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Hard to say one of the 30 greatest, but easily one of the 30 best.
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Im not sure if I should make a new thread on this but I would love to hear who you guys put over jones in regards to Talent and Athleticism.
Ill give a few of my own that I think may rival him.
Whitaker
Hammed
Mayweather
SSR(based on what Ive heard from early years)
SSL
I'm really pushing it here, I just thing roy was so supreamly gifted but I would love to here some more peoples opinions on it.Comment
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Ali, Robinson, maybe Leonard, maybe Whitaker and those last two are pushing it.Comment
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In terms of talent, I think there are very few that rival him. Hamed? Not a chance in hell. Not sure Pea does either. Talent-wise, his combination of power, hand speed, foot speed and reflexes was absolutely sickening. It's one of the reasons why, regardless of where you place him, he underachieved. It's almost a curse for him because he is often judged on what he did not do when what he did was extremely impressive. At 160, he was the first and perhaps only fighter to decisively beat a fighter who would soon go on to be one of the greatest middleweights ever. At 168, he shutout an undefeated champ, a prime future Hall of Famer and one of the true talents of our era. The names at 175 aren't as impressive in retrospect but he damn near wiped out the division, making 11 defenses and holding the undisputed crown forever.
Jones got caught in no-man's land at 175. The lucrative fights were either above or below him. When the Trinidad fight failed to materialize and he couldn't come to terms with Hopkins, he went way north and whitewashed a top five heavyweight who remained so many years later. All the while losing a handful of rounds. On his best day he probably beats anyone and everyone under heavyweight and a bunch of the big guys too.Comment
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68 is where he fell short. The talent was THICK there. Lots of reasons (for and against) for some of the misses there, but at the end it's still just too many for a guy his stature. At 75, he missed one and beat plenty of good fighters. 60...he was outgrowing it before he even had a belt and came to form just as a GREAT, underrated era at 60 was ending. 68 and 75 were where he was truly defined.
Gotta disagree there. It shows how wrong sanc bodies can be as, on merit, Hopkins was no #1 yet. Ring had him barely top ten and were right. Middleweight was still solid then (92-93) with Julian Jackson, Gerald McClellan, Reggie Johnson, and John David Jackson all still big factors.Comment
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He's defined by his entire resume, including 160, where he beat Hopkins and flattened a legitimate contender in Tate. I agree the talent was thick at super middle and he kicked things off by embarrassing the guy far and away considered the best talent in it. And also decapitated a guy by the name of Malinga who went balls to the wall with Eubank and took one of two from Benn.Comment
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Sure. My point was that its hard to argue he missed much at 60 anyways considering the timing. Malinga is an underrated win. He still could have done much more at 68. That he didn't is one reason I'd agree with you his career can be seen as underachieving (if being one of the top 50 fighters of all time can be considered such a thing).Comment
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