Weekend Predictions: Jones-Lacy, Donaire-R. Concepcion, Luevano-B. Concepcion

The Franchise says...

I've got a confession to make: I've never been a Roy Jones fan.

Don't get me wrong. I've appreciated his physical gifts, and I've certainly seen him do things in the ring I've never seen anyone else do.

But Roy's prime coincided with the early part of my time as a serious boxing fan, and something about him just put me off. I think it was the way he tried to sell some of his lesser opponents as serious contenders when they clearly were anything but.

Maybe if he had just been a little more honest about what he was doing, I'd have rooted for him. I can't say for sure, but I will say that when Antonio Tarver (someone who inspires his own strong feelings from fans) knocked him out during their second fight, I was giddy. I felt that way watching him get starched by Glen Johnson too.

It's strange then, that I have more respect for Jones now at age 40. Unless he's got serious financial issues, he's still boxing because he wants to, and you can't be mad at that.

The really interesting thing is that since Jones relied on his physical gifts so much and never honed his craft the way a Bernard Hopkins did, I'd have guessed he'd be completely done before now. Yet he's taking on a semi-legitimate foe in Jeff Lacy this weekend.

The consensus opinion is that Jones is too old. Heck, Oscar De La Hoya thinks so, and he should know about when the end is obvious. If the Golden Boy is right, Jones is going to suffer his third career KO loss, because Lacy is built like a tank.

Somehow I don't think so though. Maybe it's because I haven't ever been able to get Lacy's destruction at the hands of Joe Calzaghe out of my head, but I think it's even more telling the way he was outclassed by Jermain Taylor last November. Taylor has been going life or death with everyone, and Lacy almost got shut out.

As long as Roy can still stick and move for 12 rounds and avoid getting lured into any protracted exchanges, I think he can pull this off. I like Jones by decision, and then he'll either try for Anderson Silva or fight one more boxer before retiring.

Since I babbled so long about Jones-Lacy, I'll keep it brief for the other big Saturday fights. I think Nonito Donaire's star is going to continue to rise, so I'll say the Filipino Flash will knock out Rafael Concepcion. Too much speed and power.

I'm more conflicted about the Steven Luevano-Bernabe Concepcion fight. I've seen Luevano's last three fights, and though there's no question he can box, he seems to make things more difficult than they need to be. You can certainly drop him if you get to him, though he has never been KOed.

Bernabe has a lot of pro rounds under his belt for someone so young, and he has what it takes to put Luevano down and keep him there. But he's never fought anyone this good before, so we'll learn something about him for sure.

I think this one's a toss-up, so just to avoid looking like a total homer (remember, the BoxingWatchers are all part-Filipino!), I'll go with Luevano by narrow decision. I wouldn't put money on it though.

Posted by The Franchise