It isn’t as if he hasn’t faced adversity before. He was robbed of the gold medal in the ’88 Olympics when he handily put a beating on South Korean fighter Park Si-Hun only to be jolted by a decision that Jim Lampley of HBO Boxing described as “the worst decision in the history of amateur boxing.” Jones wouldn’t let his dream be deferred and began his professional boxing career by knocking out his first 17 opponents. After becoming the boxer who seemed to be unbeatable, he lost to Montell Griffin via DQ when he hit Griffin twice after Griffin was on the canvas taking a knee. Jones demanded an immediate rematch and the result? Absolute destruction of Griffin within two minutes of the first round.

Today, the obstacle that stands before Roy Jones Jr comes in the form of former world champion Felix “Tito” Trinidad. But to Jones, beating Trinidad isn’t really a big deal.

“A win doesn't mean much. He's got to go. He's got to go in fo'. Just to win the fight would not be good enough for me at this time,” Jones explains. “He has to go. I really don't care when; he's just got to go. The way I see it, Bernard Hopkins is not as good as me. Oscar De La Hoya is not as good as me. Fernando Vargas? Not as good as me. None of those guys can be my equal, and they stopped him.”

Jones loves the sport. Some say they love the game but it becomes painfully obvious that many legends keep fighting for the right price. Muhammad Ali fought longer than he should have because he needed the money. Roy Jones is fighting because he loves what he does. So much in fact, that he isn’t getting a guaranteed purse for this fight. Everything is dependent on ticket and pay-per-view sales and Jones doesn’t mind that one bit.

“I don’t have a guarantee, It shouldn’t be about the money, it should be about the love of the sport,” Jones says to myself and many reporters at a roundtable discussion in New York days before the fight. “I might not make a dollar. I don’t care. I ain’t here to make a dollar, I’m here to beat Tito. If I can make a dollar today, I can make it another day.”

“This other fighter, Floyd Mayweather, was only looking at the dollar signs,” Don King interrupts, taking a jab at today's pound for pound king. “Then his [Trinidad's] father told him about Roy Jones. Roy heard about it and put himself to work. Right now, it is incredulous. No one can believe it is Roy Jones. You are talking to Roy Jones Jr., the man who has committed himself to excellence.”

Jones isn’t one to look past any fighter but he does open up about who he’d like to fight and an interesting name that’s tossed out there gets his attention.

“Tyson?” A journalist asks considering reports that Mike Tyson may get in the ring with Evander Holyfield again and Jones would fight the winner.

"I could see myself fighting the winner of anything," Jones confidently responds.

“I would fight Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson-I don't care,” Jones barks at reporters. “Let me tell you one more time, my time, my probation period is over. I don't care who he is. Line them up and I'll go to them. I don't care where he's at. If we have to go to London to fight Joe, if we have to go to Tampa to fight Tarver, or if we have to go to Miami to fight Glen. I don't care. My name is Roy Jones Jr. I am Superman and I don't care about anybody else.”

But what if Superman can’t leap buildings in a single bound anymore? What if he is no longer faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive. What if Superman is forever to be Clark Kent and is much more than mortal.

“Something has got to be wrong with me,” Jones says when asked if he doesn’t live up to his promise of knocking Trinidad out in four rounds. “It might be time for me to stop.”

And if he does stop at the hands of Trinidad on January 19th, it will indeed be an end to an era. How will you remember Roy Jones Jr?