All’s well that ends well and the career of Roy Jones Jr. ended well on Saturday, at least I hope so.

When I was a younger fella (teens) my favourite fighter was always Roy Jones Jr. and with advent of Foxtel in Australia during the mid nineties I was lucky enough to get to see many of his fights. Most of which ended by KO, but all of which were entertaining. The speed, the power, the showmanship (a little like Mundine) always impressed me as he always seemed to finish with a victory. Jones carried his skill from middle weight all the way up to heavyweight champion of the world (becoming the first middleweight in 106 years to hold the heavy weight crown).

Yesterday he was as showy as ever but unfortunately father time caught up with him and the gifted Welshman Joe Calzaghe showed no fear of Jones’s speed or power. It wasn’t all the Welshman’s way with Jones scoring a knock down in the first round but after cutting Jones above the left eye Calzaghe earned a dominant decision victory.

Like all great sportsman Jones was gracious in defeat and said he would now think about his future. I hope he thinks a loss to the unbeaten Calzaghe is an acceptable way to end his career and leaves it at that. Unfortunately, most athletes can’t leave it at that so I wouldn’t be surprised if he fights on, but in my eyes his career ended yesterday.

Thank you Mr Jones.

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