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

[Jsmooth9876]

People who think he got by on athleticism are just stupid. Every athlete...is an athlete. You don't become arguably the greatest amateur ever, go virtually undefeated through multiple divisions, and be the world's best fighter for a decade without having a strong, strong technical background. Jones was fighting at age four--the basics were entrenched in him. That's why he was able to do the things he did.

All true but some guys are just blessed with a little something extra...guys like Roy,Floyd,Jordan,Lebron etc....they take athleticism to a whole new level.. Roy had other Worldly speed and reflexes that enabled him to do things nobody else could come close to doing...
Someone like Floyd also has those attributes but we see he's a little more fundamentally sound to survive longer when his reflexes slipped just a bit over the last couple years...

[IMDAZED]

All true but some guys are just blessed with a little something extra...guys like Roy,Floyd,Jordan,Lebron etc....they take athleticism to a whole new level.. Roy had other Worldly speed and reflexes that enabled him to do things nobody else could come close to doing...
Someone like Floyd also has those attributes but we see he's a little more fundamentally sound to survive longer when his reflexes slipped just a bit over the last couple years...

Yep. Zab Judah had a little something extra. But you don't become the ATG that Roy is without technical acumen and ring know-how. It's not like Roy was done at 30. He was done at 35 going on 36 after going down two divisions and taking a fight that took a lot out of him.

[therealpugilist]

Yep. Zab Judah had a little something extra. But you don't become the ATG that Roy is without technical acumen and ring know-how. It's not like Roy was done at 30. He was done at 35 going on 36 after going down two divisions and taking a fight that took a lot out of him.

most people see floyd and hopkins and think its normal for guys to be doing great things in boxing at an advanced age


growing up most the fighters were washed up by 30-33....back in the day they fought so often some guys were used up by their mid to late 20s

I was amazed how he was able to maintain that high level into his mid 30s

its still pretty rare and only a handful of guys can say that the world considered them the best at any sport, their sport at 35.

he knew how to fight, learned how to fight and also had god given gifts

the time he put in the gym to hone his craft gets over looked because he was so naturally gifted.

[stefl14]

People who think he got by on athleticism are just stupid. Every athlete...is an athlete. You don't become arguably the greatest amateur ever, go virtually undefeated through multiple divisions, and be the world's best fighter for a decade without having a strong, strong technical background. Jones was fighting at age four--the basics were entrenched in him. That's why he was able to do the things he did.

I agree with everything here, apart from Roy Jones being arguably the greatest amateur ever. That's just silly. His record at amateur was reportedly 121-13. He was brilliant in the olympics, but there are a ton of fighters with far superior amateur records.

That said, anybody who thinks Roy Jones wasn't a supremely skilled fighters is just ignorant. He had an excellent boxing brain. That's why I hate it when everyone talks about his athleticism alone as if that was his only important attribute. If it was all about athleticism, then Usain Bolt could become a boxer and dominate. Roy Jones' athleticism was detrimental to him in one sense, however. Because he was so athletic, he got away with some very unorthodox moves which led to his downfall when he got into his thirties and caused serious problems in his later career as he didn't have the basics to fall back on.

[Kigali]

I agree with everything here, apart from Roy Jones being arguably the greatest amateur ever. That's just silly. His record at amateur was reportedly 121-13. He was brilliant in the olympics, but there are a ton of fighters with far superior amateur records.

That said, anybody who thinks Roy Jones wasn't a supremely skilled fighters is just ignorant. He had an excellent boxing brain. That's why I hate it when everyone talks about his athleticism alone as if that was his only important attribute. If it was all about athleticism, then Usain Bolt could become a boxer and dominate. Roy Jones' athleticism was detrimental to him in one sense, however. Because he was so athletic, he got away with some very unorthodox moves which led to his downfall when he got into his thirties and caused serious problems in his later career as he didn't have the basics to fall back on.

Plus he stopped doing roadwork and thought he could get away with half-assing with the training.

Lazy guy in the gym compared to other greats.

[techliam]

Roy was the fighter that got me into boxing properly. I dabbled with it before, but Roy sealed the deal.

Even with the nostalgia though, I find it hard to look past him testing positive for anabolic steroids, having an insane sculpted body all of the time ... and then packing huge amounts of muscle to move up to HW, whilst having zero stamina issues whatsoever.

We should have no tolerance for it, but sadly boxing bias is one of the worst cases out there

[Real King Kong]

I'm not sure anyone says he was only good because of his athleticism...but he definitely relied on it along with his speed. His whole style was pretty much predicated on being faster and more agile than his opponents and he did it like no other. I'm not sure there will ever be another roy, but him along with pac, were made truly special fighters because of those advantages imo. Boxing is a game of inches at that level. You shave a little speed and agility off roy and a little speed and power off pac, and who knows if they would have been so dominant...but that's what makes boxing great to watch. Fighters can only use what they have.

[therealpugilist]

I'm not sure anyone says he was only good because of his athleticism...but he definitely relied on it along with his speed. His whole style was pretty much predicated on being faster and more agile than his opponents and he did it like no other. I'm not sure there will ever be another roy, but him along with pac, were made truly special fighters because of those advantages imo. Boxing is a game of inches at that level. You shave a little speed and agility off roy and a little speed and power off pac, and who knows if they would have been so dominant...but that's what makes boxing great to watch. Fighters can only use what they have.

great post

[VG_Addict]

If speed was all it took at the highest level, Meldrick Taylor, Khan, Camacho, and Judah would be undefeated.

Roy was a natural counter-puncher. Watch how he counters Hill's jab in their fight.