By Ian S. Palmer
American Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. travels to Poland to battle Dawid Kostecki in a 10-round light heavyweight bout on June 30. Jones, a future hall of famer, has a record of 55-8 with 40 KOs and beat Max Alexander by a 10-round unanimous decision his last time out in December. Kostecki carries a 39-1 record with him along with 25 KOs.
Jones is 43 years old now, has lost three of his last four fights, two by KO, and is taking on a 30-year-old with power in his hometown. It looks like the odds are definitely stacked against him and he’s going to have to be on his toes to pull out a win here. It’s doubtful that Jones is making much money from this bout and many fans are puzzled as to why he keeps on fighting.
Most fans probably aren’t even aware of this bout, but it’s obvious that boxing and showmanship is in Jones’ blood. Jones has been knocked out four times since 2004, but surprisingly he’s not shy about getting into the ring again with guys who can bang. Kostecki’s record is quite good, but he hasn’t fought any elite boxers in his career. In fact, Byron Mitchell might be the only recognizable name on his resume. His only loss came back in 2006 when Rachid Kanfouah stopped him in the ninth round.
The way to beat Jones these days is to just keep throwing punches at him and make him cover up. His reflexes aren’t the same, but he still has decent speed, which can turn into power if you don’t see the punches coming. Jones obviously doesn’t have the chin he possessed years ago and he could get dropped at any time if hit cleanly. If his defence isn’t working then he could be in for a lot of trouble.
Every time Jones steps in the ring he’s putting his health on the line and the only way to make sure he doesn’t get hit is to discourage Kostecki from moving in and attacking him. This means he’ll have to keep the Pole at bay with a good jab and fast combinations, but he’s going to need to put some sting into his punches.
Jones has s good job with HBO as an analyst, but he just won’t hang up the gloves no matter how his fights turn out. He’s fought some of the best boxers of his era since turning pro in 1989 in Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver, Joe Calzaghe, Virgil Hill, Mike McCallum, James Toney, and Vinny Pazienza. However, those days are long gone.
Jones was an elite boxer in his prime, and probably one of the best ever. If he’s going to win this bout against Kostecki he’s likely going to do it by decision. However the sad part is, if he loses, he’ll probably be stopped for the third time in his last five fights. The latter seems to be the more realistic scenario at this juncture in Jones’ career.
Update: Dawid Kostecki will not be fighting Roy Jones this Saturday, due of his incarceration earlier this week. Pawel Glazewski (17-0, 4 KOs) will now fight Roy Jones on Saturday.
