Matthew Hurley, photo by David Martin Warr – DKP: After Roy Jones Jr. defeated Felix Trinidad by unanimous decision in front of a less than capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden the fighter turned his attention to super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Calzaghe is scheduled to take on Bernard Hopkins on April 12th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, but the fight has been so long in the ‘tentative’ column that most fight fans are taking an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it attitude. Jones, who is suddenly bursting with fistic enthusiasm, has committed himself to doing something he’s never done before – crossing the pond and fighting in Calzaghe’s backyard. It’s a course of action Jones wouldn’t even consider when he was at the apex of his career.
“I’m definitely looking to make that fight and I’m going there (Wales) tomorrow,” Jones said after defeating Trinidad. “I’ll fight anybody, anywhere, any time and if Hopkins – Calzaghe finishes how I think it will, I’ll even go to Wales and fight. I don’t care..”
Jones espoused much the same rhetoric in the days leading up to the showdown with Trinidad. That, “I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, any time” sound bite has become something of a mantra for the fighter, who has even gone back to referring to himself not only in the third person, but as ‘Superman.’
“I’ll fight Antonio Tarver, (Glen) Johnson, (Chad) Dawson, set ‘em up and I’ll knock ‘em down.”
The pre-fight bluster was typical Jones bravado but after disposing of Trinidad the fighter’s ego seems to truly be pushing him into on last grasp at center stage. The Trinidad victory came against a fighter who not only has tremendous difficulty with speedy boxers but also after having sat out for two years. Still, Jones exhibited speed and athleticism that could still serve him well against future opponents. And nearly every fighter in the 168 to 175 pound range would love to have a victory over Roy Jones, whatever version this 2008 one may be, on their ledger. Look for Jones to be involved in at least one more big fight against a marquee name before the thirty-nine year old finally hangs up the gloves.
“All my fans around the world said I was done,” Jones said with a smile at the post fight press conference. “You never know when you’re going to be here, or when you’re going to go. You never know when it’s your time. I had a great training camp and great sparring partners and I’m pretty much Mr. Unstoppable.”