ROY JONES, JR. TURNS BACK CLOCK AGAINST SHEIKA

Roy Jones, Jr. is nowhere near the fighter he once was and will no longer be relevant in the championship mix.  He’s still capable of putting on a dazzling performance and for one night he was able to turn back the clock as he dismantled overmatched and made to order vet Omar Sheika before a rapturous home town crowd in Pensacola, Florida. 

Jones’ Square Ring Promotions company put together the event, and RJ was already a winner before he entered the ring due to a surprisingly entertaining—if uneven—hybrid boxing/MMA fight card.   And even at age 40 and on the downside of his competitive career, Jones’ sent the near capacity crowd home happy with an entertaining performance that showed numerous glimpses of his former greatness.  RJ has always been in phenomenal shape, and for a fighter his age his handspeed and reflexes are still off the charts.  As was the case for most of his career, his unorthodox tactics and speed flummoxed his opponent throughout the fight.

Sheika was most definitely a ‘made to order’ opponent for the one time ‘pound for pound’ king of boxing.  He’s a solid vet who always comes to fight, but is a very predictable boxer stylistically—he’s a guy that Jones knew would be right there in front of him providing an easy target for his punches.  Sheika showed very little offense throughout the fight, but did show considerable toughness and an iron jaw as he took the repeated barrage of power shots and kept coming. 

Jones was never able to knock the rugged Sheika to the canvas, but wobbled him a number of times throughout the fight.  The end came somewhat suddenly in the fifth round after Jones wobbled his opponent soon after the bell with a powerful left hook.  Another left hook shook Sheika and with little apparent cause the referee immediately waved off the fight.  Sheika briefly protested the somewhat abrupt stoppage but soon relented as Jones soaked up the adulation of his home town crowd.

On one hand, the stoppage was questionable since Sheika hadn’t been down and was continuing to defend himself and come forward.  Ultimately, however, he had generated negligible offense of his own and the referee’s verdict saved him from what would have been a repeated pummeling at the hands of the aging master Jones. 

After the fight, Jones was vague about his future plans.  There have been some suggestions that this will be his swansong, and he’ll retire to concentrate on his promotional business.  Based on his relatively impressive showing and the response from the live crowd it would be somewhat surprising if he didn’t attempt to put together a more definitive ‘retirement fight’ for the profits and publicity it would generate.