"Well Percy, it is sad and I'm not happy that it happened to him, but I told everybody a long time ago that Roy can't fight going backwards and all of that cute and scary shit he used to do in the ring was going to come to an end. He's not a hardcore old school fighter....I would tell Roy to quit. Keep his commentating job at HBO if he still has it. I would tell him to go fight chickens or whatever to occupy his time, but don't get back in that ring. He can't even fight at this point. No sense to take that kind of punishment. If his only options are cruiserweight and heavyweight, he is in trouble. It is over for him in boxing. His time has come and gone...I gotta give props where props is due. Congratulations to Bernard Hopkins. He went in there and beat that young boy's ass," stated future Hall of Famer James "Lights Out" Toney as he shared his thoughts on the recent knockout loss of Roy Jones Jr. and the impressive unanimous decision victory of Bernard Hopkins. As two of the only recognizable active fighters still left from Toney's era, you don't want to miss what he had to say about their performances and much more.
PC: What's good my man?
JT: What's going on baby? Everything good?
PC: Oh yeah! Are you still in the gym?
JT: Every day we going hard. We going hard in the paint every single day.
PC: Michael Grant's people sent out an email saying any big name heavyweight that's looking for a fight can get it; they just have to step up to the plate. Is that...
JT: (Cutting in) He can get it too! Anybody can get it, but he can definitely get it. In fact, I may have something to say about that in the next week or so. You know you'll get it first.
PC: Definitely. If you look at the 90's, you, Bernard Hopkins, and Roy Jones are the only high-profile guys left from that era. Was it somewhat sad to see Roy Jones be knocked out the way he was knocked out, being that you guys are kinda from that same fraternity?
JT: Well Percy, it is sad and I'm not happy that it happened to him, but I told everybody a long time ago that Roy can't fight going backwards and all of that cute and scary shit he used to do in the ring was going to come to an end. He's not a hardcore old school fighter like James Toney.
PC: Your style is a hard style to learn, but so much of the fundamentals of boxing are wrapped up into your style.
JT: Roy never learned the fundamentals of boxing. He went off of what he seen Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard do. Everybody knows that those guys came around once in a lifetime. But even with them, they took a lot of damage late in their career. If you watch the great old school fighters, like Archie Moore, Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles, you can see that the fundamentals that they learned are still there even at a later age.
PC: I was surprised that when the barrage started with just a few seconds left, Roy didn't even really seem to have survival skills, which is something Bernard Hopkins showed in his fight with Pascal on two occasions when he was shook up.
JT: When Roy fell, it reminded me of Roberto Duran when he fought my man Tommy Hearns. It looked like somebody shot him in the head with a shotgun. He was out before he hit the canvas.
PC: After the fight, Roy still seemed a good bit away from announcing any sort of retirement. If you could sit down and talk to Roy, what would you tell him?
JT: I would tell Roy to quit. Keep his commentating job at HBO if he still has it. I would tell him to go fight chickens or whatever to occupy his time, but don't get back in that ring. He can't even fight at this point. No sense to take that kind of punishment. If his only options are cruiserweight and heavyweight, he is in trouble. It is over for him in boxing. His time has come and gone.
PC: Do you look at Roy Jones' situation and base your own retirement on if you were ever knocked out that many times, or just as brutal as he's been stopped in some of his recent fights? Is that something you think about?
JT: I don't think about it because I know it's not gonna happen. The minute you start thinking like that is the time that shit will happen to you. I don't even think like that. I always think kill! Even when I wasn't motivated, they couldn't do nothing with me but run and all of that shit. Now I'm back motivated and it's just kill or be killed. I don't think about Roy's situation because it won't happen to me.
PC: What did you think of Hopkins performance against Pascal? There were times in the fight where I thought they were gonna try to take it from him when he didn't get credit for any of the knockdowns.
JT: First and foremost, I gotta give props where props is due. Congratulations to Bernard Hopkins. He went in there and beat that young boy's ass. And like you said, I thought if Bernard put another ass whooping on him that they was gonna steal it from him. He beat him the first time in Canada and they stole it from him, so I thought it was going to be the same situation. He left no doubt. Congrats to him; he made history.
PC: You have been telling me about Ismail Sillakh for the longest now. He scored an impressive knockout on the Jones/Lebedev undercard...
JT: (Cutting in) What did I tell you? He can beat Bernard right now. He can beat Chad Dawson right now. Whoever wants to get it can get it with Ismail. He is the real deal.
PC: Bernard says he plans on fighting until he's close to 50. With his style, do you think he could achieve that goal?
JT: I think Bernard can fight for as long as he wants to. I will never tell a man who is winning what he can and what he can't do. I just wish he would have the balls to meet me halfway and then we can see once and for all.
PC: He's hinted at fighting at heavyweight before, but if he only wants to go as high as say cruiserweight, is that something you would attempt?
JT: I'll make 200 pounds for a fight with Bernard. He can come in at 190 or whatever he wants to come in at, but I will make 200 for that fight and whoop his ass with no problem. I know when we made the Ring Magazine cover, it was the fight everyone wanted to see. It ain't too late; we can still make that fight happen. Let's get it on and quit being scared. If he's really old school and will fight anybody, then let's get it on. I understand the money situation and I ain't got a problem with that. Make your money, but then we can make the fight that needs to be made and I guarantee you it won't be like Pacquiao-Mosley either. I can guarantee that. I'm going to make him permanently snag.
PC: Which fighter went out worse in your opinion, Roy Jones or Shane Mosley?
JT: The proper way to go out is how my Godfather, Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns, went out. You go out fighting. If you gonna go out in this sport, go out as a fighter. Every time Tommy got knocked out, what happened? Two months later, he was back in the ring knocking somebody out and wanting to get the motherfucker back. He wanted to get Sugar Ray Leonard back and he did. He won that second fight easily.
PC: I appreciate your time JT. It's always good to have you on. Give me some closing thoughts big dog.
JT: FightHype.com, get me my damn T-Shirt! I see Dave got his.
PC: I gotcha my man.
JT: All of the fans out there, y'all keep on reading and paying attention to FightHype.com because they are #1 in the business forever. My man Percy "No Mercy" Crawford, keep doing your thing baby! Holla!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]