Where Does Roy Jones Jr Rank Amongst the ATGs?

[Chr0nic]

Maybe weak is the wrong word to use, what I meant was he hasn't got an excellent resume, considering his talent and dominance.

oh yea, who was the lightheavyweight champion suppossed to fight? calzaghe? hahaha

[IMDAZED]

Roy was without a doubt a lot more experienced than Hopkins was. He had a great amateur career and had already beaten a couple of top class fighters before facing Hopkins.

Hopkins, who had been active as a pro for 3 years with no notable amateur background, had only fought popular but limited journeymen up until he faced Roy. He wasn't unbeatable at that point of his career either (as another poster said) because he had lost his first fight and went onto struggle to a draw with Segundo Mercado.

The draw with Mercado came after Roy. And I thought Hopkins won that fight.

[TheGreatA]

The draw with Mercado came after Roy. And I thought Hopkins won that fight.

I edited my post.

Hopkins may have won but it was a tough fight. Anyone who watches that fight and some of his fights from 1997-2001 should be able to tell the difference between a prime and not so prime Hopkins.

[Chr0nic]

Roy was without a doubt a lot more experienced than Hopkins was. He had a great amateur career and had already beaten a couple of top class fighters before facing Hopkins.

Hopkins, who had been active as a pro for 3 years with no notable amateur background, had only fought popular but limited journeymen up until he faced Roy. He wasn't unbeatable at that point of his career either (as another poster said) because he had lost his first fight and went onto struggle to a draw with Segundo Mercado.

this is the most ******ed post i have ever read, now an excuse for fighters is experience? fantastic
the man that was goin 20 fights without a loss and about 20 more after that but the one loss he has inbetween is because he had no experience on that day? yea, im sure it had nothing to do with the fact he was fighting the future p4p king who dominated 48 of his fights and out of those 48 fights he only lost 10 rounds altogether, yea, im sure that had nothin to do with it it was just inexperience, yea lets go with that

[IMDAZED]

I edited my post.

Hopkins may have won but it was a tough fight. Anyone who watches that fight and some of his fights from 1997-2001 should be able to tell the difference between a prime and not so prime Hopkins.

Agreed.

Much like anyone who watches that fight and then looks at Jones years later can see he hadn't hit his prime either.

[KiloTeague]

Good post. I'm not saying Roy would have lost to Toney/B-Hop under different circumstances because it would be difficult to bet against a prime Roy, but that when Roy fought them they were not at their best.

And What I'm saying is Roy improved a great deal after these fights, and he was not at his best either. Furthermore and more importantly, Noone at anytime except for Roy could of thrashed James Toney so easily, or beaten Bernard Hopkins with one hand. For the latter I say Roy deserves all the credit for being one of the top ATG, because noone else could of or did, what he did to those fighters. Even at there old age now, where they couldn't be as good as they were in there 26's and 27's, these guys are still getting wins against champions. Roy dominated these guys in there primes. That shows you the difference between a prime Roy and regular champions.

[TheGreatA]

Agreed.

Much like anyone who watches that fight and then looks at Jones years later can see he hadn't hit his prime either.

He fought Hopkins in mid 1993 and had beaten Tate, Malinga and Toney by the end of 1994.

I wouldn't say Jones was at his peak but certainly not as far from it as Hopkins was.

[IMDAZED]

He fought Hopkins in mid 1993 and had beaten Tate, Malinga and Toney by the end of 1994.

I wouldn't say Jones was at his peak but certainly not as far from it as Hopkins was.

Well that's one way to look at it (in Jones' case). Of course, the argument can be made that Hopkins didn't lose after the Jones fight for 12 years - if ever - so to surmise when he was in his prime is nearly impossible. Fact is, no one beat Hops convincingly the way Jones did.

[KiloTeague]

Good post. I'm not saying Roy would have lost to Toney/B-Hop under different circumstances because it would be difficult to bet against a prime Roy, but that when Roy fought them they were not at their best.

And the fact that you agree that Prime Roy would have beaten either of these guys at there best further solidifies his spot on the ATG list.

I mean there are tons of ways to rate best ever, dominance, longevity, speed, strenth. Whatever. So its hard to say. All I can say is that Roy was blessed with more god given ability than any boxer in history, and he was the most dominating boxer Ive ever seen. Completely unbeatable in his prime. Hard to say that about to many other boxers.

COMPLETELY UNBEATABLE. When you attain that level of dominace its hard to rank others ahead of him.

Prime Roy #1ATG

Career Roy Top 10. #1 Sugar Ray Robinson with his 200+wins

[TheGreatA]

this is the most ******ed post i have ever read, now an excuse for fighters is experience? fantastic
the man that was goin 20 fights without a loss and about 20 more after that but the one loss he has inbetween is because he had no experience on that day? yea, im sure it had nothing to do with the fact he was fighting the future p4p king who dominated 48 of his fights and out of those 48 fights he only lost 10 rounds altogether, yea, im sure that had nothin to do with it it was just inexperience, yea lets go with that

That wasn't what I said. People were acting as if Roy Jones beat a prime Bernard Hopkins but he didn't.

It was a good win for Jones because of what Hopkins went onto become, at the time it was average (since Hopkins wasn't thought to be much), but I think everyone would agree that it was not nearly as great as a win over a prime 1997-2001 Hopkins would've been.