He seemed to have carried it up to 160, despite not being able to land very many clean shots on Wright. But, with Jones’s chin apparently breakable, that also adds another intangible to fight night.
I see this fight going one of two ways. In the Wright fight Trinidad had no plan B, and continually walked into jabs by his opponent over and over. While Wright and Jones are clearly different fighters it makes you wonder if Jones will find something that works and box his way to a boring victory. However, if Jones is really having weight problems then he could be a late round knock out candidate. If Trinidad does one thing well it’s apply pressure. He also has one of the best left hooks in the past 50 years, and everyone is fairly positive he could crack the chin of Jones, ala Tarver, if he can land just one flush shot. I lean more towards the decision victory for Jones, but because of the possibility of a Trinidad KO, I will be turning in to watch. Like I said, this fight is probably about five to 10 years too late, but because of what each fighter will gave me in the past, I will gladly pay to watch as they ride off into their futures.
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