By Norm Frauenheim
TUCSON – There was no main event. There was only a reunion.
Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney stole the show — their own show — Friday night, as co-promoters of a card at Casino Del Sol that lost its main event when junior featherweight Hanzel Martinez was hurt Wednesday night in an auto accident.
Jones and Toney, once sworn enemies in a 1994 super- middleweight out called Uncivil War, re-emerged as business partners in what they say is just the beginning.
“We’re going to take over the world, man,’’ said Toney, who made his old rival laugh at his dance steps, jokes and gestures as they stood in the ring, almost arm-in-arm, before each bout televised by the CBS Sports Network. “We’re just starting.’’
More like starting over.
Twenty years ago, the guess was that the two would only meet again in a bitter rematch or an old-fashioned duel. There could only be sequel of the hostility that lingered after Jones’ unanimous decision over Toney in a clash at Las Vegas MGM Grand.
“Nah, nah, nah’’ Toney said. “You gotta get past all of that. Time to grow up.’’
John “Pops” Arthur — Toney’s CEO, advisor, mentor and confidante — said Toney and Jones ran into each other last year at a boxing meet-and-greet.
“James had always wanted a rematch, yeah,’’ Arthur said. “I told him to move on and put his anger aside. I told him to approach Roy like a businessman. When people saw them together, I think they probably thought they’d only agree to rematch.’’
Given their pasts, it would have been a reach to think anything else. Both fighters have continued to fight far beyond their primes, despite calls from fans and media for them to retire.
This time, Arthur said, they shook hands. But not for a remake of some old hostility. This time, it’s all about business, Arthur said.
Arthur foresees a long-term partnership, which would be a lot better for their financials and their brain cells than a rematch ever could be.
“We’ll do a lot more of these, no doubt,’’ Toney said.
With the Martinez-Prosper Ankrah bout off the card because of a concussion and back injury suffered by Martinez during an accident in Tijuana, the show went on with Emmanuel Robles in an eight-rounder against Pipino Cuevas in a junior welterweight bout.
In his first bout since signing with Roy Jones Jr. in early March, Robles (15-0, 4 KOs) made it look easy against an out of-shape Cuevas
Robles floored Cuevas (17-16-1, 15 KOs), winless over his last seven bouts, with a crushing left in the third round. Cuevas got up, but blood poured from his nose. He looked beaten. in the fourth, he would be.
At 25 second of the round, referee Tony Zaino stopped it when Robles landed a series of blows against a defenseless Cuevas.
On The Undercard
Keenan Carbajal (11-2, 6 KOs) wore red-and-white trunks cut in the style of his Hall of Fame relative, junior-flyweight legend Michael Carbajal. Flashed a little bit of his power, too.
Keenan Carbajal, bigger and more confident than ever, delivered a lethal succession of combinations, overwhelming an overmatched Lorenzo Trejo in the second round.
The featherweight bout was scheduled for eight rounds. Carbajal, of Phoenix, could have put Trejo (35-31, 22 KOs), of Mexico, onto the canvas that many times or more, if not for referee Rocky Burke, who ended it at 2:21 of the second and Trejo on the canvas for the third time in the round.
An introduction of Randy Moreno’s power was warning enough for Christopher Turton. Moreno (3-0, 2 KOs), of Las Vegas, rocked him, sending Turton stumbling across the canvas midway through the first round of a lightweight bout scheduled for four. A dazed Turton (2-3, 1 KO), of Colony, Tex., took a seat after the first and quit before the second ever began.
Tucson cruiserweight Jesus Santamario’s debut was a knockout, but not exactly the kind of knockout a young fighter envisions for his first pro bout. Edgar Ramirez (3-0, 1 KO), of Mexico City, crushed him with power he had never encountered, bouncing him off the ropes and onto the canvas for a quick knockdown, then finishing him with short right to the back of the head at 1:13 of the first.
Before the CBS telecast, Phoenix super-flyweight Elihu Soto (5-0, 3 KOs) employed precise and painful body blows to score a four-round unanimous decision over Yezber Romero (2-2, 1 KO) of Eugene, Ore.
