Does Roy Jones deserve to be considered an elite ATG?

[IMDAZED]

It seems like they were saying he was shot as early as Tarver 2. If you think about it, Tarver was maybe the only other fighter to seriously challenge him other than that early fight against Bernard. But, what exactly made him go on the slide, anyway? The move to heavyweight?? There are a lot of theories. As far as OP saying I'm comparing Jones-Hopkins 2 to Foreman-Moorer.. I'm just saying that fighters deserve credit for being successful at an advanced age. Thats all I meant. You know, Jones wasn't the only fighter Hopkins beat in his later years. Just implying to give B-Hop the same kind of credit many give Big George.

Tarver wasn't his first serious challenge since Bernard. Plus, he was 35. Dominating at a high level for over a decade. Up and down weight divisions. Hopkins gets plenty of credit for accomplishing what he has and he also is an all-timer. Success at an advanced age doesn't place higher than some other category. If so then we should rate Bernard well above Ray Leonard too. Why stop there? Hell, Ray Robinson.

[915angel]

Tarver wasn't his first serious challenge since Bernard. Plus, he was 35. Dominating at a high level for over a decade. Up and down weight divisions. Hopkins gets plenty of credit for accomplishing what he has and he also is an all-timer. Success at an advanced age doesn't place higher than some other category. If so then we should rate Bernard well above Ray Leonard too. Why stop there? Hell, Ray Robinson.

people forget to bring up roy jones jr using steriods so NO

[Mintcar923]

Tarver wasn't his first serious challenge since Bernard. Plus, he was 35. Dominating at a high level for over a decade. Up and down weight divisions. Hopkins gets plenty of credit for accomplishing what he has and he also is an all-timer. Success at an advanced age doesn't place higher than some other category. If so then we should rate Bernard well above Ray Leonard too. Why stop there? Hell, Ray Robinson.

Explain who he faced that was even remotely in his class in between Hopkins 1 and Tarver? Maybe Toney, but there were theries he had a bit of a weight problem at the time. Again, I'm not being pessimistic toward Jones which seems to be a misconception around here. I'm just trying to be objective. And I don't say success at an advanced age is everything. But, it does mean something. All a fighters attributes should be placed in a blender when judging their all-time status IMO...

Wow.. This is an interesting discussion since we have a lot of different viewpoints!

[Anthony342]

Pretty sure he is talking about Dariusz Michalczewski. He is right, too.

So why didn't Roy fight him?

[Scott9945]

So why didn't Roy fight him?

Michalczewski was a big draw in Germany, but had no name value in the US. Roy had no interest in fighting in Germany. This fight never even came close to happening.

[THE REED]

Michalczewski was a big draw in Germany, but had no name value in the US. Roy had no interest in fighting in Germany. This fight never even came close to happening.

Although everythng you said is absolutely correct, who really should of made the concessions to make it happen.

Roy was the superstar in the sport, had the HBO tv contract, and Darius held the linnear title, but Roy held every single other title in the division... look who he fought..

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

Tarver, Julio, Harding, Woods, Griffin, Hall, Johnson... He fought 7 of the top 10 in the division by the time he was done. Darius stayed at home and ended up losing to Caes after Roy already beat him and it was damn near the same Julio Roy fought.

**** ****, skeet skeet

[Larry the boss]

of course............

[Scott9945]

Although everythng you said is absolutely correct, who really should of made the concessions to make it happen.

Roy was the superstar in the sport, had the HBO tv contract, and Darius held the linnear title, but Roy held every single other title in the division... look who he fought..

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

Tarver, Julio, Harding, Woods, Griffin, Hall, Johnson... He fought 7 of the top 10 in the division by the time he was done. Darius stayed at home and ended up losing to Caes after Roy already beat him and it was damn near the same Julio Roy fought.

**** ****, skeet skeet

Looking from Michalczewski's (likely) point of view, he was happy making millions fighting where he was comfortable. I guess that speaks for him as both a businessman and a boxing world champion. Same with Roy.

For younger fans, I was basically trying to indicate that it was nothing like a Floyd-Pac situation. That kind of money wasn't there for it and neither was the public demand.

[wmute]

Although everythng you said is absolutely correct, who really should of made the concessions to make it happen.

Roy was the superstar in the sport, had the HBO tv contract, and Darius held the linnear title, but Roy held every single other title in the division... look who he fought..

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

Tarver, Julio, Harding, Woods, Griffin, Hall, Johnson... He fought 7 of the top 10 in the division by the time he was done. Darius stayed at home and ended up losing to Caes after Roy already beat him and it was damn near the same Julio Roy fought.

**** ****, skeet skeet

Nope.

1) first and foremost Lineal title >>> Alphabet soup.

2) DM was making more money in Germany than he would have fighting Jones in US. The way to make this fight make $$$ was to have it in Germany at US TV times. We all know Roy refused to fight in US after the olympics. He had his own reasons, but it was clearly Roy who stood in the way of making the fight as big as possible.

3) DM fought Griffin, Hall, Rocchigianni, Hill, and Tiozzo and Gonzalez. All top 10.

Was Roy the better fighter? Hell yeah. (well i know i would have bet on him at german/polosh odds if the fight took place, and make some $$$)

Can you blame DM for the fight not happening? Not more than you can blame Roy.

[wmute]

So why didn't Roy fight him?

cos they were both happy doing what they were doing, and the fight would have been kind of big, but not huge.