A LEGACY ON THE LINE
By Ron Brashear

INSIDE BOXING (9/23/2005) – It’s hard to imagine that I would be writing a story whereas Roy Jones Jr. (49-3, 38 KOs) would be fighting to preserve his legacy. That is exactly what he will be doing when he steps into the ring in a quest to reclaim his fame against Antonio “ Magic Man” Tarver (23-3, 18 KOs) on October 1st in Tarver’s hometown of Tampa, Florida and televised on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Let’s face it, Roy Jones Jr. was the longest reigning Pound-For-Pound fighter in the business since this title has been placed on fighters. Then, on a hot summer night in Las Vegas back in May of 2004, Jones’ legacy was drastically tarnished by one thunderous left hook by Tarver in the 2nd round that put the Great RJJ on his back and KOed! This event sent shock waves throughout the capacity crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, as well as throughout the boxing community. Then to make matters worse, four months later, RJJ makes a comeback and gets knocked out cold in the 9th round against Glen Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee.

Here is what is most interesting to me. First of all, the mere fact that Tarver even got an opportunity to damage Roy Jones’ legacy is remarkable. Especially the way he did it. I will never forget the night of March 3rd, of 2003, when Roy was at the podium addressing us media folks after just becoming the 1st Middleweight in almost 100 years to become the Heavyweight champion of the world by defeating John Ruiz. While taking on questions from the media, the microphone was handed to Antonio Tarver. I recall Tarver’s words, “When am I going to get my shot Roy? You aren’t the best fighter in the world; you aren’t even the best fighter in Florida! What do I have to do to get a shot at you, come take a piss in your yard?” This may go down in history as one of the most lucrative marketing ploys in boxing history, next to Big George Foreman pitching the grilling machines.

Jones didn’t need Tarver to cement his legacy anyway. Yet Tarver definitely needed Jones to catapult his career. By calling out Jones, it landed Tarver his big shot at stardom, and he cashed in big-time! While Tarver came up short in his 1st fight against RJJ in November 03, he put up a very good fight that yielded a controversial ending with Jones winning a majority decision. Based on that performance, that is what landed Tarver the rematch in May 04 that produced the KO victory over Jones.

So here we are now, one week away from Roy’s quest for redemption. If he is able to come back and defeat Tarver, in Tarver’s back yard, for the bragging rights of Florida, it will be remarkable, to say the least! RJJ will have a very confident and talented champion in Tarver coming to prove that the KO was not a fluke.

So if you are unable to join us in Tampa on October 1st, this is a PPV fight that you definitely will want to call your cable operator and request. Will this be the retirement of RJJ for good? Or we will see a boxing legend come back with a vengeance and preserve his legacy in the biggest way by defeating Tarver. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather see it happen live than to hear about it! This should be a special night in boxing.

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Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com