“There’s a rumour he was paid five million to take a dive,” said the mug to my left. “The referee shouldn’t have stopped it,” said the fight fan to my right.

We all try and find a way to explain away the unthinkable, as long as it doesn’t involve admitting we were completely wrong in the first place.

Roy Jones Jnr makes his ring entry while I’m out at the bar, buying two drinks.

Watching the Carlton Cold poured from bottles into plastic cups, I’m upset that some of the beer is spilt. But boxing is a tough sport, and disappointment comes with the territory.

I return to the arena in time to see Danny Green’s entrance. He comes out to Land Downunder, with green spotlights dancing over the crowd. After climbing into the ring, he takes the time to walk around and raise his arm to each section of the crowd, drawing huge cheers.

It’s probably the most one-sided crowd Roy Jones Jnr has faced, since he was robbed of a decision at the Seoul Olympics in ’88. It wouldn’t worry him though; a hometown crowd won’t stymie his skills. We’ve been watching a highlight reel playing on the screen above the ring.

Those four, five, six punch combinations are unstoppable. He deserves to be the 3 to 1 favourite.

When Jones is introduced to the crowd, almost half of the audience rise to their feet out of respect. It is a special moment to see one of the world’s greatest boxers, performing live.

And when Green is announced, we all cheer louder. He probably won’t win, but if it is close maybe he’ll need us here, screaming for him.

The bell rings, and it’s on. Jones flicks out his left, catching Green a couple of times. He’s holding his left low and parrying with his right, in the style Mundine has mimicked. He’s fast, we think – a lot faster than Green. Maybe he’ll slow down as the fight goes on.

But then Jones is down.

What was it? A right, he got him with a right. Where? I didn’t see it. On the temple, the ear, the jaw? Nah, not the jaw.

Jones is on his feet, but he’s looking bad. He’s looking 40-years-old. The referee steps back after the mandatory eight count. In the ring, it’s clear to Green what we suspect from the cheap seats: Jones is ready to be knocked out.

Green has Jones against the ropes. It’s hard to tell what damage his punches are doing, but he throws more than a dozen, and all Jones does is try to cover up. No slipping, no counterpunching, not even desperate clinching.

The third man in the ring has seen enough, and steps in to stop the slaughter. Jones doesn’t wave his arms in protest, or spit his mouthguard and argue. He wobbles back to his corner, relieved.

Green is gracious in his victory speech, almost apologetic. Jones smiles like a nervous kid holding back tears. He mumbles a few words about loving Sydney, and not having any excuses.

Outside, we tell ourselves it was a hell of a knockout. Green must be so much stronger at cruiserweight. Or, we admit, Roy is past it. Shit, he’s been past it for five years. He was never going to win.

Who’s he ever beaten, anyway? He had dodged a Hopkins rematch for years.

That fight was going to happen next year, a decade too late, but he can forget that now. He’s damaged goods.

The early knockout was a disappointment. We had wanted more from the man touted as the greatest boxer to ever fight in Sydney. In 1908 when heavyweight champ Tommy Burns fought Jack Johnson (who actually was the greatest boxer to fight in Sydney) he was belted mercilessly for 14 rounds, before police stopped the fight.

Boxing fans are cruel.

We don’t want our heroes making a quick exit. We want to see them suffer. We want them carried out on their shield. If Roy Jones Jnr had lasted until the seventh after that first crushing right, we wouldn’t have cared about the extra damage he suffered.

We would have called it a fight for the ages, and gone home elated – especially in my case, since that’s the round I bet Green would win by knockout.

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