Do we underate Micheal Spinks?

[Bolo Punch]

Show me where Roy lost 20 pounds of muscle.

Well he weighed in at 193 (I think) vs. Ruiz. Do you think Roy just put on 20lbs of fat? Of course the extra weight was muscle.

That seems to be a very popular myth among Jones fans. IMO, Roy was juiced up for the Ruiz fight. Other great lightheavies of the past have fought at heavyweight and then returned without needing any excuses.

Ahh right, so the fact that he had to cut 20lbs of muscle in a relatively short period is a 'myth' because you have a sneaky suspicion that he might have been using steroids. Okay. Also, who has returned from Heavyweight to Light-Heavyweight at 34 years old and still been a world class fighter and athlete? Not one person springs to my mind.

Put it this way, it's no coincidence that Jones hadn't suffered one legit loss before going up to Heavyweight and his record is littered with losses since returning from the weight.

Oh and for the record, I wouldn't class myself as a Jones fan.

[Bolo Punch]

Jones had over 8 months to drop less weight.

This is incorrect. Jones stayed at Heavyweight while he was negotiating with Tyson. When that fight fell through and by the time the Tarver negotiations were done, he had less than half the time to lose the weight than he would have if he started to cut immediately after winning the title off of Ruiz.

Even if this were the case in the first fight, his big problem was in the second fight. Jones was taking risks early to establish dominance that he hadn't in the first fight (same as with Griffin), only he got countered perfectly with a shot that would've knocked most people out. I don't think Jones' conditioning or reflexes even came into play much in the second fight.

Roy could've afforded to take said risks and get away with them had the fight happened a couple of years before, no question. It's human nature to slow down as you get older and the more you put your body through. If you think Jones was the same fighter post-Heavyweight, then you are truly mistaken, in my opinion.

[Scott9945]

Well he weighed in at 193 (I think) vs. Ruiz. Do you think Roy just put on 20lbs of fat? Of course the extra weight was muscle.



Ahh right, so the fact that he had to cut 20lbs of muscle in a relatively short period is a 'myth' because you have a sneaky suspicion that he might have been using steroids. Okay. Also, who has returned from Heavyweight to Light-Heavyweight at 34 years old and still been a world class fighter and athlete? Not one person springs to my mind.

Put it this way, it's no coincidence that Jones hadn't suffered one legit loss before going up to Heavyweight and his record is littered with losses since returning from the weight.

Oh and for the record, I wouldn't class myself as a Jones fan.

Without researching I know that Archie Moore had many successful title defenses after fighting Marciano at an older age.

[Scott9945]

This is incorrect. Jones stayed at Heavyweight while he was negotiating with Tyson. When that fight fell through and by the time the Tarver negotiations were done, he had less than half the time to lose the weight than he would have if he started to cut immediately after winning the title off of Ruiz.



Roy could've afforded to take said risks and get away with them had the fight happened a couple of years before, no question. It's human nature to slow down as you get older and the more you put your body through. If you think Jones was the same fighter post-Heavyweight, then you are truly mistaken, in my opinion.

You don't really stay at heavyweight when you're not actually fighting there.

Of course Jones was never the same fighter as he was before Ruiz. I just don't dismiss it entirely because of weight/muscle loss.

[Anthony342]

So basically, the die hard, hardcore boxing fans rate Michael Spinks highly, as one of the all-time great light heavys and even a pretty good heavyweight. It's the casual fans that underrate him and mostly just remember him as the guy that won 2 decisions over Holmes and then finished his career getting knocked out by Mike Tyson.

And some fans don't even think he deserved the decision in the second fight, some not even in either fight.

[Bolo Punch]

Without researching I know that Archie Moore had many successful title defenses after fighting Marciano at an older age.

Fair enough. I actually don't know how I didn't think of Moore, as I like him. It's still an extremely hard task though, evident by the lack of people successful in doing so, regardless of age.

Of course Jones was never the same fighter as he was before Ruiz. I just don't dismiss it entirely because of weight/muscle loss.

Again, that's fair enough and I can understand why you're of that opinion. I disagree, though.