Klitschko To Impress While Jones Trudges Along

On Saturday Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs) meets former Cuban Olympic standout Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KOs). Roy Jones, Jr. trudges along with his career when he faces perennial contender Omar Sheika (27-8, 18 KOs). Both fights are relatively meaningless, but for two different reasons.

When Klitschko battles Gomez, nothing significant will be at stake. If Klitschko destroys Gomez (which I expect him to do), he’ll get little measure of credit for beating a man who has spent most of his career at cruiserweight. To be fair to Gomez, he does have a noteworthy amateur pedigree, only one loss on his record, and has been one of the top cruiserweights for years. However, in six days, all of these credentials will be temporarily blunted after Klitschko knocks him out in the sixth round.

It’s difficult enough for me to continue to write about Roy Jones, Jr. at this point of his career. "RJ" has been one of my favorite fighters to watch since being robbed of a gold medal nearly 20 years ago in South Korea. Who (Omar Sheika) he is fighting is less the issue. Why he is fighting is. I expect Jones to win but will continue to question why he, Evander Holyfield and other past-prime stars continue to fight on with little left to prove. I guess we can blame Bernard Hopkins, so long as he keeps winning.