Enzo Maccarinelli, like Roy Jones, is also past his prime. But compared to Jones he looked as fresh as a daisy?
Saturday night at the VTB Arena, Moscow, Russia, Roy Jones Jr. (62-9, 45 KOs), the 46-year-old future from Pensacola, Florida, was knocked unconscious by 35-year-old Enzo Maccarinelli (41-7, 33 KOs), from Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom, at 1:59 of the fourth round, to hopefully end the folly of the last several years.
Fighting on fumes, relying on muscle memory, for reasons that defy comprehension, it was inevitable that one of these days the future Hall-of-Famer would get punched into retirement if not oblivion.
It appears that day has come.
Fighting out of the red corner in black trunks with white trim, Jones was a shadow of his former self. There?s no hand speed to speed of, and even less foot speed. He still possesses a semblance of those extraordinary Roy Jones moves of the past, but it?s like shouting into a canyon and hearing a distant echo.
Maccarinelli, fighting out of the blue corner in black trunks trimmed in red, is also past his prime. But compared to Jones he was as fresh as a daisy. He was the busier fighter. He was the more focused fighter. He was the younger fighter. He was the fighter without an HBO contract awaiting him in New York.
The end came, and not a moment too soon, as the fourth round was drawing to a close. Maccarinelli caught Jones with an uppercut that dropped him to the canvas. Jones crawled around on all fours before jumping to his feet. When the fight resumed he retreated to the ropes where Big Macc unloaded the big guns. Another uppercut followed by a right caught Jones looking?and down he went, face-first, with a loud thud.
Logic says we?ve seen the last of Roy Jones Jr. in the ring. But logic has nothing to do with it.
He may be back before we know it.
