Questions surround one of the world's best as he prepares for Tampa's Antonio Tarver.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published May 15, 2004
LAS VEGAS - Roy Jones Jr. was plenty motivated for his last fight.
Only problem was, he was fighting Antonio Tarver.
He was motivated for Mike Tyson.
Call it what you will - malaise, boredom, disinterest - but when Jones stepped into the ring in November with Tarver, it was the last place he wanted to be.
And it showed.
Jones won the fight, but Tampa's Tarver won a few more fans and a rematch, which will be held tonight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and televised on HBO pay-per-view.
"It was pretty much a lackluster performance because I really didn't care, I really wasn't into that," Jones said. "I thought I was going to fight Mike Tyson instead. It took a little more than I thought it would take, but that's what happens when you're not focused."
As badly as Tarver (also 35) wants to avenge his loss, a majority decision he still vigorously disputes, Jones too wants to erase the memory of his toughest challenge. Sure, it was a victory, but his WBA heavyweight title fight win over John Ruiz earlier in the year and the effort to drop weight to fight Tarver took its toll.
"Roy got hit more in that fight then he did his whole professional boxing career," Jones' trainer, Alton Merkerson, said. "Roy had no legs in that fight. He was just totally exhausted. That was the first time in Roy's boxing career that he looked that way. No one will ever see him in that situation again."
The criticism, the doubts and Tarver's almost nonstop taunting seem to have reinvigorated the best fighter of his generation.
"This time it's exciting because I know people are interested, they think he really has a chance because he runs his mouth and talks," Jones said. "Anybody can talk. Forty-nine guys have talked. All 49 of them ended up with an L. Now I listen to him talk and he will end up with another L. Now he will have three L's."
Jones (49-1) mustered enough strength in the final two rounds to pull out the win 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114.
"I would never take a victory and say I won if I really didn't think I won," Jones said.
So has Tarver awakened a sleeping giant? Has he finally made Jones too angry?
The last person to do that was Montell Griffin, who handed Jones his only defeat in 1997, winning by disqualification when he was hit late. In the rematch five months later, Jones destroyed Griffin in the first round.
Tarver has shot down the comparisons, but bettors seem to be buying it as Jones is a 4-1 favorite.
There is no disputing Jones' place in history. A former middleweight, super-middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, he has defended his titles 23 times, or as many fights as Tarver has had in his entire career. He has been the best pound-for-pound fighter in many analysts' eyes for a decade.
But there are critics who claim that he has ducked the toughest challengers. That criticism is partly founded by easy wins over a steady stream of mandatory challengers who have since faded from view, and that his most notable wins, against James Toney and Bernard Hopkins, did not come in those fighters' prime.
Even Ruiz has proven to be a light-punching and average heavyweight, taking the shine off that notable accomplishment.
Jones seems ready to end his career with tougher fights, even though they may not enhance his standing. Tarver is no legend, but he gave Jones enough of a fight that he'll go down as one of his toughest.
Potential career-defining fights with Vladimir Klitschko and Tyson might loom. Most likely, the light heavyweight division might be seeing the last of its greatest champion tonight.
Jones has his eye on a return to the heavyweight division. He said he will fight Klitschko, "because I like fighting big people. I love fighting big people, and I always had a fetish for fighting big people.
"I know I could whip him. I can't tell you how, but I know I could whip him."
He would fight Tyson because "he's a legend." One of those bouts could materialize by the end of the year.
"I would probably fight one more time in Pensacola, but this would be my last serious fight," Jones said. "If I can't find somebody that could fight as good and would have a good fight, then I'm out of there."
