Roy Jones’ greatness has long been evident.
24-years-ago this autumn on October 1, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, a 19-year-old Roy Jones, Jr. destroyed South Korean boxer Park Si-Hun for three rounds only to lose a disgusting 3–2 decision and merely win the silver medal.
Prior to embarrassing Si-Hun, Jones, with his blazing speed and ferocious left hooks, outclassed all competitors and never surrendered a single round en route to the corrupt final.
During the notorious mismatch, Junior landed 86 punches to Park’s 32 and the Korean was forced to take two standing eight counts.
When the scores were announced and Si-Hun was awarded gold, the classy Korean apologized to Jones and acknowledged the crooked judges were village idiots.
“He didn’t score the fight. That’s the worst I’ve ever been dealt in my life,” Jones said before all three blind judges were suspended for their unacceptable, and swayed, incompetence. “They put the silver medal around my neck, and I took it right off. I won’t put it around my neck ever again.”
Approximately seven months after the debacle in The Far East, Jones turned professional with a resounding second round TKO triumph over Ricky Randall at the Civic Center in the robbed Olympic hero’s hometown of Pensacola, Florida.
Jones (56-8, 40 KOs), who became the first former middleweight champ to capture a heavyweight crown in more than 100 years when he defeated Metheun’s John Ruiz by a unanimous decision in March 2003, has now emerged victorious in two consecutive bouts against tomato cans named Max Alexander and Pawel Glazewski.
Sadly, the now 43-year-old shopworn icon continues to battle the unbeatable Father Time and has gone a substandard 7-7, and been rendered unconscious in four of those losses, in his past 14 prizefights.
Ed LaVache is the owner of the Boston Boxing Club in Allston.
LaVache contends Jones still scraps strictly for monetary reasons and has concerns the erstwhile great is jeopardizing his health.
“For a lot of these guys, boxing is all they know and it’s the only way for them to make money,” said LaVache. “So, they keep fighting until the fight is lost in them.”
The 1990s “Fighter of the Decade” is delusional and firmly believes he can overtake the aging process.
Hence, the Val Barker trophy winner in the 1988 games will pathetically “keep fighting until the fight is lost in” him.
Ironically, the most disheartening “defeat” Roy Jones, Jr. ever endured in the squared circle happened before he even became a prizefighter nearly a quarter-century ago.
by 
