Monday, May 10, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Jones proves steely in late rounds

Light heavyweight king primed for Saturday's rematch against Tarver

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Roy Jones Jr. says training has gone well for his light heavyweight rematch against Antonio Tarver at Mandalay Bay on Saturday. Photo by John Gurzinski.

The way a boxer performs in the championship rounds -- 11 and 12, or 13 through 15 in the days of 15-rounders -- frequently differentiates a merely good fighter from a great one.

Roy Jones Jr. is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all-time, yet he was never tested in the championship rounds until his bout against Antonio Tarver on Nov. 8 at Mandalay Bay. Jones won a majority decision for the light heavyweight title by rallying in the final rounds.

In his previous fights, if Jones hadn't already won by knockout, he was so far ahead that his late-round performances hardly mattered.

But Jones, who will face Tarver in a rematch Saturday at Mandalay Bay, always believed he had it in him to go the distance. He said when Tarver was pushing the matter and aggressively boxing him into a corner, he had to stand his ground and fight.

"To be honest, when I did that, I was like, `You know what, this is the perfect time to find out who's game,' " Jones said. "I was like, `He's giving me all he's got right now and I've got to go out and say I am game.' And that's what I did."

Jones said he never felt he was in danger of losing and that his competitive spirit forced him to pick up the pace in rounds 11 and 12. Many in the crowd, primarily pro-Jones at the start, lustily booed the decision.

A number of prominent boxers and trainers also felt Tarver deserved to win. Seven months and several viewings of the tape later, Jones says he can't understand why people felt it was so close, though he suspects his own reputation for dominance might have worked against him.

"It's like if you say you're going to win by 1,000 points and you only win by 500, they say, `Hah, you lost because it was that close, closer (than you said),' " Jones said. "I don't think (Tarver) won that fight, but I lost it to some people because I made it too close. ... If you look at it, I clearly won that fight.

"I don't care whether it was by one point or 1,000, my job was to win and I did."

Jones attributes much of his suboptimum performance not to Tarver, but to his own difficulty in making the 175-pound light heavyweight limit. He had fought as a heavyweight in his previous bout, decisioning John Ruiz for the WBA title March 1 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Jones had gone through a rigorous muscle-building program to pump up for Ruiz, and said he became drawn and tired from shedding that bulk to face Tarver.

"It was difficult, very difficult," Jones said. "I had no energy at all. I told (trainer Alton Merkerson), I had no energy. I mean, I was messed up."

Jones said no such problems existed during his training for the rematch, and vows he'll be a different fighter Saturday.

"This will be a lot different," he said. "I can go out there and do normal training because I feel good now. (Tarver) has got to knock me out to beat me, because I'm coming."

After the first fight, Jones didn't seem interested in a rematch and said at the postfight news conference he wanted to fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. He once cracked, "I have Tyson on the brain."

But Tyson hasn't fought since Feb. 22, 2003, and isn't expected to fight again until July 31, when he meets Kevin McBride. Jones said he couldn't wait.

"I just didn't secure a fight with Tyson," Jones said. "I had nothing else to do other than retire, so I figured I would do this one more time because the fans wanted it. If the fans want to see me do it again, I got to do it for the fans."