Roy Jones Jr: He was more than a great athlete and was definitely a great tactician

[therealpugilist]

Ehhh idk about a great tactician. I think if he was a great tactician he'd have stayed at a high level longer then he did. I'm not sure a great tactician ever gets KO'd like RJJ has been KO'd a few times. And thats not say he was a ****ty tactician or ****ty at anything. He was performing at a high level in many areas.

I do think his athleticism & probably more to the point his speed was the foundation of the great fighter skyscraper he was cuz when his age started to impact that athleticism & speed the skyscraper started to crumble. I suspect that move to HW & then move back down to LHW didn't help slow things down.

All in all RJJ was a bad mofo regardless of the reasons he was a bad mofo. I still contend RJJ was the best, most unbeatable fighter I've seen during "my era" (late 80's to the present) & the fact I feel like his athleticism & speed put all his skills in this perfect lil basket of unbeatableness is of little importance to me or diminishes what he did.

thank god for youtube

ive watched as many great fighters as possible and i wouldnt favor any fighter over jones at 160-168....he was a beast. I thought Ray Leonard was amazing and then I saw roy jones....he just made it look easy even against elite guys. dude went fights without losing rounds

I think he did what worked for him...every athlete does

as your body ages you slow down and alot of his moves were reactive. He thought a step ahead and set traps and made his moves based of that.


a millisecond slower and rolled punch becomes a landed power shot....the same punch that kayoed him vs Johnson is a punch he slipped or rolled a million times.

if you dont see a punch coming, thats the one that gets you

with his amazing hand eye coordination, reflexes, and reaction time, he had options other fighters didnt have. He could fight in a conventional boxing stance and he often changed the looks he gave opponents

your punches and reflexes are more fluid when you use all forms of defense. He decided how to defend based on which one took the least effort and contact. He often made last second or millisecond decisions on defense. He could parry well, he used unconvential parries like parrying a right hand with his right and countering with a check left hook or counter....thats skill...not just speed

Amir Khan is a speed demon but he doesnt have the tactics, technique or timing of Jones. He doesnt apply his speed as well because he doesnt have the in ring know how or tactics of jones. he sets you up whereas Khan gets greedy. Those are skills. Jones incorporated and infused offense and defense at the same time better than any fighter i ever seen

[therealpugilist]

Ehhh idk about a great tactician. I think if he was a great tactician he'd have stayed at a high level longer then he did. I'm not sure a great tactician ever gets KO'd like RJJ has been KO'd a few times. And thats not say he was a ****ty tactician or ****ty at anything. He was performing at a high level in many areas.

I do think his athleticism & probably more to the point his speed was the foundation of the great fighter skyscraper he was cuz when his age started to impact that athleticism & speed the skyscraper started to crumble. I suspect that move to HW & then move back down to LHW didn't help slow things down.

All in all RJJ was a bad mofo regardless of the reasons he was a bad mofo. I still contend RJJ was the best, most unbeatable fighter I've seen during "my era" (late 80's to the present) & the fact I feel like his athleticism & speed put all his skills in this perfect lil basket of unbeatableness is of little importance to me or diminishes what he did.

all his ko losses was when he was clearly past prime...35 and older...over 49 fights


Willie Pep, Ezzard Charles, Hilario Zapata, Archie Moore were great tacticians but they also suffered ko losses and more than Jones I believe. It comes with the territory, especially if you fight on too long like Jones and Charles.

[PivotandRoll]

Roy Jones had God given gifts that the average person will never have.

His speed, reflexes, and sense of anticipation helped him innovate a style that is no different than martial arts

His flexibility, feinting with his feet, hands, knowing when to slip a punch or block it is the difference between being able to counter


IMO roy jones is the greatest counter puncher of all time. He could land any shot and multiple times, even vs elite competition

He is often pegged as an athlete who depended on his speed. On the contrary, he had the basics down and learned things to incorporate based on his natural talents

Also you dont HAVE do what is in the books, you do what works for you in the boxing ring. what works for someone else may not work for you.

