Ok, fellas - let's put it together.
Jones v. Harding tonight on PPV, 8:00 EST.
Jones, of course, by all accounts a great fighter; by my account, the best, pound-for-pound, in the game today. (Yes, I choose him over the formidible and highly skillful Hamed as the best overall, gravity aside).
However, unless he pulls a gutsy (and almost certainly ill-advised) weight gain or loss, there really aren't many opponents against which he can have a highly memorable war that will etch him, firmly, in the annals of great ring combatants. A weight move downwards would prove surprising, not the least of which to Jones himself...a weight move upwards would be comical initially, and tragic, eventually. All said, Jones has plundered the cruiserweight/light heavy divisions, and the search for a would-be Frasier, Trinidad, or Holyfield has virtually gone for naught, with two exceptions.
Eric Harding, tonights challenger, boasts a decent record of 18-0, making him the number one challenger at this time. He's got only 4 KOs, which is surprising because in his last fight, he broke his opponent's (Ray Berry?) jaw. Nonetheless, I suspect that Harding, even with the oft cited "magic in his fists," will fall prey to the speed and power of Jones, while at the same time presenting the best potential for a good fight that we've seen in a long time.
The real - and only - chance for a "fight" for Jones will be against Hamburg, Germany's Dariusz Michalczewski, if it can be put together. There have been a few attempts which fell apart largely due to the momentum of colliding egos.
There lies, if any at all, the only chance for Jones to demonstrate his skills (or hold his own) against an evenly matched opponent. Mich. currently holds a record of 42-0 (35 KO), and has held the WBO and WBA Light Heavy belts since early 1997, dispatching most of the challengers since then in 8 rounds or less.
And, lest we dismiss Michalczewski as having not faced any real opposition, in the defense of his belt he recently KOed Montell Griffin (39-3), took the luster off the previously sterling record of the still somewhat promising Mark Prince (18-1, 14 KOs), and beat Graciano Rocchigiani (40-5-1, 19 KOs) - who himself gained notoriety by beating the dangerous Michael Nunn (52-4) recently.
So - and I hate to sound cynical - tonight we have what I suspect will be a likely story. My pick for tonight's fight is Jones in the 8th, though I may nudge that number a bit before the 8:00 EST pre-fight showing.
There are only two stories in the squared circle: the fighter on the way up, and the figher on the way down. Without a match against Michaelczewski, win or lose - tonight, we'll be seeing two distinct twists on the latter story: physically for Harding, and historically for Jones.
LPS5
5:00 EST on HBO: KO Nation. |
