Jones too quick for Trinidad

Roy Jones Jr. was just too fast, even in a fight that happened several years too late.

Jones pranced and punched his way to a unanimous decision over Felix Trinidad on Saturday night, dominating a 170-pound matchup between two iconic boxers whose primes are well past at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Jones (52-4, 38 KOs), the sport’s erstwhile pound-for-pound king, taunted the Puerto Rican champion while clowning his way through the early rounds of his first significant victory in four years. Jones then went to work, knocking down Trinidad in the seventh and 10th rounds.

The 1990s’ most dominant boxer had lost three of his past five fights, but Jones still entered the ring wearing a gilded crown – and the 39-year-old’s once-peerless reflexes and heavy hands were enough to beat another declining dynamo.

“It took a lot,” Jones said. “I can’t believe he stayed in there 12 rounds with me. It was a great fight.”

Trinidad (42-3) hadn’t fought in 32 months since his second retirement. The 35-year-old revealed the rust many expected in just his fifth fight in 6 1/2 years, his first since a decisive loss to Winky Wright. Trinidad couldn’t match even Jones’ diminished reflexes.

“He was slipping some really good punches,” Jones said. “I was missing knocking him out by about an inch on some of those shots.”

•At Duesseldorf, Germany, Ruslan Chagaev wore down Matt Skelton over 12 rounds, winning a unanimous decision to retain his WBA heavyweight championship.

•At Rama, Ontario, Canada’s Steve Molitor improved to 26-0, unanimously outpointing Mexico’s Ricardo Castillo to retain the IBF junior featherweight title.