Bernstein:Roy Jones is a great athlete; he’s not a great fighter

[Truth]

I'm not throwing him under a bus. He deserves to be remembered for his skill and speed, which was different class. Thread is about whether or not he was a 'great boxer' which he was because he was excellent at it, but it doesn't mean I can't note that he had a few flaws.

Also, it is my job to disparage Roy at every opportunity.

yeah. basically roy was a great offensive fighter but defensively his game was athletic ability. But you judge a fighter by his prime, and make no mistake in his prime Roy was one of the best ever.

[Truth]

Its true in a lot of ways. Look at James Toney. Took some much time to master the craft, that when he lost all his speed and reflexes, he had a tremendous amount of skill to fall back on

i think roy does have great skill though. isn't he always credited by people for being one of the smartest fighters of all time? I've always heard people say that. I think just defensively he didn't master a particular craft because in his prime he didn't need to...

[Dynamite Kid]

i think roy does have great skill though. isn't he always credited by people for being one of the smartest fighters of all time? I've always heard people say that. I think just defensively he didn't master a particular craft because in his prime he didn't need to...

i think this is the top and bottom of it good post

[Truth]

so you agree? kind of like ali who would do unorthodox defensive moves...

[peewee1460]

roy was a great boxer. was he technically brilliant, no. but mediocre boxers don't capture multiple world titles in four different weight classes. great fighters do.

[abadger]

so you agree? kind of like ali who would do unorthodox defensive moves...

I agree................

[Chunk..]

The only thing I can see him regretting is that he never got a crack at a prime Roy, the rest of them Johnson, Tarver etc are all much of a muchness. He'll be happy with the Hopkins win IMO. Also, he must realise he could easily lose to prime Roy but I bet he does think he would win.

Obviouslly Joe thinks he would win, why would he step into a ring with a guy he thinks he would lose to? He would've pretty much lost the fight before the bell rings.

A fight with prime Roy would've made or break Joe IMO. Harsh but true.

*If Joe beats prime Roy then their wouldn't be any question marks whatsoever!

*If Joe loses to prime Roy then hell that wouldn't have been a biggie really either. Losing to Roy back wouldn't have been a disgrace and although we'd hear nothing but ''Joe got exposed'' crap for a few years, over time we'd(especially yanks) appriacate the fact that Joe had the balls to fight a prime Roy?

For one reason or another the fight never happened when it should of had but i reckon both fighters saw it as too much of a risk. Roy wasn't going to go after a dangerous unknown Euro clocking up win after win and Joe dreamed of doing a 'Marciano' and a prime Roy would of seriously hindered any chance of that happening.

I blame em both, but i blame Joe more.

[Dynamite Kid]

so you agree? kind of like ali who would do unorthodox defensive moves...

i think Jones is a great fighter

he did have a decent defence in his prime IE his speed and counter punching ability footwork but it was not the kind of defence that would be conducive as he got older and his reflexes slowed down


when you see him getting hit on the ropes and his inability to tie his man up it makes me think he had a decent to good defence in his prime but not great and im not just talking about his fights with Johnson and Tarver cause Roy never looked comfortable on the ropes even back when he fought Hopkins

[abadger]

i think Jones is a great fighter

he did have a decent defence in his prime IE his speed and counter punching ability footwork but it was not the kind of defence that would be conducive as he got older and his reflexes slowed down


when you see him getting hit on the ropes and his inability to tie his man up it makes me think he had a decent to good defence in his prime but not great and im not just talking about his fights with Johnson and Tarver cause Roy never looked comfortable on the ropes even back when he fought Hopkins

Not even when he fought Vinny Pazienza!

[Dynamite Kid]

Not even when he fought Vinny Pazienza!

well Paz hardly got near Jones but yeah