? 42-year-old loses consciousness for over a minute
? American will not confirm if he will retire after defeat
There were fears for the health of Roy Jones Jr after the 42-year-old was knocked out cold by Russia's Denis Lebedev in the 10th and final round of their light-heavyweight non-title bout in Moscow.
With only seconds remaining before the final bell on Saturday, Lebedev caught Jones with a flurry of punches to send the American to the canvas. Jones, who has won eight world titles in four weight classes ranging from middleweight to heavyweight, lost consciousness for more than a minute and needed help to get back on his feet when he eventually came round.
Lebedev, 31, improved his record to 22 wins with 17 knockouts and one defeat, which was suffered against the German Marco Huck in his previous fight for the WBO cruiserweight title in December. "I was prepared for a long fight," said Lebedev, who was trained for this fight by the former undisputed welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu.
"I knew it would be a tough fight because Roy is a legend. People, who had said it would be easy, just don't know anything about boxing."
Jones would not say if he was ready to retire after losing for the seventh time in his last 12 fights. "It was a great fight. I love Moscow and hope to come back here again," he said. "Denis is a good fighter but I think overall, it was a close fight. I just lost concentration near the end and didn't see his punch coming."
The American began the fight at Moscow's Krylatskoye arena in his usual showboating style, dropping his hands and challenging Lebedev to hit him. The Russian southpaw first connected with a straight left near the end of round four, then dominated the majority of the later rounds, forcing his opponent against the ropes.
Jones briefly countered with a right-left combination in the ninth but ran out of steam in the final round. Lebedev, known for his devastating left hook, waited for his opponent to tire before unleashing a flurry of punches that knocked out Jones with about 12 seconds remaining.
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