Roy Jones Jr. vs. Hany Atiyo: Winner, Scorecard and Analysis

Believe it or not, boxing great Roy Jones Jr. is still around knocking out overmatched opponents—albeit thousands of miles away from where his fame was created.  

Jones defeated Hany Atiyo—the Egyptian world champ—in Friday night's WBU cruiserweight title match in Krasnodar, Russia, defending his belt in about as easy a fashion as you could possibly imagine. He sent Atiyo to the canvas early in Round 1, forcing a technical knockout as his opponent was unable to continue.

The winning blow was about as nonchalant a victory as Jones has ever had. Simply taking his time getting into a flow, he threw a jab toward Atiyo's cheek before connecting on a hard body shot to his opponent's right ribs. Atiyo immediately felt the brunt of it, crumbling to the ground.

All Jones could do is walk off like it was nothing. Well, because it pretty much was—he had hardly broken a sweat by the time he lifted the trophy.

He's been out of boxing's mainstream since back-to-back-to-back losses to Danny Green, Bernard Hopkins and Denis Lebedev from 2009-2011. But Friday night marked the fourth straight time he's fought in Eastern Europe and dominated his opponent. 

Fight Ghost summed up the victory for Jones, although indicating a return to his prime might be a bit much:

Not to be confused with the world-class bouts he used to schedule, Jones expected somewhat of a cruise on Friday night. He told ESPN's Dan Rafael that before the fight, after commenting on why fighting in Eastern Europe is so important to him:

"

They asked me would I come back and do it again and we made a deal. I'm happy to go Russia. I have a lot of fans there and this is another tune-up to keep me active.

I know the guy I'm fighting is supposed to be a strong puncher, but not the most skillful guy. I know he will try to jump on me and try to get me out of there. It's cool though. I know what to expect.

"

And it literally took seconds into Round 1 before that became quite obvious.

The 45-year-old Jones didn't come out shot out of a cannon, but rather took his time setting the tempo. Although, despite his lax approach that resulted in mostly body shots early, those shots took their toll.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In the first minute of the fight, Jones connected with Atiyo's ribs around the same area that later would cause him to go down. He was noticeably taken back by the blow, making his KO later in the round less surprising than it initially looked.

Still, it's a side of the American that we haven't seen in years. While he does have seven career knockouts in the first round, the last one came in 1997—some 17 years ago. Three of his last four fights in Eastern Europe have gone the full distance.

According to the reaction from Cage Warriors' Brad Wharton, few around the sport had seen such dominance from Jones in years:

While many of Jones' recent fights have shown spectators that age has taken away from his game, that didn't seem to be the case on Friday. Of course, a first-round knockout can keep folks from seeing a lot of other deficiencies that would crop up in a 12-round fight.

But nobody expects Jones to rediscover his glory days at the age of 45—much less in Europe and in fights that don't generate much public interest around the sport other than the simple fact that he's fighting.

Alas, just the simple fact that he's out there knocking people out decades after starring in the Olympics caught BoxingScene's David Greisman's eye:

There's no telling what is next for Jones. He's obviously been in the twilight of his career for some time, but from his Round 1 knockout to parading around the ring performing his own rap songs, he seems to still have plenty in the tank.

Jones admitted in his interview with Rafael that he's aiming to stay around Eastern Europe and get a shot at world cruiserweight title holder Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, after which he says "then I'm done." But with two deals already in place for his preferred opponent, Jones would have to play the waiting game—not ideal for someone who turns 46 in January.

He can keep dominating opponents who have no business being in the ring with him, and it may help to pad his overall record along with his pocketbooks. But other than a potential future matchup with Wlodarczyk, there's little left for him to chase in what has been an illustrious career.