Roy Jones Jr. vs. Scott Sigmon on Feb.8

By Allan Fox: Roy Jones Jr. (65-9, 47 KOs) is supposedly retiring soon after he faces journeyman Scott Sigmon (30-11-1, 16 KOs) on February 8 for the vacant World Boxing Union cruiserweight title in 10 round fight at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida.

Jones Jr. turned 49-years-old this month on January 16th, and he plans on ending his 29-year pro career against the 30-year-old Sigmon next month. However, a lot of boxing fans think Jones Jr. will continue to fight as long as he’s getting offers for paydays against various fighters.

Sigmon has lost 6 out of his last 12 fights since 2014. He has defeats against these fighters: Luis Arias, Michael Wilmer, Lanell Bellows, Ronald Gavril, J’Leon Love, Caleb Truax, Matt Korobov, Philip Jackson Benson, Kelly Pavlik, Jesse Nicklow, Farah Ennis and Chris Fitzpatrick.

Sigmon has lost to some very well-known fighters during his 10-year pro career. For the most part, Sigmon doesn’t lose to just anybody. He gets beaten by the good fighters, which makes you wonder whether Jones Jr. is making a mistake in taking him on. It’s likely that Jones Jr. has thoroughly vetted Sigmon to make sure that he’s beatable and not a threat to him. You never know. Jones is almost 50, and not the same fighter he was years ago. It was a little over 2 years ago that Jones Jr. was knocked out in 4 rounds by an over-the-hill Enzo Maccarinelli in December 2015. Maccarinelli turned around and was knocked out in 1 round by Dmytro Kucher in his next and final fight of his career in June 2016. Kucher appears to be done as well, as he was beaten in his next fight in losing to Marco Huck by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in November 2016.

“Y’all must’ve forgot. I always said that my final fight would be in my hometown of Pensacola,” Jones Jr. said. ”I meant it then, and I mean it now. This is where it all began for me. This will be my 75th professional fight, and it will be my last one.”

Well, it’s hard to believe that Jones Jr. will stay retired for long. If Jones gets a big enough offer by one of these fighters, perhaps a former MMA guy, we could see him back inside the ring. If not, then Jones has a lot to be proud of about his career. It was a fairly long one, and he was on top of the sport for many years when he was in his prime. Jones has big wins over guys like Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Thomas Tate, Mike McCallum, Virgil Hill, Reggie Johnson, Richard Frazier, Richard Hall, Eric Harding, Clinton Woods, Antonio Tarver, Glen Kelly, John Ruiz and Julio Cesar Gonzalez.

Things started falling apart for Jones after he moved up to heavyweight briefly. After Jones came back down in weight, he never seemed to regain the form that he before the move. Jones’ career crumbled after that with losses to Tarver, Glen Johnson and Joe Calzaghe. These are guys that Jones clearly would have beaten when he was at his best. By that point in his career, Jones Jr. was done as a fighter. It’s sad that he’s continued to fight for the last 14 years despite being past his best. If Jones has retired after his loss to Tarver in May 2004, his legacy would look a lot better.