First, I have to admit I was physically sick about it initially. Roy is not my favorite fighter but I have grown to respect him and appreciate what i believe to be the most incredible skills I have seen. He truly seemed unbeatable, which all boxing fans know is when a fighter is very beatable. I also told my 4 year old that he was watching two Jones that day, both who may be the greatest ever at their sport. Smarty Jones is a freak as a racehorse due to his skills and diversified pedigree and roy is also a freak. Fortuiantely, he saw the Jones who won that day.
I think tarver deserves his props because he hade a plan to win, which very few of Roy's opponentt's ever had. I think tarver's mouth intimidated Roy slightly. There is no doubt in my mind that tarver's question about excuses at center ring threw Roy off. Roy was looking very good in round 1 and IMO got a little greedy and got within striking range. Trading left hands with Tarver was basically dumb. Roy could basically beat tarver with his right hand alone. I cannot call it a lucky shot because he KO'd Eric Harding with the exact same shot. I think we should just say tarver has a dangerous left hand.
I think Roy probably should have hung it up after beating Ruiz judging by his attitude. He just seems disinterested in boxing in general. Go watch his early days how he came into the ring and look at the tarver fights. He seemed to be there for the payday, which was not all that great relatively speaking.
He now has his chance to show some metal by coming back and defeating a guy who KO'd him and being less of a fighter than he once was. I think it is very safe to say Roy has slipped skill wise. His legs seem much weaker and his speed is nowhere near what it once was. Personbally, I think if beating Tarver was important to Roy, he could do it fairly easily but I have my doubts about his focus and motivation right now.
i agree good post,
i also agree that what tarver said just before they squared off,
made jones a little mad and made him fight a different fight then usual which caused him to exchange and get caught
When Jones beat Ruiz, it was like when Lewis beat Tyson. Anyother
fight for Jones expect a fight with Tyson would maybe be seen as a let
down, and step down/back in Jones's eyes.
bottom line is Tarver is a better fighter. he whipped jones ass twice now, and no excuses can deny that. when nady asked if they had any questions Tarver should have said "yeah, you or your FANS got any excuses tonight roy" . roy trained HARD for this fight, and he got abused mentally and physically in the ring.
he isnt over the hill, he just found a fighter that isnt afraid of him that is willing to go toe to toe with.
"roy trained HARD for this fight, and he got abused mentally and physically in the ring."
He got caught with one shot and Nady waved it off. Much like your boy Lennox did TWICE.
if roy got motivated. he would walk through tarver. tarver wont land another punch like that. if roy keeps it center ring.. he destroys tarver and makes him look like an amatuer.
***He got caught with one shot and Nady waved it off***
yep
***Much like your boy Lennox did TWICE***
And Roy is going to avenge his loss like Lennox did twice with Ko's? If you belive that your in fantasy land.
***Actually, it's just once. There was no ass whipping in the first fight by either fighter***
true Slick, but Roy got the worse of that fight, which had a questionable decision anyway. and clearly that fight stuck in his head as tarver came right back into the rematch and ko'd him in the second round.
this biggest mistake is to view this second fight soley as a flash knockout. tarver didnt do shit in the first round, while roy threw some flashy punches. in the second round tarver took the initiative and was walking into Jones while firing the jab. roy was confused as steward pointed out, and you could tell the jab was bothering him. then of course tarver landed flush on his chin. it was the pressure he was applying that set up the end. it wasnt a lucky punch, he just started fighting his fight and the result came with it.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said he seems disinterested.
That happens to everyone in not just sport, but everyday life routines as well.
It's one of the primary reason why people change jobs...their work sufers because they become disinterested.
When your heart is not into something, you will not perform 100% as much as you want to. I really beleive that Lennox Lewis saw this in himself and quit before he really got hurt in the ring.
It really bugs me when people say that RJJ lost or had his ass whooped in the first fight. If you were to watch that fight and forget that its RJJ vs Tarver and instead saw that it was Bob vs Frank, you'd be VERY hard pressed to give Tarver the win.
I've watched that fight a couple of times now and I think RJJ clearly won the fight. I think what happens is that people were so shocked that Tarver was in the fight (better than anyone to that point) that they were giving him rounds he truly did not deserve.
That being said, I also hate that people call it a lucky punch. Tarver was moving and countering and he caught the man with the fastest reflexes in boxing. It was his ability, not luck.
On one last note, The age of the two fighters means absolutely nothing when one of them has had twice the amount of fights. Its why we see many fighters retire before their 30. RJJ has about 50, and has been fighting twice as long as a pro, Tarver about 25. You get tired as an athelete.
Done..peace....
Roy lost because he violated a fundamental rule of boxing,which is never back straight up. Roy has always done this but the superior reflexes of his youth was always there to rescue him.
"And Roy is going to avenge his loss like Lennox did twice with Ko's? If you belive that your in fantasy land."
If you count the rematch with McCall an avenged loss you are crazy. McCall was having a breakdown and would not fight and Lennox was still hesitant. He did not knock McCall out the ref called the fight because of McCall's breakdown, not because of anything Lennox was doing.
I don't see how anyone could have scored that first fight for Tarver.
Bullshit, Gator. Polls run by ESPN, FightNews as well as other sites had Jones winning. Jones got 64%-67% of the votes in all of those polls. The print media such as USAToday and Ring had Jones winning by a couple of rounds. NO ONE in the media thought Tarver won. Even BoxingTalk which is a Tarver groupie site scored the fight a draw. Where the hell did you get this 90%?
Gator always ignores the facts when they conflict with what he wants to believe. Nothing has changed in all of the years that he has been on this forum. In fact, it drives me nuts because how can you have a serious conversation if someone doesn't care about the truth?
Great post, Slick, as per usual. Btw, Tarver deserves all of the credit in the world for his KO victory in their second fight.
Jones/Tarver was one of the easiest fights I have scored in a while....7-5 Jones. It was one of those fights that seemed to have a clear winner in each round....when Tarver was fighting, Jones wasn't, and vice versa.