Roy Jones Jr. retiring after Feb.8 fight

By Boxing News - 12/30/2017 - Comments

Image: Roy Jones Jr. retiring after Feb.8 fight

By Jim Dower: Former 4 division world champion Roy Jones Jr. (65-9, 47 KOs) plans on hanging up his gloves after his next fight on February 8 at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. Jones Jr. will be fighting in the headliner bout.

For Jones’ sake, hopefully he’s not matched against someone a little too talented for him. We saw what happened to Jones Jr. the last time he fought a guy over his head in Enzo Maccarinelli, who stopped him in the 4th round on December 12, 2015. Jones Jr. was knocked out cold by Maccarinelli.

Jones Jr. looked like a totally shot fighter. Jones Jr. made Maccarinelli look like a good figher when in reality he’s an over-the-hill fighter. Maccarinelli subsequently was knocked out in the 1st round in his next fight by Dmytro Kucher in June of 2016. Maccarinelli hasn’t fought since then, and it’s likely he’s finished.

The Maccarinelli contest was a supposed to be a fight in which Jones showed off his boxing skills in front of his Russian fans in Moscow, Russia. Jones Jr. had just been given his Russian citizenship. Jones Jr. never went back to Russia to fight again after that loss. In Jones’ last three fights; he’s fought exclusively in the U.S in defeating Vyron Philips, Rodney Moore and Bobby Gunn.

During Jones’ best years, he possessed blinding fast hand speed, and he was almost impossible to hit.

The 48-year-old Jones will be wrapping up his 19-year pro career against an opponent still to be determined on February 8. Jones is about to turn 49 on Jan.16, and it appears he’s decided that he wants to retire finally.

You can’t blame Jones Jr. for wanting to end his career, because he stopped being a relevant fighter 11 years ago. Jones Jr. has been just hanging on by his teeth to his once great career since losing 3 consecutive fights to Antonio Tarver [twice] and Glen Johnson in 2004-2005. Those are guys that Jones would have beaten with ease during his prime.

“It’s my last one for the Bayfront – Civic Centre, Pensacola, Bayfront Arena, whatever you want to call it,” Jones said to Pensacola News Journal. “So if you want to come to see my last day in Pensacola, be there February 8. That’s my last one there.”

The Jones Jr. card on February 8, called “My Last Day At The Bay,” will be a mix of boxing and MMA fights. There’s still no word who exactly will be on the card besides Jones Jr.

Jones Jr. would like to fight former UFC star Anderson Silva. But it’s unclear whether that’s a doable fight for Jones. If it’d going to be under the rules of MMA, Jones could wind up losing his next fight instead of ending his career on a positive note by beating an over-matched opponent. It would be bad for Jones if he was to fight a former world champion that has a little too much left in the tank for him.

During Jones’ best years, he beat the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Glenn Thomas, Thomas Tate, Virgil Hill, Jorge Castro, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Eric Lucas, Tony Thorton, Merqui Sosa, Montell Griffin, Lou Del Valle, Mike McCallum, Otis Grant, Reggie Johnson, Richard Frazier, Richard Hall, Eric Harding, Derrick Harmon. Glen Kelly, Julio Cesar Gonzalez, John Ruiz, Clinton Woods and Antonio Tarver.