When Roy Jones won the heavyweight title could he have beaten Mike Tyson at the time?

[Brother Jay]

Yeah and there's also a reason why he wanted the Tyson fight right after that.

Tyson was shot to bits. Jones could of beat him, with ease. Jones avoided Lennox like the plague.

Jones tried to get Lennox Lewis. What are you talking about? Lewis said that he had everything to lose and nothing to gain in a match like that and it didn't make good business sense.

Lewis said it. Steward said it as well on HBO. How you came up with what you wrote is beyond me.

Umm no homie. Jones did not want any part of Tyson at the time. That's why when there was talks about the fight jones said he wanted a 100 million dollars for the fight

Jones explanation for asking for $100 million was that the money was there. It would have been the biggest PPV event of all time. If the boxers pocketed the lion's share of the the gate, the PPV as well as their purses Jones' argued that that kind of money would be there. He didn't play a tough guy. He admitted that he felt that the threat of a Tyson was more dangerous for him than a Lewis. Even at THAT stage.

Better than B-Hop?

Absolutely better than BHOP. BHOP's career didn't even begin to blossom until he faced Jermain Taylor. Beating blown up WW held no greatness for that man's career much in the same way Lennox Lewis knew that a win over Roy Jones would hold no greatness for his own career. BHOP hadn't faced a champion in his career from 1988-2001. Keith Holmes was the first champion that BHOP faced in his entire career.

Its just that casual boxing fans don't know or care about things like that. They just throw around terms like "great", "greatest", "P4P" and "ATF". Nobody bothers to investigate a claim like that. They just take commentators' word for it. They listen to magazine writers opinions, even though the writers are just as biased as commentators. They too get paid by the powers that be in the boxing industry. The Ring is owned by Oscar DelaHoya, but most peasants don't even have a clue.

I digress.

After Jones defeated Hopkins, Hopkins stayed at MW and fought for the belt RJJ vacated and got a draw. Jones went up to SMW, fought and dominated the P4P#1 fighter in the world. Hopkins then fought Mercado again for the same vacant title. This time Hopkins won.

Hopkins stayed at MW and defended his lone vacant IBF title up until 2001. The interesting fun fact is that Hopkins avoided every champion at MW from the beginning. Hopkins hadn't competed against a world champion until he fought Keith Holmes in 2001. Jones had become the SMW champion, then moved up and become the ltHW champion. Then Jones unified the 175lb division on belt at a time.

In 2003 Roy Jones became the first man in 100 years to be a MW and win a HW title. In 2004, BHOP fought and beat DLH.

There's a HUGE difference in their careers. The only difference between the two is that Jones got older quicker. That won't have any impact on his legacy though. Most of the old guys stayed around too long. Jones won't be any different.

I've give BHOP credit as making power moves since 2005, but from 1988-2001 he basically hid out at MW where there was no one there. He didn't unify the division until 13 years later, and then he let the momentum his career had gained from that achievement waste away until 2005.

IMO, Hopkins career didn't really begin until 2005. He came alive like a young, hungry fighter. I've always known he had the goods, but for 17 years he didn't show the heart.

Its amazing that he's taken charge of his legacy so late in the game with this kind of success. That doesn't make what he's done any greater just because he was over 40 when he did it. No one made him squander his prime years. He has himself to blame for that.

Being over 40 just gives his list accomplishments another wrinkle to acknowledge.

As far as Tyson vs Jones at that point, Jones wins hands down. Tyson was too deteriorated. A puncher's chance doesn't mean that Jones would have even come close to losing ... and all Tyson had going for him at that point was punching power.

[The_Demon]

I think Jones would have been knocked out,he wasnt as hard too hit as people make out

[Las Vegas,]

Jones tried to get Lennox Lewis. What are you talking about? Lewis said that he had everything to lose and nothing to gain in a match like that and it didn't make good business sense.

Lewis said it. Steward said it as well on HBO. How you came up with what you wrote is beyond me.

You're joking right? Jones not ONCE tried to get Lewis. Not once! Every time someone mentioned Lewis's name he never even gave a straight forward answer. He always said something like "Oh I don't wanna talk about that right now" or "Oh right now I don't talk because it costs too much money to talk I'm the heavyweight champ" and this was all AFTER he beat Ruiz. Roy wanted no piece of Lewis at all.

[jtiger777]

tyson by ko!!!!!!!

[Brother Jay]

You're joking right? Jones not ONCE tried to get Lewis. Not once! Every time someone mentioned Lewis's name he never even gave a straight forward answer. He always said something like "Oh I don't wanna talk about that right now" or "Oh right now I don't talk because it costs too much money to talk I'm the heavyweight champ" and this was all AFTER he beat Ruiz. Roy wanted no piece of Lewis at all.

So Lennox Lewis lied then?

Because he sure came on and explained why he wouldn't even consider that fight.

Question: Were you surprised when Roy Jones, Jr. said he wanted to fight you?

Lewis: I was a bit surprised, but Jones is a remarkable boxer with tremendous talent. He believes he is the best heavyweight on the planet right now. When he went through a little rating system, he put me third, himself first and Holyfield second.
If he wants to be a true heavyweight, forget about Holyfield. Ruiz beat Holyfield and then Jones beat Ruiz easily. Why waste time and go with Holyfield? If he wants to be a true heavyweight, come to me. I am the king.

http://www.east side boxing.com/boxing-news/Lennox-Lewis-Interview.php

Just get rid of the spaces to follow the link.

In the end, I remember both Lewis and Steward stating that Jones had everything to gain and Lewis had everything to lose. So you can go by your version of revisionist history. I'll continue to go by what really happened.

Ruiz wasn't Jones first choice. I'm not concerned with how any of you remember it, but Ruiz was not the first choice.

And despite what some of you say, Jones made it clear from the beginning that he was NOT trying to campaign as a true HW. That's why Lewis began saying that bull****. No one ever thought that Jones would ever secure a fight with a HW champion let alone win the match.

Everything after that was just talk and posturing. After defeating Ruiz, Jones went back down to 175 and that was the end of his foray into the HW division.

You can cut out the "he never tried to make the Lewis fight" clown act. Lewis wouldn't have felt it necessary to say that he stood to lose everything and Jones stood to lose nothing if Jones had NEVER tried to make it happen.