Would Roy Jones get exposed much earlier if he fought better competetion?

[adamk1304]

no

roy jones was never exposed.

when you are 35, you are not in your prime. end of the story.

so what did we see? that Jones without his reflexes could not compete anymore in a weight class where he was systematically the smaller man? boo-f...n'-hoo. I could have told you that.

where was sweet pea at 35? getting battered by tito after getting out of coke

where was sugar ray leonard at 35? retired after terry norris handed him his ass.

where is floyd mayweather going to be at 35? probably retired

where was sugar ray robinson at 35? he had 7 more title fights. the record for those fights? 3-4-0. not exactly prime robinson of say 1952..., isnt it?

bottom line, none of the above fighters was a shadow of his former self at 35. why would roy jones have been much different?

joe calzaghe, 35

bernard hopkins, 42

winky wright, 35

All three of those fighters are still going strong, two are probably in their prime right now, age is not always to blame, roy got caught.

[Stromprophet]

joe calzaghe, 35

bernard hopkins, 42

winky wright, 35

All three of those fighters are still going strong, two are probably in their prime right now, age is not always to blame, roy got caught.

Are all of these fighters still going strong? Joe Blows best competition was when he was still younger. And then he was fighting aging champions.

I'm not knocking joe, I like joe, but really? Sakio Bikka, an unproven Jeff Lacy, and who was that last guy? Oh yeah, some guy from a reality show.

How has Bernard fought in the last 10 years? Sparingly. Again, don't get me wrong, but Bernard has not been a lion for a long time. Even the Tarver fight he made sure he did a lot of things to protect himself and not get in any kind of a slug fest.

Winky. How does winky fight? He is in great shape sure, but winky doesn't need to have tremendous stamina, and he doesn't have that much power. He jabs a whole bunch with limited power shots. While he did fight Taylor who is in his prime, it showed us Wink certainly could not hurt anyone with a chin nowadays.

I'd disagree. Most older fighters fight a less taxing schedule, thus extending their careers. Fighting every six months, and not fighting other fighters who are in their prime.
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On topic. Age did catch up to Roy. But he also allowed it to. All the fighters you mention above stick to the basics, stick to the basics, stick to the basics. They all have solid defense and solid offense and box how a boxer would normally box.

Roy is and always has been a style fighter. He did things boxers weren't supposed to do and could get away with it. His natural boxing ability was so great that standard tactics didn't apply to him.

Problem being as he got older the body cannot do what it once did. And trying to fire at odd angles, moving, and being able to have good footwork all slowed down for Roy. When he was young you could see him come from all angles and not get hit a single time in a round (which he actually did and the first time in compubox recording to record a round without getting hit once). But as he got older trying to box that way he could not avoid counters.

Roy also didn't put in the work to keep himself in the shape needed so his physicalness would not betray his natural ability. To execute his natural and unconventional boxing ways he had to be in tremendous shape.

For years Hopkins, Wright, and Calzaghe have maintained vigirous schedules, watched what they ate, and were always in shape. As Bernard would say, you don't get in shape by training for a fight, your always in shape and then train for your fight.

Bottom line, Roy was never exposed when he was young cause NO ONE COULD EXPOSE HIM. Not because of competition, jesus, the man decimated just about anyone he could face in all kinds of weight divisions. It's not like he was in one weight division his whole career. Roy probably is the most naturally gifted fighter in the history of boxing. I say that with no second thoughts at all.

[bdevils]

Nigel Benn at his best takes Jones out (six rounds with Benn is too many rounds for Jones to escape), but doesn't 'expose' him or his chin.

prime vs. prime jones takes benn too much speed and skill.

[bdevils]

joe calzaghe, 35

bernard hopkins, 42

winky wright, 35

All three of those fighters are still going strong, two are probably in their prime right now, age is not always to blame, roy got caught.

roy's downfall was going too hw's bulking up the way he did and then having to lose the weight to go back down. anyone could see he wasn't the same after coming back down from hw.

[bdevils]

Originally Posted by Stromprophet

Roy is and always has been a style fighter. He did things boxers weren't supposed to do and could get away with it. His natural boxing ability was so great that standard tactics didn't apply to him.

Bottom line, Roy was never exposed when he was young cause NO ONE COULD EXPOSE HIM. Not because of competition, jesus, the man decimated just about anyone he could face in all kinds of weight divisions. It's not like he was in one weight division his whole career. Roy probably is the most naturally gifted fighter in the history of boxing. I say that with no second thoughts at all.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree

[wmute]

joe calzaghe, 35

bernard hopkins, 42

winky wright, 35

All three of those fighters are still going strong, two are probably in their prime right now, age is not always to blame, roy got caught.

mmm but he was not caught while fighintg better fighters than tarver (and tarver himself the first time)

When your style is based on reflexes and speed, your going to be done faster than solid technicians and KO artists. It is not by chance that I mentioned fighters who, like Roy Jones, owe most of their careers to their blend of reflexes and speed.

Wright and Hopkins are not that type of fighters.

Calzaghe is more similar, and, in fact, he is slipping. (look at his old fights, look at his most recent fights.. do the math)

[robjr]

nope never.