Where Do You Rank Roy Jones All Time?

[JUYJUY]

He had a good run at super-middleweight, but somehow managed to avoid most of the top 168 guys.

He didn't avoid 'most' of the top 168 guys, he avoided ALL of the top 168 guys. Also, the only IBF #1 contender he fought at 160 or 168 was Bryant Brannon in his last fight as a 160-168 fighter (Bryant who?).

[SonnyG8R]

Ok it is like this, Here are the top fighters Roy had faced.

Castro
Hopkins
Toney
Pazienza
Brannon
McCallum
Griffin
Hill
Grant
Harding
Gonzalez
Woods
Ruiz
Tarver

That is a pretty long list of opponents he outclassed and beaten convincingly I believe he stole the Tarver fight by 2 or 3 rounds. So he dominated his opponents thorougly. Majority of top fighters only have about 6 noteworthy fights. Well Roy has had over 10 and outclassed them all. Ohh how can we forget he went to heavyweight and defeated the unbeatable Ruiz who most heavyweights today cannot beat.

Roy is great and deserves to be placed in the top 10-15 of greatest, but it isnt his fault his division was lacking. He fought the best the division had to offer. Also it isnt like 168 or cruiser had anything spectacular for Roy either. So rightfully so Roy is one of the greatest for his achievements and his physicaly abilities.

Well said Spinksjinx. He was unquestionable top 20 all time. He would have easily been top 10 if it hadn't been for his last 2 fights.

[realheavyhands]

Charles fought at Light Heavyweight for about six years, man. And he also had a helluva lot more fights at that weight than did/does Jones in his nine years at that weight (like twice as many).

his career is based as a heavyweight most his fights was at heavyweight..and back then u fought alot more often and fought alot of "tough guys" who had no skill pretty much like tough man contestants

[JUYJUY]

To be honest with you, I wouldn't even rate Jones Jr in my top 20 LHW's of all-time let alone lb4lb! And that's being realistic.

[GasPed]

To be honest with you, I wouldn't even rate Jones Jr in my top 20 LHW's of all-time let alone lb4lb! And that's being realistic.

Just for giggles, why don't you post the 20+ light heavies you think were better than Roy? My guess is that would be both illuminating and entertaining...

[BadMagick]

Agreed. Anyone who puts Jones in a top 10 all-time list needs to hit the history books and watch some boxing film.

I can see the arguments for putting him in a top 10 light-heavyweight list or super-middleweight list, but there are no good arguments for ranking him overall in the top 20 all time.

Somewhere in the top 30-50 is probably about right.

He was ranked #17 by Ring, I think, in the all time pound for pound list.

It's easy at the top level to look quick, classy, powerfull and cute when you're fighting mediocre opposition.

Says the guy with Ricky Hatton in his signature.

[BadMagick]

The truth is just like Tyson, Jones is an all time great. Both Jones and Tyson will be inducted into the boxing hall of fame...Why? Because they are great fighters. Everyone can say whatever they want but technically Roy Jones Jr. is an all time great...its just reality. Sorry if I pissed anyone off...

Everyone can have an opinion but not every opinion has truth to it. For example someone can say Michael Jordan wasn't a great basketball player because the time he played in, but is that true? NO!!!

What the ****? Jordan played in one of the most talented eras ever. There are literally dozens of legends that he played against. They all had the misfortune of playing against the greatest ever, though. Reggie Johnson, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon... the list goes on, man. Several of those names are considered one of the greatest ever at their positions. Someone would have to be a ****ing moron to say Jordan wasn't the greatest ever.

Sorry, but that was a TERRIBLE comparison.

What did Jones do? He went right back down to light-heavyweight to fight the man he was accused of ducking for years, and we all know what happened there (Tarver one punch KO2 Jones, in case you don't remember).

You're like the guys who talk about the DQ against Griffen. You fail to acknowledge the other fight that he won.

[Yogi]

He was ranked #17 by Ring, I think, in the all time pound for pound list.

You could be right, because I think The Ring compiled another ranking since then...But in their 80th anniversary issue which came out in 2002, they compiled a ranking of the best 80 fighters over that time span, and they had Jones slotted in the 44th spot in that ranking.

[JUYJUY]

Just for giggles, why don't you post the 20+ light heavies you think were better than Roy? My guess is that would be both illuminating and entertaining...

Here's what a very knowledgable journalist wrote...


1: Moore: Over looked for years probably because of his colour, he finally got his World Championship shot aged 35 to 38 (no one is quite sure), but what is certain is that he won the World Championship and reigned undefeated for 10 years.

2: Charles: Went 3 and 0 as a Light Heavy over Moore, also beat fighters the calibre of Maxim, Burley and Christoforidis.

3: Tunney: Great fighter who fought the cream of the Light Heavyweight division, only losing to Harry Grebb, a defeat that he avenged
.
4: Spinks: Was unbeaten as a Light Heavyweight, through the divisions’ strongest era, becoming the World Champion for two years.

5: Roosenbloom: Slapsie Maxim had an incredible 300 fights in 16 years, but of his 210 (216 if you include Newspaper decisions) wins he scored only 19 stoppages. Beat the likes of Walker, Slattery, Braddock and Lewis, and was World champion for four years.

6: Foster: After an undistinguished start to his career, rebounded by pole axing the World Championship from **** Tiger, and reigning undefeated for six years.

7: Conn: Reigned as undefeated World Light Heavyweight champ for three years, beating the likes of Zale, Lesnevich and Young CorbettIII.

8: Grebb: As a Light Heavy only person to beat Gene Tunney; also beat Loughran.

9: Carpentier: At his best as a 175lber; won the World Championship in 1920, reigned for over 2 years, beat Ted Lewis and Levinsky.

10: Fitzsimmons: The first Light Heavyweight (then known in Britain as Cruiserweight) World Champion, to legitimise the young division, had a two year reign, but in reality fought even his Heavyweight bouts as a (Small) 175lber, rarely scaling above 170.

11: Loughran: Two year unbeaten reign as Light Heavyweight World Champ, beat the likes of Braddock, Stribling, Carpentier, McTigue, Walker and Slattery.

12: Michalczewski: Long time World Champion; won title off of Hill, beat everyone put in front of him for six years, before finally dropping crown

13: Muhammad (Matt Saad): Treated the world to a thrilling 2 year title reign, with classic fights galore, in the strongest era of the division.

14: Hill: Multiple titleholder, became World Champ beating the undefeated Maske; met everyone that mattered in his era.

15: Johnson (Harold) Great Light Heavy of the 50s and early 60s, unlucky to be around in Moore’s era, finally won World Championship in 1961, kept title for two years.

16: Maxim: Won World Championship off of Freddie Mills, also beat Lesnevich, Patterson and perhaps most famously Sugar Ray Robinson as a 175lber.

17: Tiger: Two-year reign as Light Heavyweight World Champ, only stopped by Bob Foster

18: Qawi: Fought in the division’s toughest era, only coming up short , in his prime, to Spinks.

19: Maske: Dominant titleholder, whose only defeat was to prime Virgil Hill

20: Jones: Had a dominant title reign, avenging a defeat to Griffin.


(just about sneeking Jones in lol).

[BadMagick]

You could be right, because I think The Ring compiled another ranking since then...But in their 80th anniversary issue which came out in 2002, they compiled a ranking of the best 80 fighters over that time span, and they had Jones slotted in the 44th spot in that ranking.

Yeah, someone recently posted Ring's all time pound for pound rankings. It was fairly recent, if I recall correctly.