Saturday, May 15, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rematch finally appealed to Jones

Turned to Tarver after Tyson fight, others fell through

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Roy Jones Jr. looks like a 4-year-old as he vigorously shakes his head no. He is not fighting to save his legacy, he says firmly.

His place in history secure, his talent unquestioned, Jones says he's fighting for the pleasure of others.

The result of no single fight, no matter how significant, can diminish this career of accomplishment. The world titles in four weight classes, the wins over 14 world champions and a decade-long reign as boxing's best will be unaffected by the outcome of Jones' light heavyweight title defense tonight at Mandalay Bay against Antonio Tarver.

But Tarver represents something that Jones has rarely encountered in his illustrious career: a challenge.

Tarver was brash and bold in November as he proclaimed that he would expose Jones as another overrated, media-created sensation. Tarver (21-2, 17 knockouts) insisted he should be regarded as the world's best fighter.

The boxing world heard his boasts and yawned, but Tarver carried through on his promise. He gave Jones the fight of his life, and when the final bell rang Nov. 8 at Mandalay Bay, Tarver exulted, if only briefly.

"Politics," Tarver said, trying to explain the majority decision Jones won. "When has a champion ever fought as brilliantly as I did and failed to retain his titles?"

Jones now has the title and, perhaps more significantly, the motivation. He said shortly after his win over Tarver that unless he could arrange a fight with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, he probably would retire.

Jones (49-1, 38 KOs) said he spoke to Tyson about a fight, but shrugged his shoulders in explaining why the bout never materialized.

"Don't know," Jones said. "I asked him. I told him what it would mean. We just couldn't get it done."

But the idea of a Tarver rematch slowly began to appeal to Jones. He never has been cleanly beaten in the pros and only occasionally has been challenged. His loss came when he was disqualified seven years ago for hitting Montell Griffin when he was down and on the verge of being knocked out.

Jones lost in the 1988 Olympic 156-pound finals to the home South Korean fighter, Si-hun Park, a decision considered so corrupt that Jones was voted the Most Outstanding Boxer of the Olympics.

He lost 10 amateur fights, but said the last legitimate loss was so long ago, he can't recall its circumstances. But Tarver was the first fighter Jones faced in years in which there was a question of the winner.

Tarver frequently pinned Jones in the corner and ripped combinations to his head and, primarily, his body. Jones had a swollen left eye, the first time in his career he was marked from a fight, but said it was the result of Tarver hitting him on his arms as he was blocking Tarver's punches.

Still, Tarver won over many doubters. Jones heard the voices, and his competitive juices started to flow. As bouts against Tyson, the now-retired Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko failed to materialize, Jones began to think it wasn't such a bad idea to fight Tarver again.

"I'm not an excuse-maker, and I have no problems with what happened in that first fight," Jones said. "But the dude's done a lot of talking, and we were both available, so why not? The dude couldn't beat me on my worst day, so how does he expect to beat me now? Don't kid yourself: The dude can fight. But Roy can, too. And don't forget that."

• BLACKOUT LIFTED -- The local blackout of pay-per-view sales, via cable and satellite, was lifted Thursday and is available for $49.95 to subscribers of Cox Cable, DirecTV and Dish Network.

Mandalay Bay spokesman Gordon Absher said the $100 tickets are sold out, though tickets in all other price ranges remain. He said a crowd of up to 10,000 is expected. Absher said Mandalay Bay began selling closed circuit seats Friday for $50 apiece.