Was roy jones a paper champ?

[Soundtraveler]

Jones made whipping Gonzales look like childsplay, but what happened when DM faced Gonzales? Gonzales defeated DM.

Jones defeated Hopkins and Toney, who are two of the best out there, Darius would have lost to both Hopkins and Toney.

[Soundtraveler]

You said he had homecourt advantage throughout his career even though he fought in Germany and he was Polish.

DM is a big name in Germany to be certain, and he is a fan favorite there - but everybody knows you have to KO a fighter just to get a draw in Germany if you are from the United States.

I offer an example: Gonzales fought Darius in Germany, and was winning the fight going away - it wasn't even close, still, the German judge had DM winning it 115-113 !! Thank goodness for the Canadian judge and the American judge scoring it 116-112 for Gonzales, which was the right score for the fight.

Darius refused to fight in the United States, and everyone knows if you want the money and the belts - you have to go where the Champion is which was Jones, the WBO belt which DM held is basically the "Eurobelt" and even Wlad and Vitali knew this and knew it wasn't highly regarded by anyone in the boxing community, that's why they came to the U.S. - for the money and a shot at the more highly regarded belts. If they could do it, then why not Darius?!
The answer is simple - DM didn't want any part of Jones....

[freirui]

roy jones was a paper champ.

[KJ]

And DM had the Lineal, IBF, WBA, and WBO titles at light heavyweight and the WBO at cruiserweight. And he should have had the WBC at light heavyweight had the WBC not stolen the belt from Rocchiagini and given it to RJJ.

Roy Jones WON the WBC title against Mike McCallum before it was vacanted to reach the hands of Rocchiagini. The title was stripped long before Rocchiagini fought Michalczewski.

Michalczewski dropped the IBF belt when he did not want to face William Guthrie. Roy got this belt by beating Reggie Johnson (who won it against Guthrie).

Michalczewski was stripped of the WBA belt. Jones WON this WBA Light Heavyweight belt against Lou Del Valle, who got the vacant WBA Light Heavyweight Title by beating Fast Eddy Smulders.

[DR. FREECLOUD]

i can't believe this as come up again. i guess its valid though. seems there are alot of mixed feelings. personally i think jones was just above average. none of jones pre-tarver, pre-johnson opponents kept the pressure coming when jones was pitter patting with amazing speed. they were just freaked out becaquse they had no clue the punches were coming til after the fact. tarver and jones made thier success not off of a shot out roy jones but off of pure aggression. i don't care how fast you are, you can't run from someone in the ring when they are coming at you the way johnson was. ok so maybe the tarver fight was a lucky shot. i do believe that the first ko had an effect on jones mentally. however i still hold my stance on the fact that i always said that if someone kept the pressure on jones he would go down. way before tarver ko'd him. i never understood why fighters would be so afraid of jones. if you wait on jones you are already beaten. if you don't give jones the chance to set up and slip and slide from your punches you have it made.

[puppy_dogg]

johnson was not the first guy to pressure on jones. bryant brannon put a hell of alot more pressure on him and he got ktfo in the second round, but that was prime roy jones. i take nothing away from tarver's victory but i think jones had already lost a step for the second tarver fight. johnson's face first style would have got him torn apart by a prime roy.

[marvdave]

I hesitate to get involved with this debate becuase it's like talking about Wlad..deep emotion and bias on both sides.

Roy Jones was not a paper champ period imo. He fought many great fighters and alot of bums as well. All or most champs have there own version of "bum of the month club"

Roy Jones rarely got hit and rarely lost rounds in his "prime". To say his career is not great becuase he didn't fight DM is a bit far fetched. His skill is unquestioned. I would agree he hurt himself with self promotion and ego. The first thing to go in a fighter is reflexes and speed. Thats why Jones lost to Tarver and Johnson. He could no longer avoid shots. It's not becuase someone finally tried to push him. Everyone tried before, they just couldn't find him and Jones would pepper them with 5 shots before they could get inside.

Nobody was happier than me when Jones got nailed by Tarver. I personally think he is a pompous ass. That doesn't take away from the fact that he was an incredible fighter.

[fist-of-fury]

Absolutely not! He may have been overrated or overhyped, but he he was one of the better fighters of this era and had glorious moments in the ring.

But he should know when to hang his gloves and call it a day. He should think twice before doing a Holyfield!

[DR. FREECLOUD]

johnson was not the first guy to pressure on jones. bryant brannon put a hell of alot more pressure on him and he got ktfo in the second round, but that was prime roy jones. i take nothing away from tarver's victory but i think jones had already lost a step for the second tarver fight. johnson's face first style would have got him torn apart by a prime roy.

ahh yes...but johnson was landing shots and was not stopping when jones threw shots. jones shots were not effecting johnson. did bryant brannon keep the punches coming without stopping when jones would flurry? did he land clean hard shots like johnson?

[Neuraxis]

Jones made whipping Gonzales look like childsplay, but what happened when DM faced Gonzales? Gonzales defeated DM.

Jones defeated Hopkins and Toney, who are two of the best out there, Darius would have lost to both Hopkins and Toney.

Gonzalez beat Johnson, and Johnson defeated RJJ.