The 42 year-old has now suffered three straight defeats and seven of his last twelve fights dating back to 2004 and should now be stripped of his boxing license of suffering another shocking loss. The Russian, 31, ended the bout with just one second left on the clock with a hard right hand followed by an uppercut, which already had Jones falling as the Russian landed another huge right, leaving Jones blacked out and falling face first to the canvas.
Referee Steve Smoger hesitated too long in stepping in after the initial flurry, leaving Jones wide open for, what seemed to be an uncalled for right, which had everything that Lebedev had left in it and could have seriously injured the American. Doctors where quick on the scene to put Jones in the recovery position and he rose to his feet shortly after looking groggy, but questions must be asked as to why Smoger let the last shot to happen.
Jones refused to comment on a possible retirement after the bout stating “He may still come back,” but hopefully that decision will be taken out of his hands. It is hard to come to terms with an aging former champion putting his life at risk trying to do a job he obviously is incapable of doing due to what inevitably happens to all of us.
On the undercard in Moscow, super-bantamweight Alexander Bakhtin improved to 27-0, with an almost shut-out points win over aging Mexican Jose Angel Beranza over ten rounds. The judges saw the contest 100-90 (twice) and 100-91 to put the Russian in the world title frame at 122lbs.
Also, former unified world lightweight champion Nate Campbell returned to action just over a month after his third straight loss. The 39 year-old, who announced his retirement last November before returning to lose against Danny Garcia in April, won an eight round contest over Sherzod Nazarov 80-74, 79-73 and 79-74 to get back to winning ways.
