42-year-old Roy Jones Jr promised "new things" and the beginning of the greatest comeback in boxing history tonight in a club fight against Max Alexander, a semi-retired former super middleweight who hadn't fought in two years and was 0-5-1 in his last six fights.
There wasn't much new, though Jones claims that there was, and if this was the start of boxing's greatest comeback, it sure didn't look like it as Jones cruised to a laborious unanimous decision victory at a quiet Civic Center in Atlanta, winning on scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91.
Working with new trainer Tom Yankello, Jones (55-8, 40 KO) did his usual in fights like this, where he's in against an unqualified opponent: He shimmied, he shook, he did a really poor impersonation of himself, and he basically played make believe, turning back the clock for a half hour in his heart, but not in the eyes of anyone reasonable.