By Shaun McElreath
Roy Jones Jr’s new match-up has been set, it will take place on December 10th 2011 against former “Contender” season three contestant Max Alexander.
For over a decade Roy Jones Jr. dominated multiple weight classes and was for years was considered as one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world. Jones destroyed opponents with speed, athleticism and reflexes which were among the greatest the world has ever seen. There is no doubt to many that whatever sport Jones pursued during his younger years he would have been among the elite.
The problem with winning most of your fights with the boxing style of a Roy Jones Jr., is that when you age the first thing to go is your speed and reflexes. With Jones trademark hands by the waist style, you are going to eat some big punches. As the saying goes “it is hard to teach an ole dog new tricks”, and this most often applies too fighters as well. The reason some fighters such as Bernard Hopkins can continue with a successful fight career at 46 is purely because his style allows him. He clinches with his opponents, wearing them down with single blows and crafty clinch fighting; a style Jones will never mimic.
Match-makers in boxing have known Jones has lost his step for years now and still have put him in with opponents that are not good match-ups for him. Danny Green for example has dynamite in his fists as he has won 27 of his 31 bouts via KO or TKO. Jones’ then fought Bernard Hopkins, who has probably always been a better pure boxer than Roy Jones, but obviously not on the same level of speed and athleticism as Roy. The result was a boring unanimous decision for Hopkins in a 12 round match-up. After Hopkins, Jones fought relatively unknown Russian fighter and recent contender for the WBO Cruserweight title Denis Lebedev. This was a horrible match-up in a lose-lose situation for Jones fighting a unknown guy to the American masses. Might I add that Lebedev had great punching power knocking out 17 people in his 22 wins. Jones seemed to still be in the fight coming into the tenth and final round until an onslaught of power punches connected forcing Jones to cover up and finally sent him to the canvas.
Now match-makers have appeared to have gotten better match-up for Jones in Max Alexander. Alexander was a participant on the TV series “The Contender” where he had lost to Sam Soliman in the seasons second episode. There is not much fight footage to review for the younger Alexander, who will be meeting Roy Jones at Cruiserweight. The year that Alexander fought against Soliman on ” The Contender ” took place in 2007, so it is tough to get much information on how good of a fighter he is today.
What I did conclude from his televised fight with Soliman is that he has a long jab and can eat a punch. Alexander has what seemed to be a small gas tank sucking wind early, very little head movement, and even less punching power as Soliman constantly walked right through his best shots.
I believe this is a great fight for Roy Jones to take, and give it another go before retirement. Great dominant fighters of their time deserve a shot at leaving on a winning note, and young fighters looking for another shot at the big time like Max Alexander also deserve an opportunity, so here is to a great fight and hopefully regardless of the outcome, Roy Jones hangs the gloves up with his head held high.
What do you think about this match-up, and do you agree that Roy Jones Jr. should of not only received such a fight, but do you believe he should have taken it to try and leave the game on a win?
