New York, NY (Sportsbooks) - Eight-time world champion Roy Jones Jr. knocked down Felix Trinidad twice and scored a 12-round unanimous decision over the five-time champ Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jones (52-4), who used knockdowns in the seventh and 10th rounds, won by scores of 116-110 on two scorecards and 117-109 on another.
After the fight Jones, who turned 39 on Wednesday, said he was "still capable of doing a lot of things" and added that "he'd fight anyone at anytime."
Trinidad (42-3) has lost his last two fights, also falling to Ronald "Winky" Wright via a 12-round decision on May 14, 2005.
The 35-year-old Trinidad held the upperhand in the early rounds, but Jones never appeared in trouble. In fact, he taunted the Puerto Rican throughout the 170-pound matchup.
Chants of "Tito! Tito! Tito!" were heard at the start of the bout and in round three, during which Jones was backed into a corner and then pinned against the ropes for a time while he took body shots from Trinidad. Jones pounded his own belly and waved Trinidad on, as if to say 'bring it on.'
Throughout the early rounds, Jones wasn't that active and referee Arthur Mercante Jr. told Jones to shake off a low blow in round five. Jones responded with a clowning shaking of his hips, but the tide turned starting in the sixth. That's when Jones landed a couple of hard rights and shook his head at Trinidad, taunting him.
In the seventh, Jones landed a short right hand to the side of the head and Trinidad had a delayed reaction to being knocked down with just under two minutes left in the round. At that time, Trinidad's punches seemed to be losing power.
Then came the 10th when Jones was backed to the ropes midway through, but he landed a left jab to the face that caught Trinidad off guard. It wasn't a powerful knockdown though as Trinidad seemed to lose his footing more than anything else before bouncing back up. Jones ended the 10th with a flurry of punches and in the 12th landed several sharp-looking hits as the bout came to a close.
Jones, a native of Pensacola, Fla., had won his last two fights against lesser-known opponents, beating Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw, both in 12-round unanimous decisions. Before that Jones, the former undisputed light heavyweight champion, had lost three consecutive bouts, two of them to Antonio Tarver.
