Roy Jones Jr is the greatest of all time

[BennyST]

Longest #1 P4P reign in boxing history

Lost maybe 25 rounds in his first 59 fights combined.

The only middleweight champion to win heavyweight championship.

15 year undefeated streak*

Thoroughly dominated 2 Hall of Famers in their prime

Olympic Gold Medalist**


PS - keep the ring mag/boxrec legends out of this discussion.



*we all know he didn't really lose to Griffin
**we all know he beat Park Si-Hun

Really? I cold have sworn that he wasn't. Maybe you should check that fact. As for winning the HW championship, if we're talking historically and being a genuine HW champion, he didn't anyway. To be THE HW champion and to rank alongside guys who actually beat the real HW champion he would have had to beat Lennox Lewis and we all know that wasn't ever going to happen. BEating Ruiz was great....brilliant even but that feat has been done many times before. There are many great MW's who have moved up to HW and beaten the number 5, 6, 7th rated HW.

It's lucky that today, you can do that and grab some silly title too and call yourself the HW champion of the world. Toney, although busted for steroids afterward (as Jones probably should have been), showed that it's not that magical a feat as he beat Ruiz just as easily.

Also, how does dominating the incredible amount *gasp* TWO HOFers make him GOAT? I realise this is all a bit of a pisstake, but what's the deal with that? Just out of curiosity though, who was the prime HOFer apart from Toney? I always thought Hopkins was widely considered very green. Still, great win nonetheless over a future HOFer.

What's better though, beating two HOFers or beating about ten also from MW to HW?

[SCtrojansbaby]

He looked like a god in the ring. But lets be real here, was he fighting stiff competition?

And his career crashed extremely hard. The danny green 1st round K.O is an embarassment of a life time. Tarver, johnson and calzaghe were at least good boxers. But roy looked like a fool against them.

Toney and Hopkins aren't stiff comp? Griffin Tarver Hill and McCullum weren't legit top 3 light heavys at the time? Was Ruiz not a top 3 heavyweight in the world

Duran got the breaks beat off him by William Joppy is he penalized for that? Ali lost to a guy with 7 fights

[StarshipTrooper]

Toney and Hopkins aren't stiff comp? Griffin Tarver Hill and McCullum weren't legit top 3 light heavys at the time? Was Ruiz not a top 3 heavyweight in the world

Duran got the breaks beat off him by William Joppy is he penalized for that? Ali lost to a guy with 7 fights

McCallum was 40+ and washed up. Jones isn't going to get credit for it just because a corrupt alphabet body was dumb enough to rank someone who, in boxing age, was a geriatric.

Poet

[Wild Blue Yonda]

McCallum was 40+ and washed up. Jones isn't going to get credit for it just because a corrupt alphabet body was dumb enough to rank someone who, in boxing age, was a geriatric.

Poet

Similarly, though Ruiz was a top 3-5 HW in the world at the time Jones bettered him, there's no disguising the fact he was a completely ordinary fighter, rising through the ranks in a completely ordinary era. I think Jones did a fine job against him, & I don't discredit the win, but I don't really call it any truly great achievement, either.

[BennyST]

Toney and Hopkins aren't stiff comp? Griffin Tarver Hill and McCullum weren't legit top 3 light heavys at the time? Was Ruiz not a top 3 heavyweight in the world

Duran got the breaks beat off him by William Joppy is he penalized for that? Ali lost to a guy with 7 fights

Similarly, though Ruiz was a top 3-5 HW in the world at the time Jones bettered him, there's no disguising the fact he was a completely ordinary fighter, rising through the ranks in a completely ordinary era. I think Jones did a fine job against him, & I don't discredit the win, but I don't really call it any truly great achievement, either.

Ruiz was at most about the fifth best at the time. He was ranked about 7th in 2001 and 5th in 2002 leading in to the Jones fight. Lewis (champion), Klitschko, Byrd, Tua, and Holyfield were all rated higher. But yes, he was still an ordinary 'champion' in what was slowly becoming a very weak field of HW's.

Duran was also about 50 years old and MW was well and truly way past his best weight of LW, which is five divisions below MW and about ten above where he started his career as a bantamweight or whatever. Jones was at what is usually considered his best weight, that being LHW (LHW or SMW, though LHW is where he did the majority of his career reign), and was still considered in his prime (yes, moving down did effect him I know) and fighting guys the same size. It's a pretty big difference.

[Vegas Vince]

Ali lost to a guy with 7 fights...and then won the rematch.
He hung around for two more fights he shouldn't have taken.

Ray Leonard got blitzed by Camacho and yeah..humiliated. But he retired asap.

Roy Jones.....was a guy whose own giant ego is going to get him seriously hurt because we're not talking about one or two losses that can be forgiven. This guy is getting knocked out cold...and appears to be fighting simply to survive...and there's been too many of these type of fights.

And why do I think he'll fight yet again?

Joe Louis didn't tarnish his rep losing to Marciano cuz much like Ali and Leonard he didn't hang around and continue to take beatings....but that's what Roy Jones is doing.

This dude has been knocked stiff twice....the one against Glenn Johnson his leg was twitching.

He still talks a great deal of smack....but doesn't even attempt to back it up in the ring......and the legends you mentioned fought on too long for sure....but Jones is way beyond those guys put together in terms of thinking he can over come Father Time.

He can't. He's proven that in way too many fights lately. The guy was a great fighter in his day. But he's tarnishing his legacy because he's not even a stepping stone anymore...that's how bad he's looked.

VV

[EMACULATE]

Really? I cold have sworn that he wasn't. Maybe you should check that fact. As for winning the HW championship, if we're talking historically and being a genuine HW champion, he didn't anyway. To be THE HW champion and to rank alongside guys who actually beat the real HW champion he would have had to beat Lennox Lewis and we all know that wasn't ever going to happen. BEating Ruiz was great....brilliant even but that feat has been done many times before. There are many great MW's who have moved up to HW and beaten the number 5, 6, 7th rated HW.

It's lucky that today, you can do that and grab some silly title too and call yourself the HW champion of the world. Toney, although busted for steroids afterward (as Jones probably should have been), showed that it's not that magical a feat as he beat Ruiz just as easily.

Also, how does dominating the incredible amount *gasp* TWO HOFers make him GOAT? I realise this is all a bit of a pisstake, but what's the deal with that? Just out of curiosity though, who was the prime HOFer apart from Toney? I always thought Hopkins was widely considered very green. Still, great win nonetheless over a future HOFer.

What's better though, beating two HOFers or beating about ten also from MW to HW?

This use to be one of my favorite fighters of all time, right behind Pernell Whitaker. In his prime there wasnt anyone close to his skill level and that could entertain at the same time. Jones hand speed and athletic ability were a marvel, but I fear in the end they hurt more than they did good, because when he stRTED TO SLOW DOWN HE COULDVE USED THAT FLUENT JAB TO KEEP FIGHTERS AT A SAFE DISTANCE.

JONES IS AN ATG BUT IMO HE SHOULD ATLEAST BE IN THE TOP FIFTY ONLY BECAUSE I COULDNT RATE HIM AGAINST THE GUYS OF THE 30, 40 AND 50. I DO FEEL THE HE WOULD GIVE RAY ROBINSON, RAY LEORNARD, HEARNS AND BURLEY HELL BECAUSE OF HIS SPEED AND FAST HOOK. MAYBE NOT THE GOAT BUT HE IS IN THE SAME CLASS AS THE GOAT.