Roy has Tarnished his Career by Fighting on too Long

what Roy did in his prime can never be forgotten or erased, when people think of Roy in 10 years they aint gonna remember a Roy Jones who couldnt pull the trigger or the one who got knocked out, they gonna remember the pound for pound the best fighter in the 90', one of only 2 middleweights to have won a hw strap, a champion in 4 weight classes... just like jordan, people aint gonna take away his goat status because he was 40 and didnt make the playoffs with wizards... what Roy did in his prime cant be tarnished or erased....

Losing past your prime doesn't tarnish your career. Evander Holydield is the greatest HW since Larry Holmes, and he has more losses than anyone after he became shot. the memory of the old roy will fade, just like the memories of Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson and the countless others that fought for too long did as well. Boxing historians will judge him on what he did during his prime, not what he did when he was shot. SRR lost to Stan Harrington, Memo Ayon and a lot of other guys you probably never heard of when he was an old fighter. Doesn't change the fact he was the greatest. Exactly... I wonder what you guys would've said about Ali. I mean he got beat by Trevor Berick..... Ali tarnished his legacy there... I gotta agree. if RJJ retired after the RUIz fight, he could've went down as top 5 ATG. I also wouldn't have been mad if he rematched toney at HW. RJJ never should've came back down to lt. HW. he should've when to cruiserweight which has been updated to 200 lbs and dipped into HW whenever the money was too big to refuse Disagree... Going from MW to HW is only half the journey. For Roy to TRULY match what Bob Fitzsimmons did... he has to RECLAIM the LHW title after gaining the HW title... WHICH IS JUST AS HARD. Fitzsimmons didn't just win titles from MW to HW.. but he regained the LHW title. That's what Roy wanted to accomplish, and that's what he did when he beat Tarver the first time. Close or not that win is very meaningful. Dropping down from HW and reclaiming a LHW title is a big deal. Yeah he has, people say "his place is sealed" etc. Fact is Jones has many ??? over his career, he ducked lots of good fighters, fought guys who didn't belong in the ring with him, and for the last few years he has looked dreadful. The hardcore will always recognise him, but the casual fan probably sees him as a bit of a joke these days. Fact is Roy beat Bernard for his 1st title. Bernard didn't lose 20 fights before that fight.. and he didn't lose for 12 years after Roy beat him. He moved up to SMW to fight the best fighter in the division. You can say he should of fought Eubank, or he should of fought Collins. What you can't say is he didn't fight the best fighter in the division.. because that's exactly what he did. He cleaned out LHW. And Darius cannot solely be blamed on Roy either. Ring Rankings at Light Heavyweight in 1998 before he unified all 3 belts. 1. Roy Jones Jr. 2. Dariusz Michalczewski 3. Reggie Johnson 4. Graciano Rocchigiani 5. Lou Del Valle 6. Eric Harding 7. Montell Griffin 8. Michael Nunn 9. Antonio Tarver 10. David Telesco Ring Rankings at Light Heavyweight in 2003 his last year as Champion. Roy Jones Jr., Champion 1. Antonio Tarver 2. Julio Cesar Gonzalez 3. Dariusz Michalczewski 4. Glen Johnson 5. Eric Harding 6. Clinton Woods 7. Silvio Branco 8. Montell Griffin 9. Richard Hall 10. Mehdi Sahnoune Then put on 20lbs... and beat a HW titleist who outweighed him by 30lbs. Then regain the LHW title after moving up in weight. There isn't any questions. He isn't the GOAT, but there is no questions. nah man, they seem him as an old fighter that needs to retire. Most everyone I talk to say shit like, "man, I remember when he was unstoppable!" And the ducking thing, like the Ring Magazine said, he didn't have to fight EVERY single prospect, decent opponent out there, the fact is he fought MOST everyone in the divisions he was in. Exactly, you can what you want about some of the fighters he didn't fight in the division... he still fight the best, p4p #3 ranked, undefeated 44-0 james Toney, and he moved UP in weight to fight him. I was watching some classic Jones the other day, damn he was good. but i just think certain images are hard to get out of your head. he should have just stopped, after Ruiz, or why not fight for a c/w title after Ruiz, that would have been cool. Regaining the LHW title is what Fitzsimmons did after he came from MW to HW. He regained the title.. that's part of the history. That's what Roy did.

The same goes for most great fighters in history. Maybe he's "tarnished" it to a slight extent, but if going on way too long doesn't prevent fighters like Robinson from being considered the GOAT, or Ali the GOAT at HW, it shouldn't do too much to take away from Roy's career.

I'm a huge RJJ fan but even i think he has tarnished his career greatly by fighting on too long. I mean getting KOed by Danny Green, Danny Green ! I'm an Aussie and even i think this is ridiculous Always hard to see the future, but imagine if Roy had retired after the Ruiz win. He really would have gone down as legend if he had. I do think bulking up to heavy started Roy's body's degredation of his relexes and speed. Add in father time and that was the beginning of the end. I gotta agree. if RJJ retired after the RUIz fight, he could've went down as top 5 ATG. I also wouldn't have been mad if he rematched toney at HW. RJJ never should've came back down to lt. HW. he should've when to cruiserweight which has been updated to 200 lbs and dipped into HW whenever the money was too big to refuse

nah, it's like NATAS said, when he retires, we will forget about old roy, and will only imagine prime roy, as we do with ali, robinson, leonard etc

Agree and disagree. While I think Roy's last years have damaged his career, I think that damage is temporary. It has left a bit of a sour taste for now, but down the track, in 10, 15, 20, 30 years, people will remember Roy for how great he was at the top, not for how hard he fell.

everyone here has seen roy's best, so i think not. roy was god in boxing trunks.

It might hurt him in certain debates about being super high ranked all time since his decline was so steep but people always tend remember the best version (and this goes for any sport) so I doubt it hurts him very much.

I wonder what you guys would've said about Ali.

Agreed he needs to stop now before it's gets more questionable

Losing past your prime doesn't tarnish your career. Evander Holydield is the greatest HW since Larry Holmes, and he has more losses than anyone after he became shot.

I don’t dispute your sentiments at all, but even if he did continue to fight (which I hope he doesn’t) his place in boxing history is already solidified. These last horrid fights wouldn’t reverse what he already cemented.