When we talk about Roy Jones we never fail to mention his "athleticism". Some guys talk about it like Roy was somehow cheating being so well developed on this level, as if it gave him some sort of unfair advantage over his opponents, as if boxing should be more purely and entirely about combinations and footwork and the guys with "God-given" speed and talent somehow need to be taken down a peg or two in terms of boxing ability. People start talking about "fast twitch muscle fibres" and a whole pile of other crap I don't really understand. One of my favourite fighters was Sonny Liston. Nobody talks about fast twitch whatever the **** or athleticism when they talk about Sonny - although he was a huge and explosive puncher - they talk about his dark side and his begginings. Sonny began down in the mud, pulling his father's plough on their crop sharing property, building his prestidgious strength and endurance under the yolk. I think people have begun to forget - no pun intended - that Roy was made in circumstances not dis-similair. Roy Jones on his father: "I guess he decided early on to take me in hand. From the age of five I understood he was determined to shape me into some kind of fighting machince. He'd drop to his knees and order me to hit him. But then he'd sway out of the way, the laugh stickin in his throat. When I got tired he'd lash out..sneky little punches, pushing, knocking me down, just hard enough to make the tears fall." Roy's father entered into a patter of abuse against his son from his fifth year. Nobody is showing fast-twitch muscle explosive power athleticism at that kind of age. A bit of potential is all that can be seen, all ready to be changed by the amount of testosterone the individuals puberty produces. Patters of abuse are descending, not ascending: "Then it got worse. You can't imagine how bad. I ain't never felt so alone or afraid. He'd train me from four in the afternoon 'til ten at night. Six hours straight, day in, day out, double on the weekend - making me fight bigger boys, four or five years older than me. Even now I can feel my hear rattlin'...fear...he'd be waiting out in the field with that damn ring he made. Whenever I made a mistake, or got dog tired, he'd whip me with a plastic pipe. Water hose, sometimes a belt. It was Hell. How do you get away from a man as big and fierce as he looked then?" The only way - to be the fastest, the hardest, the best. Roy developed his prestigious speed in part because of his natural gifts, of course. But take note. Being slow got him whipped with a plastic pipe. Being fast spared the lash. That there is an inhuman motivator. Roy was on the very edge during this training. "Killing myself seemed the only escape. I had the picture of me putting a gun to my head, squeezing the trigger...later I got myself a knife. I carried one on me in case he jumped me one to many times. I was sure I would end up in jail - for killing my own father." Yeah, Roy got made in the mud. He split from his father, they say because Senior was holding his son back, through jealousy. It seems that the elder Jones shot the younger's favourite dog the same week of the split though...might have had more to do with it. More recently: "After I beat Ruiz, I had nothing to prove. And that's what it was to me. Nothing." He knew, I think, that he needed to go back to the mud to get it all back after the apparent loss of his core talents. For the final Tarver fight he called upon his father once more to corner him. It was a grotesque failure, with Roy claiming that "I didn't try, [my dad] would have stolen all of the credit". You can never go back, I guess. But that line interests me. "And that's what it was to me. Nothing." Roy commited the inevitable crime of any superstart who loses touch. He forgot where he came from. I think he's casting his memory back, just a bit, and realising where he went wrong. I'm not ready to write him off all the way against Joe Calzghe. I'm not insane. I expect Joe to win. But.
good article. you wouldn't really guess he had that kind of upbringing. he seems articulate, welll rounded and pretty humble.
I believe you've hit the nail on the head - and C) is the most important of these. But Jones seems to know. He was confronted recently by a journalist who told him he could have stopped Tito anytime after the fourth, his reply, "I know that now." Having reviewed the film. I think that - and even if this is true, he should still lose - things are crystalising nicely for Roy. He claims his body is back in order having gone down and come back up. He seems to be mentally adjusted to me, here to win instead of just for the payday/glamour, and most of all - as I indicate in my opening post - I think that this is all more important to him than it has been in years. I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but the way I want to say it is, I think that he is as firmly in touch with that mud as a millionare pugilist could ever be. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but that is how I feel about the fight. I consider Jones a live and dangerous proposition for Joe, and I will be handing him credit when, as is likely, he wins. I have some questions for you, and anyone else who cares to answer them. 1 - Do you think Jones hits harder than Hopkins? 2 - Do you think that Jones has faster hands than Hopkins? 3 - Do you think that Jones will press a KD harder than Hopkins? I disagree with this breakdown. He can counterpunch if he wants to, it's not like he'll be looking for Calzaghe, Joe will be there, possibly boxing at a faster pace than he did against Hopkins. But I understand your general point.
Does RJJ have the ability to win? Hell yeah. But the question is will he be able to sustain it for the required amount. Otherwise, Joe will scrap his way to another significant but ultimately, scrappy and unsatisfying victory. Another question is, do we believe Roy when he says he's 'born again'? If you do, then put money on the old fella, because that would mean he probably can 'put it together' for long enough to beat Joe.
No, there is no way he can sustain it to win a decision, no way. This will be a moment of genius followed by a perfect attack or a loss.
Good points. I feel that this is exactly the thing, Hopkins has less raw power in my view, but his extraordinary timing argubly makes him a better composite puncher at this time. I think Jones's big problem is that he is primarily a left handed puncher at this time. If he was a right handed puncher his chances would be better. To win, Jones has to tag Calzaghe with the left, hurt him, then pour on enough to convince the referee to intercede. This is not likley . But I feel it is possible.
