IMO Roy Jones Jr. was the most physically gifted athlete ever to step in the ring. I, like many others feel he won the majority of his fights on his athletisism alone. But it is bothersome to hear people say he had been exposed by tarver! Jones was 35 when he lost to tarver, most fighters are done by that age! I feel that Jones gaining the weight and extra muscle to fight ruiz did him in! " Its easier to recover by loosing fat, but not by loosing muscle mass! Tarver was victim of that himself when he gained weight and some extra muscle for the "Rocky" movie. He said it himself. Jones in his prime would beat anybody from middleweight to cruiserweight easily! Y'all musta forgot!,lol.
True story.
Roy trained since he was 9 years old, the guy knows how to box, he wasn't just some athletic freak of nature. It is disrespectful to act like he reached the level he reached just on athletics, Roy can box believe that. He slaved away at his craft for years.
Real talk right here. People try to discredit Roy's skills and just try say he was just a good athlete. If you look at some of guys he competed with or trained with on the come up they would most likely say RJJ is most definitely a complete fighter as far a skills and ring knowledge go.
All you guys saying RJJ never learned the fundamentals of boxing are so wrong. RJJ was trained by Roy Sr. every element of boxing game as a child until an adult. As he worked on his craft he decided he didn't want to box that way no more and created his own style. He was taught everything from Roy Sr, you can tell RJJ knows every element of boxing just by listening to him in interviews and in commentary he is usually spot on with his analyze before big fights.
True story.
Roy trained since he was 9 years old, the guy knows how to box, he wasn't just some athletic freak of nature. It is disrespectful to act like he reached the level he reached just on athletics, Roy can box believe that. He slaved away at his craft for years.
All you guys saying RJJ never learned the fundamentals of boxing are so wrong. RJJ was trained by Roy Sr. every element of boxing game as a child until an adult. As he worked on his craft he decided he didn't want to box that way no more and created his own style. He was taught everything from Roy Sr, you can tell RJJ knows every element of boxing just by listening to him in interviews and in commentary he is usually spot on with his analyze before big fights.
Thats hardly chasing. So if I show up to Roy's press conference I am chasing him for a fight?
did you not read what i posted??he was his mandatory for years and had been trying to fight him for years..i posted the article just read it,am i saying he would have won???no but he would not have been ran thru or toyed with,he knows how to fight Roy
IMO Roy Jones Jr. was the most physically gifted athlete ever to step in the ring. I, like many others feel he won the majority of his fights on his athletisism alone. But it is bothersome to hear people say he had been exposed by tarver! Jones was 35 when he lost to tarver, most fighters are done by that age! I feel that Jones gaining the weight and extra muscle to fight ruiz did him in! " Its easier to recover by loosing fat, but not by loosing muscle mass! Tarver was victim of that himself when he gained weight and some extra muscle for the "Rocky" movie. He said it himself. Jones in his prime would beat anybody from middleweight to cruiserweight easily! Y'all musta forgot!,lol.
Even at his weakest, RJJ still beat Tarver! (I had the fight 115-113 for RJJ in one of the gutsiest performances I've seen). To me, that solidified that he could beat ANYONE in his prime. Anybody that says he got exposed don't know sh1t!
Tuesday, October 21
Updated: October 24, 7:15 PM ET
Kellerman: Tarver's getting an angry Jones
By Max Kellerman
Special to ESPN.com
Antonio Tarver is talking a lot of smack about Roy Jones. This is nothing new. Tarver's mouth is what lured Jones into their upcoming November showdown. At the Jones-John Ruiz postfight press conference, Tarver incensed the light heavyweight champ by tauntingly accusing Jones of ducking him. Tarver's mouth got under Jones' skin, and now the two will get in a ring next month to let their fists do the talking.
Antonio has told me in the past that Roy has been ducking him for years. Tarver's claim is that when he was the mandatory contender in one of those ridiculous sanctioning bodies, Roy refused to fight him. The gist of our conversation went something like this:
Me: "But you lost to Eric Harding and he got the title shot. Roy beat the guy who beat you."
Tarver: "Yeah, but I should never have been forced to fight in an eliminator in the first place, because I was already the mandatory."
Me: "But being the mandatory in one of those ridiculous sanctioning bodies is not really a mandate to fight for the title. Harding had the best record of any non-Dariusz Michalczewski 175-pounder in the world. Michalczewski's people were not going to let him come over to the U.S. to fight Roy, and Roy was understandably worried about getting ripped off in Germany. So Harding was the de facto mandatory contender. And then he beat you, giving him an undeniable claim as the top available contender."
Tarver: "But I was the mandatory. I never should have had to fight Harding in the first place."
Me: "But you did fight him and you lost, and he got the shot. Then you beat Harding in a rematch and now you're getting the shot."
Tarver: "But why was I put in the situation where I had to fight Harding in the first place? I was the mandatory."
Me: "But you didn't deserve to be and that was proven in your fight against Harding."
Tarver: "But I should never have been put in the position where I had to fight Harding."
And on and on.
That conversation took place after Antonio had just dominated Montell Griffin over 12 rounds on the James Toney-Vassiliy Jirov undercard in April. Antonio and I went round for round about his career for at least an hour. He told me that he felt he was ignored by boxing's top fighters because he is too dangerous an opponent. I told him that he had been ignored by boxing's best because his performances had not created demand to see him fight, and that until the last 12-18 months, he had not compiled the kind of resume that would force media types like me to start shouting that he was in fact being ignored.
