Jones' grand plan
NEW YORK -- Back when Roy Jones Jr. was the best boxer in the world, most people thought his sport was dying. Now that boxing is back on the rise with one big fight after another, Jones is aching for a comeback of his own.
But even after Jones danced around Felix Trinidad to win a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the 39-year-old will have to wait for the big-money matchups he's craving.
After all, he didn't take those fights when he first had the chance. The 1990s' best pound-for-pound fighter was well-known for playing defense both inside and outside the ring, and now he has dropped well down the list of boxing's biggest names.
He will have to get in line for fighters who once would have loved to meet him -- but don't tell that to Jones, who still sees himself as the biggest name in any room.
"I'm still Superman, and I'm still the guy that nobody wants to fight," said Jones, who hadn't beaten any opponent of consequence in four years until he shut down Trinidad, who hadn't fought in 32 months.
Jones' perceived reluctance to take on the biggest fights during his prime came to symbolize everything that was wrong with boxing in the 1990s. He contented himself with second-tier matchups that kept the money rolling in but usually didn't test his unparalleled skills.
Jones famously wouldn't go to Germany to establish his supremacy as a light heavyweight against Dariusz Michalczewski, who held the WBO title from 1994-2003. Jones also could have fought Joe Calzaghe in 2002, when both were near their peaks, in a fight that would have been an epochal event in Calzaghe's native Wales -- but it never happened.
That's all over now, Jones claimed after possibly punching Trinidad into retirement. He has set his sights on a matchup with Calzaghe, the unbeaten 168-pound champion who's first expected to fight Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on April 19.
Jones clearly thinks he still can make up for all the time he lost playing minor-league basketball and dabbling in acting instead of testing himself in the ring.
After years of strenuously avoiding overseas travel, Jones and promoter Don King even claimed they would make a trip to Great Britain to personally challenge Calzaghe.
"I'm definitely looking to make that fight," Jones said. "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."
By now, boxing's past mistakes are even clear to Jones. The sport became choked with squabbling promoters, multiple sanctioning bodies and headliners who didn't take chances. This morass allowed mixed martial arts to rise with incredible speed to a prominent place in sports.
But fighters finally got the message over the last two years, and boxing is in the midst of a long series of tantalizing matchups made with fans and legacies in mind.
Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor. Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley. Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler. Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez. Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. Finally, Mayweather and Ricky Hatton, two unbeaten fighters whose December bout closed a thoroughly memorable year.
Next month, Pavlik will fight Taylor in a rematch of last year's thrilling middleweight bout. Pacquiao takes on Juan Manuel Marquez in March, shortly after Marquez and Vazquez reprise their two unbelievable fights -- and then the big names get going, with Hopkins and Calzaghe teeing off before De La Hoya takes a tuneup fight in early May to prepare for a probable rematch with Mayweather in the fall.
So where do Jones and Trinidad fit into the future of a sport that's largely left them in the past? Both still can sell tickets and pay-per-view buys, though not as many as before.
Trinidad could be headed for his third retirement, but he seemed interested in fighting again when he joyously addressed a crowd of his unwavering Puerto Rican fans after the bout.
"I'm going to talk to my father and my people, but I will decide soon if I want to fight again," Trinidad said. "I believe I can still do it."
Meanwhile, Jones might find Calzaghe or another current champion to be more generous to him than he was to the contenders who wanted a shot at Jones' belts 10 years ago.
The eight-time champion in four weight classes is determined to fight on, and his win over Trinidad is just another affirmation of what he already knows about himself.
"All my fans around the world said I was done," Jones said. "I wanted to show what I can still do."