As everyone knows I have been questioning if Roy looked sick or not as he did not look right to me. Anyway I still expected him to win a decision as I thought he would out work Johnson, but I still had a lot of questions and I knew Johnson would be a big test after getting knocked out by Tarver.
Memphis is quickly becoming known as the town to get knocked out in. I had a bad feeling going into this thing that Mark Johnson was going to get whacked, but I wish everyone could have seen the fight. Choko Hernandez has solid skills and came at Too Sharp from the beginning. I only gave Mark two rounds the whole fight. Johnson was beaten the whole fight, was knocked down and then was knocked out in the next round.
As far as the Roy fight, I got a very new insight into the life of Roy Jones. This is something that I am not going to put in my column on Boxing Talk, but wanted to share it with everyone here. I met one of Jones best friends at the fight and he came over later and sat beside me for the fight. After each round we discussed what was happening. He would even call up different people to ask how the HBO judges were scoring the fight and he told me that they had only given Roy one round. I asked him who he thought was winning the fight as I had Johnson well ahead, and he told me straight forward the he felt Roy was losing. This was coming from one of his close friends and he was being honest and I respected that. He did not try to make it better than what it was.
Even when roy got staggard early in the fight, his friend was very open to what he was seeing. He kept telling me what Roy needed to start doing. He would then yell at the corner to encourage Roy. At one point he said that he has been telling Roy for a long time that he needed to change things up. He said he has told him over and over again that he is not as mobile and as young as he once was and he could not get away with lying on the ropes, he just could not do what he once could, but Roy would not listen. Right before Roy got knocked out he looked over at me and said "Damn, Roy is about to get knocked out!" Almost as soon as he said it Roy went crashing to the canvas.
The worse part of the whole deal was watching Roy's kids crying at ringside pleading for their daddy to get up. Not to get up to continue, but just to get up. You could see the hurt and the worry in their faces, and that they knew their father was seriously hurt. That is an image I will never forget. Even Smoke Gainer could not calm them down.
A lot of people were down on Tarver at the fight. In the back when it was just me and the Tarver crowd, along with Antonio, he was telling everyone that what happened to Roy was his work, but he did express concern for Roy. As he said he does not like seeing Roy out like that as he does not like seeing any fighter in that state.
I think the worse part of that was that Lampley and the rest of the HBO crowd was sucking up to Tarver big time talking about how they knew this and that about Tarver and that they knew he was one that ruined Roy. They showed Roy no respect whatsoever. You could tell that lampley was really a jerk and was ready to jump what he considered to be the hot ticket. It was disgusting to say the least and I will never take anything he says seriously becuase I know he is just a snake. it was evident when they were in Little Rock when he was asked about George and even more so here.
I think what happened to Roy happened before Tarver and certainly not because of Tarver. Tarver just was in the right Jones fight at the right time.
Jones is aging and losing some of his ninja attributes. I find Tarver thinking Jones was ruined because he KOed him, bullshit. Typical ego working in high gear.
You mentioned in the beginning of your post about how Roy looked. I mentioned to my friend when the bell rang in the beginning "Roy looks like shit. He looks flat."
In a post fight interview, the doctor said he was dehydrated...not sure if this was his condition as he entered the fight or if it was a result of the fight.
great to hear the behind the scenes stuff. thanks for posting it
personally, I will never take the HBO team seriously again. The way they were dogging Roy after the fight made me sick. I can't stand Tarver, so I'm willing to recluse myself from that aspect of it, but I think at the very least he's over-hyped and over-exposed
Apparently Lampley forgot that George Foreman saved his life during the Bowe/Golatta riot. Some people remember stuff like that
he got what he deserved i say. johnson didnt force roy to the ropes as much as roy accepted the position. if your fighting a guy with a pulse and an ounce of pride your going to get messed up letting him pound on you for 9 rounds.
like johnson said himself, the fact that he wasnt loading up was irrelevant, that if you keep touching your opponent it will eventually take its toll.
roy showed no spark, no will to win, and got pummeled because he showed no respect to johnson by laying on the ropes all night.
its sad actually, because i like roy as a fighter.
Gator is all class as usual. This moron will bash Roy and defend Tyson. It says all you need to know about gator.
IMO the Roy who fought Johnson is basically the same guy in Tarver 1. All he did was lay on the ropes but tarver hardly did antything but pose. I do not think Johnson is getting the credit he deserves but Roy is just a shell of what he once was. He is less busy than Holyfield at this point.
One thing I have always wondered about the HBO guys is that no matter how many cocktails I have throughout the broadcast, it seems that Merchant has got the upper hand.
Does he get drunk during the fights or is it just my imagination?
its weird to me how HBO boxing analysts always mock the pro fighter that's on their broadcasting team. whichever one it is always knows more about what's going on than they do.
ESPN, by contrast, treats the pros with much more respect.
Gator, obviously i meant that they are rude to them during the commentary, that they all do together, not that they are rude about them while they are fighting.
You, my friend, are a delusional dick head: the kind of person so in love with the sound of his own voice that you think saying even the worst things about a fighter you dislike; re your comments about being glad Roy's kids were there ringside and worried -- you think it comes out sounding like cavier dropping off the end of your tounge.
In all actuality, it just comes out sounding like a shit head losing some weight by pushing some shit out of that asshole you call a mouth.
Alot of you guys are a joke rjj was one of the most exciting and talented fighters ever, and here's a news flash you don't know him despite the stories you've heard or read about him, so have some respect for an athlete you are all jealous of and stop talking like your shit don't fuckn stink how fucked up would you be perceived as if the public was privy to your personal life
Gator, what an asshole you have made of yourself on this thread.Don't act like you know RJJ because of some story you heard.From what I heard the dog incident happened before he had a daughter.I'm sure there are tons of different versions but you are not in a place to judge him on it.The story was probably blown out of proportion like every pitbull story.The ironic thing about the APBT is that they are exactly the opposite towards humans as the media would have you believe they are!