Roy Jones Jr. Is Shot? My Final Prediction For RJJ Vs. Jeff Lacy

After cruising around and reading quite a few boxing message boards, the prevailing theme for Roy Jones Jr., is that he's 'shot.' Most boxing fans are judging this from Jones' fight with Joe Calzaghe. In that fight, towards the end of the fight, he did look shot. Roy Jones Jr., let's not forget, went on to look better than expected in his fight after the Calzaghe thumping; against a limited foe, yes. But as far as physical prowess; Jones didn't look like the Jones of OLD, but far from 'shot.'

Maybe the boxing fans that I disagree with have a different interpretation of the ring-lingo than I do. 'Shot' to me is "get out of the ring. You have NOTHING left." In Roy Jones' case, he still has something left. He is over the hill, not shot.

I'm expecting Roy Jones Jr. to beat Jeff Lacy by UD, or late round stoppage. Jones has too much talent for Lacy, even at this stage in his career.

Roy Jones Jr. To Keep Fighting After Jeff Lacy

Roy Jones Jr. has expressed his desire to take on Glenn Johnson, Bernard Hopkins and even Wladimir Klitschko.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=20901

First of all, Roy Jones is nuts if he thinks he has a realistic shot at beating Wladimir Klitschko, who is a good 7 inches taller than him, with a longer reach. Klitschko would outweigh Jones by a significant margin. If (I doubt it would) the fight ever happened, I wouldn't be surprised to see Roy Jones Jr. get knocked out by one of Wladimir's powerful jabs. That's how much of a mismatch a fight between Jones & Wladimir would be. Joe Calzaghe had Jones flinching and gun shy, imagine what a skilled heavyweight with real power would do to him? With all that said, it was probably just antics from Roy Jones Jr. - about fighting Wladimir I mean. I believe him when he says he wants to face Hopkins or Glenn Johnson.

Many people are calling on Roy Jones Jr. to retire. Why? He didn't look too good in the second half of the fight against Joe Calzaghe - but he held his own in the first part of the fight before the cut. Besides, he didn't look THAT bad - past prime, definitely - but not "shot" as many people like to claim. Sure, Roy Jones Jr. is 40. So what.... he likes to fight and make money. Don't forget, Jones, after losing to Calzaghe, went on to look good against Omar Sheika.

Roy Jones Jr. will go on to face Jeff Lacy next month. I feel Jones will beat Lacy by late round TKO, or UD.

I would also give Roy Jones a good shot at beating Bernard Hopkins - mainly because of Hopkins' inactivity.

First things first; let's wait and see how Roy Jones Jr. looks against Jeff Lacy.

A Look Back: Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.

November 2008: Two ring legends, Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr. gave boxing fans a memory they wont soon forget. Although half of the fight was more like an exhibition bout and the fight itself took place about 8 years too late, it still was exciting to see both men share the ring together. And the fight let us piece the puzzle together on what (most likely) would have happened had these two fighters met in November of 2000.

I was expecting Joe Calzaghe to come into the fight and dominate. He did dominate, but not in the way I expected; I was thinking more along the lines of him knocking Roy Jones Jr. out early, or in the mid-rounds.

The first round was full of drama with Roy Jones Jr. showing superior speed in the center of the ring - he also had more snap on his punches. He knocked Joe Calzaghe down towards the end of the first. Definitely a surprise to me.

The second round saw Calzaghe fully recuperated from the first round knock down, but Roy Jones Jr. was still landing clean, crisp punches. In my view, Jones took the first 2 rounds.

The tide turned in the third round as Joe Calzaghe dominated Roy Jones against the ropes and in the center of the ring.

Round four was more of the same; Calzaghe throwing and landing more punches.

Round 5 was a close round to score and could have gone either way. Both men had moments. I personally scored it for Roy Jones Jr. on his cleaner, harder punches.

Round 6 was clearly Joe Calzaghe's round, even though he got hit with a monstrous uppercut at the tail end of the round. If Calzaghe didn't have such a good chin, I doubt he would have been standing after that punch.

Round 7 was an interesting round; Roy Jones Jr. started to jab Calzaghe. And he was troubling Calzaghe as he tried to get inside. Jones mixed it up - you could almost see the wheels turning inside Calzaghe's head. After Jones landed effective jabs to keep Joe at bay, Calzaghe landed a couple of straight left hands which opened a cut above Jones' left eye. After suffering the cut, it was all down hill for Roy.

The remainder of the fight was all Joe Calzaghe, as he cruised to a UD.

I take nothing away from Calzaghe. It was an impressive win for him - after all, he was 36 years old himself. But let's not lose sight of the fact that Jones was not being blown out of the water until AFTER he sustained that cut. I doubt Roy would have won had he not suffered the cut, but I believe the fight would have been much more competitive.

Roy Jones Jr., even at age 39 had the quicker single shots and the crisper, harder, cleaner punches on the night. Calzaghe was faster with flurries and foot work.

Which leads me to my conclusion: Prime for prime, Roy Jones Jr. wins by a wide UD. Roy Jones Jr. was simply too fast for Joe Calzaghe, at any time in his career (watch the first 7 rounds of Calzaghe-Jones to see what I'm talking about).

Whatever the case, both fighters gave us an opportunity to see their styles clash. At least they fought; better late than never.

Both fighters will undoubtedly be inducted into the boxing hall of fame.

Full Fight Of Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.