Roy Jones Unifies Light Heavyweight Division
Dateline: 06/06/99Roy Jones, Jr. (40-1, 33 KO), the WBC and WBA champion, pitched a shut out against IBF champ Reggie Johnson (39-6-1, 24 KO) to become the first undisputed light heavyweight champion since Michael Spinks relinquished the title in 1985 to campaign as a heavyweight. How good is Jones? Johnson landed only 49 punches in the entire bout!
Jones wasted no time establishing his superiority over the capable Johnson, knocking the IBF champ down with a straight right less than two minutes into the first round. In the third, Jones countered a Johnson right with a lightning fast left-right combination that again sent Johnson to the canvas. Johnson went down a third time in the 12th after a solid right from Jones, but it was correctly ruled a slip. Johnson got up each time and gave his best effort, but was never in the fight. The punch stats provided further evidence of Jones' complete domination of the bout: Jones landed 273 punches to just 49 for Johnson. In other words, Reggie Johnson, a credible and capable champion, managed to land an average of merely four punches per round against Jones. All three judges scored the fight a shutout -- 120-106 in favor of Jones.
After the fight, all Johnson could talk about was the "fantastically fast hands" of Jones. Consider him another convert to the growing ranks of those who recognize Jones as head-and-shoulders above his peers, both in the light heavyweight division and in the mythical pound-for-pound debate as well. Sorry Oscar.
Jones' critics argue that he hasn't been truly tested and benefits from competing in a weak division. Wrong! While Jones' resume has its fair share of stiffs (whose doesn't?), Roy has never ducked an opponent -- making it a point to take on the best available competition. The fact that he dominates very good fighters and does so with such apparent ease is testament to his greatness. Hopkins, Toney, Pazienza, McCallum, Griffin, Hill, Del Valle and Johnson are all accomplished, competent fighters -- yet Jones lost no more than a handful of rounds to all these fighters combined! Sure, Montell Griffin kept things interesting in their first bout, but was well on his way to getting knocked out before Jones was DQ'd for hitting him while he was down. And remember what happened to Griffin in the rematch, when Jones turned in the most angry and aggressive performance of his career? That's right, a first round annihilation. Sure, Lou Del Valle scored a flash knockdown of a lackadaisical Jones in an otherwise one-sided match. Big deal. It's only because Jones is as good as he is that fight fans can talk about individual rounds he almost lost and specific punches that almost caught him.
In fact, Roy Jones' problem is that he's too good for his own good. If Jones engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest - such as those that have endeared Evander Holyfield and Arturo Gatti to the public - he might get the recognition and respect he truly deserves. Perhaps a much discussed move up to the heavyweight division will be what it takes to force Jones to absorb some punishment or to overcome some form of adversity. But regardless of whether he moves up or not, it's time for sports fans to appreciate Jones for what he is -- the most dominant and skillful fighter of his era.
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