The question of whether the old Roy Jones will show up to fight or just an old Roy Jones is no longer valid. We already know that Jones is well past his pound-for-pound prime.

Against unknowns Prince Badu Ajami and Tony Hanshaw, Jones coasted to relatively easy decision victories. Against the greener Ajamu in 2006, Jones showed he still possessed the hand speed and lateral movement. In 2007 versus the hungrier, Mayweather Sr.-trained Hanshaw, Jones looked older and more vulnerable, showing no urgency to score a knockout even when he floored Hanshaw in the 11th round. In his prime Jones would have reduced Ajamu and Hanshaw to punching bags.

Saturday night at New York's Madison Square Garden, Jones is finally getting what perhaps he doesn't deserve: a "superfight" against a marquee opponent, Felix “Tito” Trinidad. A fight that is about six years past its best-before date, Jones-Trinidad is merely a concoction of promoter Don King's, an attempt to cash in on two aging future Hall-of-Famers (with a ridiculous pay-per-view price of $49.95). But Jones-Trinidad still poses an intriguing question or two, and depending on what the answers are, the match could turn out to be surprisingly entertaining.

First, Jones, 51-4 (38), is claiming (again) to have recovered the fire and the hunger. Jones' longtime trainer Alton Merkerson says that during training he was reminded of the younger version of RJ, and that Jones' psychology was similar to the version who trained for the second Montell Griffin fight (where a pissed off RJ blasted out a shell-shocked Griffin in one round). If this is true, and Jones really means it when he predicts that "Tito must go in fo’," than we can expect to see a more aggressive than passive Jones. This does not mean Jones, who turned 39 two days ago, will stand and trade with Trinidad, but the advanced age of both men might resemble 1989's Hearns-Leonard II, in which both men lost just enough defensive skills to make the fight exciting.

Second, Trinidad, 42-2-1 (35), will be fighting in only his third fight in six years, and has retired twice since 2001. After Bernard Hopkins schooled him that year, he fought a farewell match in 2002 before returning in 2004 to destroy Ricardo Mayorga. Then came the embarrassing one-sided loss to Winky Wright in 2005, who sent “Tito” back into retirement. Trinidad, 35, has never fought at 170 lbs before, and weighed in as high as 200 lbs before training camp. Can Trinidad still punch at light heavyweight? If he can, he may not have to hit Jones clean to produce the desired results. Will Trinidad be slow and sluggish after so many years of inactivity? If he is, Jones may get his wish of a 4th round knockout.

The weight could be a factor in this fight. Jones has never been the same after returning to light heavy after besting John Ruiz at heavyweight. In his fight against Wright Trinidad fought at 160 - whether he will be able to carry his punching power up ten pounds remains to be seen. It is likely he will. Look for the normally slow-starting Trinidad to pressure Jones early, and try to score a knockout. Jones says he will be moving forward, but it is likely he will allow Trinidad to back him up against the ropes, as he's been doing in his last few fights. Jones still has his speed, but his impeccable timing, lateral movement and combination punching are greatly diminished. Both of these icons have just enough flaws to make this fight interesting. The knockout losses that Jones suffered at the hands of Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, however, are not as tell-tale as Jones' rubber match loss to Tarver via decision. Jones had barely lost rounds in his prime, let alone on the scorecards.

But let us first see whether Jones and Trinidad are worth the weight, before we ask whether their fight was worth the weight.

Prediction: Trinidad KO 8

© 2008 Aaron Bayley