I remember when Roy Jones Jr. played a minor-league basketball game in June of 1996, a few hours before his fight against Eric Lucas, just so he would have a challenge in the ring. That still didn’t work, as Jones absolutely dominated his no-named foe by 11^th round stoppage.

He was the first fighter I remember watching and knowing that nobody in the world could touch this guy. He was my superman when it came to boxing. I was never once worried when he fought. The only thing I worried about was if he was ever going to be challenged.

He was like the invisible man a year prior in his fight against Vinny Pazienza. Jones Jr. was the first fighter to go an entire round without his opponent landing a single blow since the inception of CompuBox punch stats.

In the end, he would leave the sport the best fighter of his era.

This is how we would all write the story for our childhood favorite professional athlete, right? Unfortunately professional boxing can be just as cruel as the beatings a fighter once handed out. Jones would have a small hiccup in March of ‘97 after getting disqualified for hitting Montell Griffin while he was down. Not only was this his first loss, but it was the first time Jones wasn’t well ahead on the scorecards as well. But, with his superior confidence, he fought Griffin again and knocked him out in the first round in his very next fight—solidifying his dominance in boxing during the ‘90s.

It all seemingly began when Roy did what no man has ever done.: He went up to heavyweight, from light heavyweight, to win the WBA title in a unanimous decision in 2003 over “huggy bear” John Ruiz. Jones then returned to the light heavyweight division to shut Antonio Tarver’s mouth by a majority decision in November of 2003, but was brutally knocked out for the first time in his illustrious career in the second round of their rematch in March of 2005. Jones was again knocked out, this time by Glen Johnson, in another shocking development. He then fought Tarver for a third time, losing a lackluster unanimous decision.

It all really becomes a blur for me after all this. Selfishly, I keep wanting to see him rise again to be the dominant Jones Jr. I remember. Instead we are subjected to watching the great Roy Jones Jr. get knocked out by bums like Danny Green. Now, four months shy of turning 42, Jones is scheduled to fight in his home town against Danny Santiago, who has lost all four of his matches by knockout.

In a career that once saw him own every major belt from middleweight to a historic heavyweight title, I am set to ponder what will happen to his legacy, my superman. As they always say, everything great has to come to an end, but when will the end be for Jones Jr.?