Jones career in balance after KO

With the resounding thud of his head against the canvas, Roy Jones’ stellar career may have come to an end.

Jones was knocked unconscious by unheralded Jamaican Glen Johnson, who retained his IBF light heavyweight title with a relentless assault capped by a thunderous right hand in the ninth round at the new FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Once considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Jones looked uninspired as he had the fight totally taken to him by journeyman Johnson.

“I am not the best,” Johnson said. “I am just a guy who is willing to fight the best.”

Johnson finished matters in the first minute of the ninth. He unleashed a hammer of an overhand right that had Jones crumpling on contact.

Johnson added a left hook but did not need to as Jones was dropping to the floor. There was no need for a count as Jones’ eyes rolled back in his head and his eyelids closed.

Jones, 35, remained on the canvas for several minutes and was still there after HBO had finished its in-ring interviews. He was diagnosed with a concussion, and doctors recommended he go to the hospital.

This was supposed to be a bounce-back bout for Jones, who was coming off an equally stunning second-round knockout in May at the hands of Antonio Tarver, who had a ringside seat. It is quite possible the career of one of the best of all time has come to an end.

“That is something he and I are gonna have to talk about,” trainer Alton Merkerson said. “He is getting hit now more than he used to get hit.”

Jones has won titles in four weight classes but came in without a belt for the first time in nearly a decade after losing his WBC crown in a rematch with Tarver. His only previous loss had been a disqualification against Montell Griffin, which he instantly avenged with a first-round knockout.