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Photo © HoganPhotos.com
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There is a phrase that goes something along the lines of... ‘You often have to take a step back before taking two steps forward.’ That expression basically means that sometimes you need to back up and look at the big picture before moving on. It is very easy in life to get caught up in the motions and once a while you just need a small break to analyze things before getting back into your normal routine. From what I see of Roy Jones Jr., that could be what he is doing with his next fight, vs. IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Glen Johnson this Saturday on HBO.
As we all know, Jones is coming off of a devastating 2nd round knockout loss to rival Antonio Tarver, and many questioned whether he would even continue fighting after suffering such a huge setback. Jones is a fighter though, it’s in his blood, and when he meets Johnson he will be looking to get things back on track.
Glencoffe Johnson is by no means a pushover. He has fought all over the world, losing only to solid fighters, with many of the losses being questionable and some even controversial. He is a rugged customer who can take a punch, only losing by TKO once in his career, back in 1997 to Bernard Hopkins after 11 hard rounds. There are several people who claim that Johnson’s losses to Omar Sheika, Julio Gonzalez, Syd Vanderpool, and Joseph Kiwanuka could easily have gone the other way around. When seeing Johnson in action, you see a solid boxer who simply knows how to fight. He isn’t flashy or pretty, but he usually does enough to win and could very well give Jones all he could handle.
Johnson had a fight scheduled with Super Middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe, but the bout was called off when Calzaghe came up with an injured back. Johnson now has the date with Jones, which comes along with added exposure from HBO and a nice chunk of change to go in his pocket.
From Jones’ standpoint, this is a serious fight but perhaps a few notches below his back to back grudge matches with Tarver. A win over Johnson will give Jones another title to put around his waist and most likely some more confidence before he tangles with Tarver once again. Coming one week after Bernard Hopkins’ rub out of Oscar de la Hoya, the Jones-Johnson clash hasn’t been getting nearly as much attention as a regular Roy Jones fight, and perhaps it is best that way. Perhaps Jones was getting too caught up in the boxing spotlight, and a small step away to gather himself may be all he needs before storming onto the scene again.
The ball is in Roy Jones’ court and everything is in place for him to start getting back the prominence he once had. We’ll see what transpires September 25th.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
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By Chris Robinson (September 23, 2004) 
