Jones Knocks Down Trinidad Twice on Way to Victory

By JOHN ELIGON
The New York Times
Published: January 20, 2008

Roy Jones Jr. had an entourage of rappers with him at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. He had a shiny crown, a menacing grin and some dance moves to boot.

Yes, Jones still possesses much of the flair that made him one of boxing's most popular figures over the past two decades. On Saturday night, he showed that he still had some boxing skills, too.

With an impressive display of lightning-quick combinations, Jones knocked down Felix Trinidad twice on the way to a dominating unanimous decision in a 170-pound fight. Jones won by 116-110 on two judges' score cards and by 117-109 on the third.

It was Jones's first notable victory in more than four years, but it came against an opponent who was fighting for the first time in nearly three years. So Jones (52-4), who said he wanted to become the super middleweight world champion again before retiring, may still have a lot to prove before people agree that he is in top form again.

In the first two rounds, Jones showed he wanted to keep his distance and use jabs to set up power shots with his right hand. Trinidad (42-3) was more aggressive, using powerful body shots to get inside on Jones, who appeared to block many of the punches.

Jones landed his first crisp punches in the third round, and his swagger seemed to build with it. After landing several blows, he backed into the ropes and put up his guard as Trinidad threw punches. Jones simply made faces at Trinidad and tapped himself in his stomach several times to show Trinidad that his punches did not hurt. At one point Jones shimmied his body, tapped his feet and waved Trinidad forward.

Jones began showing flashes of his old boxing skills in the third round when he rapidly landed three left hooks in succession. In the sixth, Jones taunted Trinidad by sticking out his face. He caught Trinidad with several quick left hooks.

With less than two minutes remaining in the seventh round, Jones landed a short right hook to Trinidad's temple that sent Trinidad to the canvas. After lining up his punches from the outside up to that point, it was only fitting that Jones's most effective punch came on something shorter with Trinidad leaning in.

Jones floored Trinidad for a second time shortly before the end of the 10th round with a quick left-right combination.

Jones came to the ring wearing a crown and a sleeveless warm-up suit. The rap artist Pastor Troy was performing in the ring as Jones made his walk.

Trinidad came to the ring to a much more subdued song. Fans chanted his nickname, Tito. In perhaps a sign that Trinidad is no longer the bedrock of Puerto Rican boxing, he did not draw quite as big a crowd as the young, undefeated welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto, who fought at the Garden twice last year. The Garden crowd was fairly evenly split Saturday night.
Jones, 39, was once considered one of the world's greatest pound-for-pound fighters. He won 49 of his first 50 professional fights, his only defeat coming by a disqualification. He has been a world champion at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
But he went on to lose three straight fights. His two most recent fights before Saturday night, last year and in 2006, were victories over unheralded opponents.

Trinidad, 35, had racked up world titles as a welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight in winning the first 40 fights of his career. But he was in the ring for the first time since May 14, 2005, when Winky Wright dominated him to win a 12-round unanimous decision.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/sports/othersports/20boxing.html?scp=2&sq=Roy+jones%2C+jr.

--

We were just informed that there is incorrect information on the sticker of all copies of Tool Musiq at Circuit City. Fans who buy the record there are being treated to a FREE bonus track called "Lookin 4 the Lick." The web address on the sticker to claim the download, however, is INCORRECT. The correct web address is www.smcrecordings.com/pastortroy. The unique code on the back of each sticker will still be necessary to get the download.
Just fill in the blanks!
Peace.