JONES SWARMS TO EASY VICTORY.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Roy Jones Jr. celebrated his 30th birthday a week early by knocking out a New York City cop, who's almost 40, on Saturday night.

Fighting in his hometown, Jones retained the WBC and WBA light heavyweight titles by knocking down Rick Frazier twice and stopping him in the second round.

Jones was disappointed that he didn't entertain his hometown fans longer.

``It wasn't very satisfying,'' he said. ``I'm sorry the fight got stopped early, but I don't stop them. I just fight.''

In another title bout before an estimated crowd of 8,000 at the Pensacola Civic Center, Shane Mosley knocked down Golden Johnson four times and stopped him for his seventh title in defense of the IBF lightweight crown.

Jones, who will be 30 next Saturday, knocked down Frazier with two right hands to the head late in the first round. Frazier got up at the count of eight.

Then, in the second round, the swarming Jones, 175, knocked down Frazier, 174, with a left hook to the temple followed by a right hand. Frazier struggled up at eight and referee Armando Garcia mercifully stopped the match with one second left in the round.

Frazier, a 17-year veteran policeman who will be 40 on July 29, went into the fight as the WBC's No. 1 contender despite only an 18-3-1 record with seven knockouts.

The bout was Exhibit A in what is wrong with the sanctioning organizations of boxing. Frazier definitely didn't belong in the ring against Jones, who is arguably the best boxer in the sport today, fighting for a world title. But he was rated the No. 1 contender thanks in large part to the diligence of his manager, Grant Phillips, and his promoter, Don King.

Jones had to fight Frazier because it was a mandatory defense since Frazier was ranked No. 1. If he didn't go through with the fight, he would have been stripped of the WBC title.

A CompuBox punch analysis credited Jones with landing 39 of 92 punches, while Frazier landed only four of 29.

``I don't pick the guys,'' said Jones (39-1, 33 knockouts). ``He was the No. 1 contender. It's not my job to tell those people what to do.''

Jones was referring to the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Association. He holds the light heavyweight titles for both organizations and they were sanctioning this fight. It was a fight that no one wanted to be associated with.

``This is the kind of fight that the boxing organizations have mandated,'' said Kery Davis, the director of programming for HBO, which broadcast the bouts. ``The question is how does this guy belong in the ring with Roy Jones? I'm sure he gave it his all. But he had no business being in there.''

Mosley dominated Johnson from the outset, and the end finally came in the seventh round. With about a minute left, Mosley knocked down Johnson with two rights to the head. Johnson struggled up and tried to fight back, bringing a roar from the crowd as he got into a toe-to-toe exchange with Mosley.

Then, with the round winding down, Mosley slammed home a left hook to the body and Johnson went down for the fourth time in the fight and took a 10-count while resting on one knee. The time of the knockout was 2:59.

After the fight, Johnson told Mosley, ``You're a great champion.''

``It makes me feel good he'd say something like that,'' Mosley said.

The 27-year-old Mosley, 133-1/4, of Pomona, knocked down the 24-year-old Johnson, 135, of Killeen, Texas, twice in the third round with tremendous blows to the body.

It was the seventh defense of the IBF title for Mosley and the seventh time he has won inside the distance. His record is 31-0 with 29 knockouts.

Johnson (15-3-2, 10 knockouts) didn't get the fight until three weeks ago. He replaced Justin Rowsley of Australia, who was knocked out in December in a fight in Australia.

A CompuBox punch count credited Mosley with landing 278 of 530, while Johnson was 76 of 308. Johnson missed all 10 punches he threw in the sixth round.

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PHOTO Shane Mosley, left, knocked down Golden Johnson four times to retain his IBF title.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press