Lebedev destroys Jones in 10th round KO

By Boxing News - 05/21/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: 42-year-old Roy Jones Jr. (54-8, 40 KO’s) was once again knocked out, this time by number #1 ranked World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight contender Denis Lebedev (22-1, 17 KO’s) in the 10th round on Saturday night at the Sport Complex Krylatskoe in Moscow, Russia.

Jones, who came into the fight having lost his last two fights, was battered in the final seconds of the 10th round before getting knocked down with a huge shot to the head that put Jones down flat on the canvas face first. It was one of those scary knockouts that leaves you wondering if the fighter is going to be okay.

But for Jones, this is yet another brutal knockout loss for him. He was knocked unconscious by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson in the past. And in 2010, he was stopped in the 1st round by Danny Green. To Jones’ credit, he fought fairly well against Lebedev, using movement and single shots to show glimpses of his former greatness. However, as the fight wore on, Lebedev was able to catch Jones repeatedly with hard body shots and huge left hands to the head that had Jones covering up. Like in a lot of his fights, Jones retreated to the ropes and covered up for long stretches. It made things much easier for Lebedev to tee off on him with shots.

Jones got the most he could out of his aging body tonight but he was asking too much of himself to take on what could be the best fighter in the cruiserweight division in Lebedev. Jones made the mistake of fighting too long on the ropes and absorbing too many shots that his chin eventually couldn’t handle.

After the fight, Lebedev said he’d like to fight Danny Green next. That would be an interesting fight if Green will accept it because both fighters are big punchers. Lebedev would have the edge because of his youth and southpaw stance.

In other action on the card, former lightweight world champion Nate Campbell (34-8-1, 25 KO’s) defeated Sherzod Nazarov (12-5, 10 KOs) by an eight round decision.

Unbeaten Ukrainian light heavyweight contende Isayl Sillakh (16-0, 13 KOs) destroyed Hamza Wandera (12-3-2, 11 KOs) in a 3rd round TKO.



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