Over the last two years or so, however, Tarver has established himself beyond doubt as the best available 175-pound Roy Jones opponent. In Jan. 2002, he beat Reggie Johnson on points. Six months later Tarver avenged his defeat to Harding with a knockout win. Finally, in April of this year Tarver dominated Montell Griffin -- knocking him down twice en route to a shutout points win.
Antonio recently told Brian Kenny that with the exception of the Roy Jones-Montell Griffin rematch (in which Jones obliterated Griffin in one round), he, Antonio Tarver, fared better against Harding, Griffin and Johnson than Jones had.
Tarver was knocked down and decisioned by Eric Harding in their first fight, and lost the first three rounds in their rematch before catching and dropping Harding in the fourth and stopping him in the fifth. Jones also struggled against Harding, but was up on points when Harding's bicep injury forced his corner to throw in the towel. Jones won more rounds out of the 10 he fought against Harding than Tarver won in 17.
Roy did "lose" to Montell Griffin in their first fight. He was, however, ahead in a tough fight against Griffin, and was disqualified because he hit Griffin after he had knocked him down. Had there been no disqualification, Jones would have likely stopped Montell. Tarver dominated Griffin and deserves a lot of credit for it.
If Jones' return Griffin performance is left out of the equation, then Tarver is correct -- he was more dominant against Griffin than Jones. The same way the Soviets beat us with their space program -- if you take away our '69 moon landing.
Tarver looked good against Reggie Johnson. Roy Jones dominated Johnson in a way that boxing fans will tell their grandkids about. In fact, Jones landed one of the most impressive punches in boxing history against Johnson. With both fighters in the middle of the ring and in defensive positions, Jones threw the fastest power punch I have ever seen, felling Johnson like a tree. When I want to show non-boxing fans why Roy might be the best athlete on the planet, I play them that clip.
Tarver truly believes that he will beat Jones. He has constructed legalistic arguments for why it has taken so long for him to land a big fight, and why he will win that fight against the best fighter in boxing. He has talked himself into a corner -- and a big payday. He must now fight his way out.
Tarver is a huge underdog, and based on how both he and Jones have looked as professionals, Roy should dominate him. But Harding was dominating Tarver in their rematch, and it only took one Tarver shot to effectively end their fight.
Jones -- who normally takes very few risks, and is therefore usually impossible to hit -- is emotionally charged for Tarver in a way he has not been for any light heavyweight since Griffin in the rematch. Following that one round blowout, Roy said that the "loss" in their fight brought out his vicious alter ego, "RJ," for their second one.
RJ takes more risks than Roy and is therefore a more dynamic offensive fighter -- but also a more vulnerable one defensively. If Tarver has brought out RJ, it should be an easy fight for Jones. Easy, and dangerous.
Tarver chased Roy? lol the first meaningful fight Tarver won Roy fought himYes Tarver showed up to his post fight press conference trying to get a fight with Roy..and Roy HAD to fight him to get his titles back that he vacated when he went up to heavyweight
Dained oy beat Tarver so why would people say Tarver had Roys number :lol1:
1st fight could have gone either way,lets not act like he dominated Tarver,im not saying Tarver beats Prime Roy bit Roy would not have toyed with him at all,like i said they fought as kids so Tarver knew him very well,there is a reason Tarver had to chase him for a fight
No 1 forgot he had great talent,but was never a fundamental fighter,so once he slowed down just a tad bit,those punches that were missing him by inches in his prime were landing flush
Basically this ^
He never really practised those solid fundamentals, especially in defence. He relied on his physical attributes for too long and when those went (which was always going to happen) RJJ was just not built for it.
Of course the losing a **** load of muscle mass after the Ruiz fight didn't help but if you don't learn/practice those fundamental skills and get them honed so they become second nature, it doesn't matter how physically gifted you are.
Prime RJJ would've toyed with Tarver.
Too bad he didn't hang them up after beating Ruiz, or went down to CW to get a title there too.
Not sure about that to be honest,Tarver is a long southpaw and can crack,i think he would have always gave Roy trouble..Roy would never have TOYED with him..some fighters just have your number,remember these 2 fought as kids
Tarver just been busted with PEDS who knows how long he been using, I suspect he was juicing against RJJ. Sad, He cracked RJJ chin with the help of those PED's and RJJ never been the same.
RJJ was a beast.
i remember calling steroids in the kayode fight
i think tarver only started roiding for the green fight and was clean for the roy fights
watching the green fight i thought, man he is strong, but ped's never crossed my mind, then against kayode again, he was massively stronger than kayode, at 44, naw, he never had that power before either, definitely roiding i thought
then came the positive tests
Tarver just been busted with PEDS who knows how long he been using, I suspect he was juicing against RJJ. Sad, He cracked RJJ chin with the help of those PED's and RJJ never been the same.
RJJ was a beast.
well to be fair Roy himself and Richard Hall failed their post fight drug test after their bout
No 1 forgot he had great talent,but was never a fundamental fighter,so once he slowed down just a tad bit,those punches that were missing him by inches in his prime were landing flush