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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Call it the “Curse of Junior.”
Though in-ring accomplishments warrant a far higher dialogue, few boxers of this generation are more polarizing than the famous fighting sons of Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather.
And try as I might, neither the journalist nor fan in me understands why.
Of course, I’ve long accepted that exchanges on message boards, etc. will be dominated by the “Roy sux” and “call him Gayweather” crowd, predictably chiming in from the corner of Pathetic and Loser.
But I’m always a mite disappointed when the illogical naysaying carries over – admittedly in more articulate forms – to my good friends and colleagues in the traditional and online media.
My only sensible thesis is based on likeability, or in this case a lack thereof.
Because by numbers alone, denying their preeminence looks pretty ridiculous.
Love him or loathe, Jones was inarguably virtuoso in his prime – sequentially conquering four weight classes while besting Hall of Famers (Hopkins, Toney, McCallum, Hill), a credible second tier (Tate, Griffin, Johnson, Ruiz) and the requisite less-heralded filler without hiccup from 1993-2003.
It’s a victims list few of his era can match name for name, and one fewer still could navigate in the one-sided fashion the gifted Pensacolan managed prior to an eyes-closed Antonio Tarver left hook that suddenly ended the run at Mandalay Bay in 2004. [Click Here To Read More]
Though in-ring accomplishments warrant a far higher dialogue, few boxers of this generation are more polarizing than the famous fighting sons of Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather.
And try as I might, neither the journalist nor fan in me understands why.
Of course, I’ve long accepted that exchanges on message boards, etc. will be dominated by the “Roy sux” and “call him Gayweather” crowd, predictably chiming in from the corner of Pathetic and Loser.
But I’m always a mite disappointed when the illogical naysaying carries over – admittedly in more articulate forms – to my good friends and colleagues in the traditional and online media.
My only sensible thesis is based on likeability, or in this case a lack thereof.
Because by numbers alone, denying their preeminence looks pretty ridiculous.
Love him or loathe, Jones was inarguably virtuoso in his prime – sequentially conquering four weight classes while besting Hall of Famers (Hopkins, Toney, McCallum, Hill), a credible second tier (Tate, Griffin, Johnson, Ruiz) and the requisite less-heralded filler without hiccup from 1993-2003.
It’s a victims list few of his era can match name for name, and one fewer still could navigate in the one-sided fashion the gifted Pensacolan managed prior to an eyes-closed Antonio Tarver left hook that suddenly ended the run at Mandalay Bay in 2004. [Click Here To Read More]
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