WHEN the shock of Chris Eubank Jnr being stopped by Liam Smith in four rounds is over, the blame game begins. It seems we can never accept a boxer’s defeat at face value, that there is always a reason. Certainly it almost always starts with the coach. No surprises there. But when that coach is Roy Jones Jnr, you can’t help but make a double.
To be fair, Jones only made matters worse by saying that the illegal elbow kick from Smith was the main reason for Eubank’s downfall. It reminds me of a conversation with Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson in the days following his injury-time loss to “Prince” Naseem Hamed, where he told me the same thing. I remember thinking how Johnson refused, just like Jones now. But regardless of Jones’ attitude towards the end game, he certainly wasn’t to blame for Eubank’s defeat. However, he will be blamed to some extent, if not by Eubank himself, then by others who have an interest in the boxer’s career.
If promoter Eddie Hearn hadn’t fired the first shot, he certainly would have fired the biggest shot by saying that Jones was the wrong coach for Eubank, that Chris’ biggest asset was taken away by the way he was. he is trained. Hearn is certainly entitled to his opinion, but it should be noted that it took him a while to get there; Jones trained Eubank for more than two years.
Hearn does not promote Eubank, but is interested in him if the duel with his man Conor Benn can be revived. That’s a story for another time, though. Jones was unhappy with Hearn’s remarks and wrote a response on social media, but this back-and-forth criticism is rarely helpful to either side.
His prowess as a trainer shouldn’t affect his reputation as a boxer but it does make you think nonetheless. Jones has always been considered the greatest of all time, but when things get tough, is he really?
Unless there was a reversal of the outrageous decision that went against him in the 1988 Olympic Games, Roy would never have been a gold medalist. Due to that blatant robbery, he was never able to secure the Olympic qualification at the professional level, which was the springboard to stardom for Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya.
While certainly the pound king when he fought, Jones never really hit the mark in a particular weight class to be named the best ever in that weight class. He has unequivocally beaten the likes of Bernard Hopkins, but very few people refer to him with the reverence they have for Marvin Hagler when discussing the greatest middleweight fighters of all time. It’s the same in super middle class, where Jones encounters James Toney, where the discussion usually begins and ends with Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward, barely mentioning Jones. At light-heavyweight, we hear about the likes of Archie Moore, Bob Foster and Michael Spinks, but how often does Jones’ name come up? And beating John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight belt, while impressive, isn’t on the same level as Spinks that upset Larry Holmes.
However, you can make a very reasonable case that no champion in boxing history has demonstrated the level of dominance that Jones did in his prime. He will rarely lose an inning. Compare this to Floyd Mayweather, who, despite always looking to win, struggled more than Jones ever did in his prime. Which brings us to the Hall of Fame party in Canastota, last June, due to the pandemic that introduced three classes. Among those worshiped were Jones and Mayweather.
Mayweather treated the showcase weekend as if he were the main event and all the other honorees, including Jones, were just supporting actors. Floyd declared himself the greatest of all time and said he always will be. Meanwhile, Jones sat at the end of a very long podium, a position usually reserved for the less prestigious. Maybe this will upset others in a similar situation, but Jones doesn’t seem to care even though he’s probably the better of the two when both are in their respective primes.
It will be interesting to see if Eubank Jnr keeps Jones as his coach. But the fact that an icon like Roy is putting himself in a position where he could be sacked by Eubank is unthinkable for the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, who have lived off the land their iconic status when they retire. like Mike Tyson and Leonard do today. Somehow, it seems below boxing royalty like Jones, he can put himself in a position to be dismissed by any boxer, let alone Eubank.
But Jones, as always, was different from the rest.
Roy Jones Jnr (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
