Roy Jones Jr.: How He Should Go Down in Boxing History

Roy Jones Jr. looks at his championship belts, and all of those boxing memories slowly flash back. He remembered holding seven belts at one time at the light heavyweight division. Then he smiled when he remembered how he snatched John Ruiz’s WBA heavyweight title, becoming the only junior middleweight who went up and captured it.

Roy seems to forget how it feels to hold a title again, how it feels to win against a big name in boxing. Nobody really believes in him getting back to his glory days. Not with a 42-year-old boxer who last won a fight almost two years ago. Nobody dared and nobody cared. Everyone wants him to retire…

Roy wanted to prove to everyone that he still can do it. Like an old Rocky movie going for one last chance of glory. But this is not a movie where everyone gets to read the script. There isn’t really a happy ending in the world of boxing—knock me out, or I’ll knock you out.

Roy’s legacy has already been etched in boxing’s rich history. He doesn’t need to fight since he doesn’t have anything to prove...no one doubted him. He will always be one of the best and a future Hall-of-Famer. There isn’t any clear reason Roy can think of why he continues to fight. It’s just a different feeling when he laces up his gloves and goes into the ring. It’s like everything comes back to his first fight, his first championship belt and his first boxing glory.

His reflexes and muscle memory have slowly betrayed him. His once granite jaw has long been shattered. He was a shell of his once self…a shadow of his once greatness.

Roy Jones Jr. looks at his championship belt one more time before placing it back on its secured shelf. Just like his legacy that has always been secured, even with knockout losses to Danny Green and Denis Lebedev. It won’t stain anything he had accomplished. Like his belts, it’s also time to hang up his gloves. Put them in a secured shelf and never look back. It ends where it should end...right into a boxing memory.

“A win doesn't mean much. He's got to go. He's got to go." Roy Jones Jr.