Those of you who are old enough to have watched Roy Jones Jr in his prime, just how good was he?

[ilovemesomeboxing]

I know a lot of fans weren't born yet or too young to remember him in his prime, but how good was he exactly?

[ELPacman]

I sometimes wonder this myself. I was old enough to maybe watch, but I wasn't into the sport yet. I did catch Jones Jr. when he was on his end of career. Standouts for me were him vs Tarver 2 and losing to Glenn Johnson who nobody in the world imagined would beat him by KO. I actually looked up Johnson's record the other day. He got 21 losses!

[billeau2]

Go to Youtube and do a search. you can see and make your own judgements. How great was Jones? Well lets compare arguably the two most heralded fighters from his generation Floyd and Jones. Jones not only fought ATG level guys, some in prime, but he dominated his fights. Mayweather did do so with Canelo, Not really with Pac. That is one measure.

Jones had incredible athletic abilities. His hook was so fast that he could throw it from almost anywhere in the ring. Jones was also very smart and knew how to use his gifts. Some people think at 160 he was unbeatable, I do not know about that...

If Mayweather was the Apollonian aspect of greatness... Well ordered, setting things up, using elaborate traps and counters... Jones was Dionasian chaos... Yes he was Floyd's equal as a fighter able to use strategy but he preferred simplicity, quick feints, explosive punching... For example: Floyd's Check Hook... A punch that depended upon getting an opponent to commit, coming forward. Often employed after said opponent was trying to chase Floyd down... as compared to Jones left hook... A quick feint, opponent drops hands and Bam!!! Real simple.

[IronDanHamza]

One of the best fighters I ever saw.

[Fighter Club]

Prime RJJ was one of the best to lace them up IMHO.

His speed, power, and boxing IQ was head & shoulders above any fighter of that era.
After that vicious 2nd round TKO Tarver handed him in their rematch he was never the same. Not that Tarver was close to the fighter Roy was, or moving up & down from Lt heavy to heavy & back had anything to do with it, but the records show he never competed at the same high level again, and lost to the top fighters after that.

My own theory is that his stye of fighting took immense physical ability and he might have peaked when he beat Ruiz for the heavyweight title, and fell off after that.
Still his highlights on the way up and as a champion are legendary.

[Pac=Duran]

Many say prime RJJ was the best they ever saw.

His stellar athleticism and speed were hiding a suspect chin though.

I wasn't around for his prime but he must have never been hit hard once before Tarver.

Lou De Valle gave him his only knockdown actually, Pre Tarver KO. It was a hard shot and Roy was hurt. So he was probably packing glass but in every other department he was stellar

[eco1]

He was the best.

[RJJFan]

He would have beaten Canelo easily.

[daggum]

Go to Youtube and do a search. you can see and make your own judgements. How great was Jones? Well lets compare arguably the two most heralded fighters from his generation Floyd and Jones. Jones not only fought ATG level guys, some in prime, but he dominated his fights. Mayweather did do so with Canelo, Not really with Pac. That is one measure.

Jones had incredible athletic abilities. His hook was so fast that he could throw it from almost anywhere in the ring. Jones was also very smart and knew how to use his gifts. Some people think at 160 he was unbeatable, I do not know about that...

If Mayweather was the Apollonian aspect of greatness... Well ordered, setting things up, using elaborate traps and counters... Jones was Dionasian chaos... Yes he was Floyd's equal as a fighter able to use strategy but he preferred simplicity, quick feints, explosive punching... For example: Floyd's Check Hook... A punch that depended upon getting an opponent to commit, coming forward. Often employed after said opponent was trying to chase Floyd down... as compared to Jones left hook... A quick feint, opponent drops hands and Bam!!! Real simple.

canelo in his prime against floyd? wat? he barely beat trout in his previous fight and floyd didnt even fight him at 154. 2 154 pound champions fighting at 152 what the hell is that? ggg beat a prime roided canelo. floyd beat a zombie and thats why floyd is floyd

[OnePunch]

Prime Roy was unbeatable. And I hesitate to use that word, because "technically" no one is unbeatable on any given day, And he outclassed his opposition so soundly that its easier for naysayers to diminish his record and say he mostly fought slobs, etc.

But Roy from 160-175 is about as close to the word "unbeatable" as you can get.