Raising the stakes for Jones and Trinidad

By Bart Barry

In professional wrestling there’s a thing called a retirement match. In such an event, both combatants agree beforehand the loser will stop practicing the craft. Guaranteeing one man will be barred for life from his profession raises the promotional stakes for an event that can’t sell tickets by itself.

Chances are, Jones-Trinidad will do just fine at the box office. But if by this Wednesday advance sales are weak, perhaps promoter Don King should declare it a retirement match.

Saturday night in Madison Square Garden, Roy Jones and Felix Trinidad will fight in the main event of a spectacle billed as “Bring on the Titans.” According to King, the event’s title comes from the “inimitable and incomparable” Cyrano de Bergerac who, according to King, said, “Don’t bring me no mortal men, bring me giants!”

Despite Saturday’s colorful title, “Bring on the Titans” will involve no title – no matter how many Jones and Trinidad once accumulated. Neither man is willing to concede this week’s fight should be the official and final end of his career, but both might consider it.

Jones has never retired. In 2003, he gained about 20 pounds and decisioned WBA heavyweight champ John Ruiz. It was a historical victory, even if Ruiz was less than a historical champion. In Jones’ post-fight press conference, light-heavyweight contender Antonio Tarver baited him. Jones took that bait and returned to 175 pounds to teach Tarver a lesson eight months later.

The lesson didn’t go as well as planned, so Jones gave Tarver a rematch six months after that. The rematch really didn’t go as well as planned. For the first time in his career, Jones was starched. In Round 2, he went down and went stiff on the canvas for a few seconds before rising and being unable to continue. The image of Jones on his back, legs straight, was the exclamation point for a surprising sentence.

A worse image awaited, though. In September of 2004, IBF light-heavyweight champ Glen Johnson put Jones on his back for five minutes. After that, fans and boxing insiders began urging Jones to consider retirement. Jones took a year off then came back for a rubber match with Tarver. Jones lost that fight – one which he might have promoted as “I Won’t Be Knocked out Thrice!”

After his frightening loss to Johnson and frightened loss to Tarver, Jones fought once in 2006 and once in 2007. Even if one imagines there were no repeat pay-per-view customers for Jones’ fights with Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw, it’s still safe to assume fewer than 80,000 fans have seen Jones fight in 27 months.

Trinidad has retired twice. Until September of 2001, he was indestructible. He’d decisioned Oscar de la Hoya at welterweight, decisioned WBA light-middleweight champ David Reid six months later, ruined Fernando Vargas and taken WBA middleweight champ William Joppy’s belt in the first fight of a middleweight tournament.

Trinidad’s second fight in that tournament was a different story. He went against a comparatively unknown entity named Bernard Hopkins. By the time his father climbed in the ring to save him, Trinidad had sustained a career-altering beating like the ones he famously doled out.

After an uninspired homecoming performance against Hacine Cherifi in Puerto Rico, Trinidad retired. He ignored a large number of offers to return – including overtures for a rematch from De la Hoya.

Then Trinidad came back in October of 2004 and knocked out Ricardo Mayorga in an excellent fight. Next up was an unappreciated entity named Winky Wright. Judge Duane Ford’s card, which read 120-107 for Wright, told the story of how that went. So Trinidad retired again.

Now Trinidad – whose record at 160 pounds was unexceptional – has moved to 170 pounds, after 32 months of inactivity, to fight one of the greatest light-heavyweight champions of all time. What could he be thinking?

Here’s a guess: Roy Jones is a technically flawed fighter whose preternatural speed is long gone. Jones has a fragile chin and a more fragile psyche. And Jones still has a big name.

Anyone who once watched Trinidad’s euphoria during introductions, the way Trinidad mimicked Michael Buffer’s reading of the name “Tito!” in his prime, can believe Trinidad has missed his fans. Any other explanation for Trinidad’s third comeback makes little sense.

When asked what he plans to do after his fight with Jones, Trinidad genuinely seems to have no idea. Some of that is focus on the task at hand. But much of it can be attributed to either Trinidad’s mid-camp nostalgia for retirement or a private suspicion that he can’t beat Jones.

I agree with Tito. But that doesn’t mean Jones-Trinidad won’t be fun while it lasts.

In Saturday’s first round, there are two questions whose answers will predict how fun Jones-Trinidad will be, and how long it will last. The first question is this: Will a Jones hook hurt Trinidad? There’s little doubt Jones is fast enough to hit Trinidad, and Trinidad has always been prone to early knockdowns. If Jones is able to hurt Trinidad, Jones-Trinidad could be very entertaining.

The next question is whether Trinidad can land a hook on Jones. That is, who loses the battle between Jones’ faded reflexes and Trinidad’s accumulated rust? If Trinidad can catch Jones, Trinidad can hurt Jones – even though Trinidad will be 16 pounds over his best punching weight. Part of this is Trinidad’s famous power, but more of it is Jones’ fragility.

Neither guy’s promise of an early knockout is particularly believable, though, so I’ll take Jones: KO-10.

This is a fight that reduces to a pursuit of money and glory – a fight of no real consequence for the super-middleweight or light-heavyweight divisions. This is a fight that can’t afford to be methodical or slow. Fortunately, both Jones and Trinidad are excellent showmen. And both refuse to stop fighting. Still, the loser might just find this was a retirement match all along.