After hours upon hours of watching him as a child, I could see him setting up traps, the fight slowing down and seeing him be a step ahead of his opponents.


He played chess they played checkers. Being a supreme tactician and his sense of anticipation made him arguably the best, not the greatest, fighter of all time

What a complete crock of ***** ! Roy would literally throw punches while looking away because he trusted his speed so much. Yes he was great tactically in the sense he could execute a gameplan, but he couldn't adjust, hell for the guy with the supposed greatest reflexes of all time, he couldn't stand in front of people and slip punches like Toney. Roy was speed incarnate. And ffs there's nothing wrong with that.

But Roy always flicked his jab rather than sticking it. He always threw his right hand rather than shoot it. He's is literally H2H one of the top five greatest of all time. But I honestly think there are thousands upon thousands of more skilled fighters in history. His speed defined him. Why is that wrong?

[therealpugilist]

What a complete crock of ***** ! Roy would literally throw punches while looking away because he trusted his speed so much. Yes he was great tactically in the sense he could execute a gameplan, but he couldn't adjust, hell for the guy with the supposed greatest reflexes of all time, he couldn't stand in front of people and slip punches like Toney. Roy was speed incarnate. And ffs there's nothing wrong with that.

But Roy always flicked his jab rather than sticking it. He always threw his right hand rather than shoot it. He's is literally H2H one of the top five greatest of all time. But I honestly think there are thousands upon thousands of more skilled fighters in history. His speed defined him. Why is that wrong?

if all you see is speed, you need a boxing crash course.

looked away? its called rolling with a punch man. it takes less effort to roll a punch than block. My trainer always told me make them miss if you can and block when you have too

knowing when to block, slip or roll a punch takes skill and anticipation. It takes practice.

if it was all speed.....you dont think guys like Camacho, Amir Khan, and Meldrick Taylor would be boxing greatest.

Jones did things others couldnt do because he understood when to execute certain moves....that is skill

[FrankieClutch]

I agree. Roy was wildly athletic, but his ring IQ was great and he was calculated. That doesn't negate the fact that his style was molded around his reflexes. Once they went, he went.

[BKM-]

Great footwork, great instinctual fight IQ, very reactionary and could adapt. He did have skills.

[PivotandRoll]

if all you see is speed, you need a boxing crash course.

looked away? its called rolling with a punch man. it takes less effort to roll a punch than block. My trainer always told me make them miss if you can and block when you have too

knowing when to block, slip or roll a punch takes skill and anticipation. It takes practice.

if it was all speed.....you dont think guys like Camacho, Amir Khan, and Meldrick Taylor would be boxing greatest.

Jones did things others couldnt do because he understood when to execute certain moves....that is skill

I didn't say he has no skill. But his speed made up for glaring flaws in his technique. If you don't see that then you sir need the crash course, not me.

[therealpugilist]

I didn't say he has no skill. But his speed made up for glaring flaws in his technique. If you don't see that then you sir need the crash course, not me.

im definitely not insulting you but take some time and watch him to understand why he does what he does and when he does it.


I followed his entire career and he was more than speed. everyone has flaws in technique but he knew how to neutralize his opponents strengths and best weapons....its takes more than speed to do that at a high level in boxing and especially for 15 years basically without a loss.

[PivotandRoll]

im definitely not insulting you but take some time and watch him to understand why he does what he does and when he does it.


I followed his entire career and he was more than speed. everyone has flaws in technique but he knew how to neutralize his opponents strengths and best weapons....its takes more than speed to do that at a high level in boxing and especially for 15 years basically without a loss.

Roy is the fighter who got me into boxing....I've seen all of his fights.. I think he is one of the greatest. I stand by what I said.

[Jsmooth9876]

My favorite fighter ever..this dude hasn't been replicated even close since and may never be...sad to see what he's become but those Russians are crazy cats 😂