How Can We Miss You, Roy Jones, If You Won't Leave?

Admit this for me.

You 1) thought Prince Badi was going to upset Roy Jones Jr. and send him into retirement and 2) you would have been happy with that result.

But it didn't happen that way, because however far he has slipped, Roy Jones still has enough to handle Prince Badi Ajamu.

After that Saturday night snoozer in Boise, Jones talked his typical brand of trash and solidified for me why I wasn't weepy at the thought of the cocksure Floridian finding something else to do with his life.

Regarding the thin crowd that came to see him in what could have been his final live performance, Jones said: “They didn't know the show they were going to miss. If I ever come here again, they will say, 'Oh, my God! I can't miss seeing a living legend, in the flesh.'”

Really? I think Idahoans showed remarkable taste and common sense when they gave that show a pass. Next time, they'll do the same…

Jones, age 37, said he will be sifting through myriad offers today, and will screen the prospective fights with his primary motivator, money, at the top of the list.

“When I get home on Monday, my phone will be ringing. Someone will say they want to fight me. I'm going to lay them all out on the table. Whichever looks best, I'll take.”

So if you were hoping the man's ego would shrink to regulation size and he would fade away and be content with his considerable legacy in the sport, think again.

“I don't have a clue. … I'm not leaning any way,” Jones said in response to a 'will you retire' query.

“I wanted to go out my way,” Jones (50-4) said. “If I wanted to, I could go out right now.

“It took a lot (nine weeks) for me to get ready for this fight … I'm going to have to go home and think about it,” he said to the AP.

As for the ego part, a half-empty arena didn't cause any shrinkage in Jones' head; he still has a gargantuan crush on himself…

“Wherever Roy Jones comes, there's going to be a show,” he said

Who's next, Jones was asked.

Calzaghe or Hopkins, if (I say when) he unretires, the former pound-for-pound stalwart said.

As for Ajamu, he basically fought like the man who in pre-fight press meetings couldn't conceive that he might win. He complained that he couldn't breathe through his nose during the fight and said he had stomach cramps.

Easy for me to say from the sidelines, but those are the moanings of a four year old with asthma, not a world-class athlete who comprehends that every impediment must be rendered moot in order to prevail…

“I will fight again. I will make some adjustments, I'm very optimistic about that,” said the Camden, N.J., native.

“That's not the last you are going to see of Prince, no.”

Thank the lord, I say with the drippiest of sarcastic inflections…

The man stopped competing after one round and resorted to illegal blows when he figured out he was overmatched. Can I start a Brooklyn chapter of your fan club, Prince?

All told, I'm certain that the people who didn't buy the PPV and the Idahoans who went to bbqs instead of trekking to the arena were the winners here.

Sadly, the bout will only encourage Roy Jones to continue his quixotic quest to turn back the clock, and he will probably earn another beating in the meantime…

How can we miss you Roy, if you won't leave?