Did Roy Jones start losing at LHW when his competition stepped up?

[Frank Ducketts]

Anybody who watched the first Tarver fight could tell Roy had slipped badly unless they were completely fooling themselves. His reflexes were damn near gone. Whether that was from coming back down from Heavy or it was from age is immaterial. When your reflexes start to slide you're past it, when they're practically gone you're shot. And that's the bottom-line.

Poet

Everyone knew and Jones even told us that coming back to 175 was draining him. Jones was not considered shot though. Not at that time. The Johnson fight showed us that Jones was shot. You can still be good and be past your prime.

[PeacefulFury]

Anybody who watched the first Tarver fight could tell Roy had slipped badly unless they were completely fooling themselves. His reflexes were damn near gone. Whether that was from coming back down from Heavy or it was from age is immaterial. When your reflexes start to slide you're past it, when they're practically gone you're shot. And that's the bottom-line.

Poet

This is very true.

Just look at Mayweather-Cotto this past week. Floyd is also at the magic number, 35 years old. And during the fight, you could clearly see Floyd taking punches he usually doesn't take. In one instance, Floyd stopped and nodded to Cotto like, "yeah, you got me"....

Roy was clearly done.

I wonder what the casual fan, or Roy's legacy, would look like today if he retired after Tarver I

[THE REED]

When you say " thats what people will remember" then you must be talking about casual fans whether you said it or not. Because people who KNOW boxing, and not just the last decade, sure as hell wont just remember Tarver koing Roy... Sure theyll remember it, but not that point being the highlight of his career.

And no, there isnt.

[PeacefulFury]

also a big question mark in the career of roy jones jr. in his peak...how much, is roy jones responsible for, in regards to not making fights with the likes of nigel benn, chris eubank, darius michelczewski, prime joe calzaghe, or the non u.s. champs, when all roads, led to roy jones in the united states, at the peak of his career....one thing is for certain...roy jones career, remains one of the great enigmas, in modern boxing...

I'll copy paste something I wrote earlier in the thread :

1) Michaelczwski did claim Roy was ducking him. Except for the fact that Roy Jones Jr told him that he would fight him ANYWHERE BUT GERMANY. Roy had been robbed of Gold in the Olympics, so hey, that's what he wants. Why would anyone want to fight in Germany especially after the Reid vs Ottke debacle?

and don't forget...Roy was the CHAMPION. Who is he to tell Roy we fight in Germany or we don't fight at all....

2) Eubanks?? When Roy moved up to 168, Eubanks had suffered TWO losses to Steve Collins... there was no demand for this fight.

3) Nunn?? Once again, by the time Roy moved up to Super Middleweight, Nunn suffered a few losses. And on top of this, Jones fought a man who beat Nunn in James Toney around that time.

4) Hopkins... Roy already beat Hopkins decisively in Hopkins prime. Roy won the fight 10 rounds to 2, those 2 rounds going to Hopkins in the 11th and 12th round only because Roy began to coast and rest a little bit at the end. Not sure why you are claiming this is "ducking" when Roy already dismantled him.

I'll give you Collins.

[Frank Ducketts]

When you say " thats what people will remember" then you must be talking about casual fans whether you said it or not. Because people who KNOW boxing, and not just the last decade, sure as hell wont just remember Tarver koing Roy... Sure theyll remember it, but not that point being the highlight of his career.

And no, there isnt.

If I'm telling you that when I mentioned people, and I didnt mean 'casual fan', then why would you say that I MUST be talking about the casual fan?

People, the way I'm using the word....is people in the know of the sport. Second, I never said that people will only remember the Tarver ko. I was, and always will be a Jones fan, remember that. I've argued with Joness worst critics like you have when it came to their cheap outlook on Joness career.

[!! Shawn]

He saw them coming in, but that reflexive pull back and shoot to hit wasnt as efficient as he was used to it being...

Yep, there was that one moment were he was in the center of the ring and at that stiff jab, and you could just see him think to himself, that shouldn't happen....

[Frank Ducketts]

I'll copy paste something I wrote earlier in the thread :

1) Michaelczwski did claim Roy was ducking him. Except for the fact that Roy Jones Jr told him that he would fight him ANYWHERE BUT GERMANY. Roy had been robbed of Gold in the Olympics, so hey, that's what he wants. Why would anyone want to fight in Germany especially after the Reid vs Ottke debacle?

and don't forget...Roy was the CHAMPION. Who is he to tell Roy we fight in Germany or we don't fight at all....

2) Eubanks?? When Roy moved up to 168, Eubanks had suffered TWO losses to Steve Collins... there was no demand for this fight.

3) Nunn?? Once again, by the time Roy moved up to Super Middleweight, Nunn suffered a few losses. And on top of this, Jones fought a man who beat Nunn in James Toney around that time.

4) Hopkins... Roy already beat Hopkins decisively in Hopkins prime. Roy won the fight 10 rounds to 2, those 2 rounds going to Hopkins in the 11th and 12th round only because Roy began to coast and rest a little bit at the end. Not sure why you are claiming this is "ducking" when Roy already dismantled him.

I'll give you Collins.

To duck a man is to have supposedly fought him, but clearly avoided him ala Lewis/Bowe.

[Mr. Invincible]

Did Roy Jones start losing at LHW when his competition stepped up?
Looking at Jones big LHW names and match ups (only LHW)

McCallum - had recently been beaten by Tiozzo
Griffin - was a novice with no great LHW wins. Dont say Toney who had a terrible SMW and LHW resume and did nothing at LHW
Hill - was coming off a loss to Michalczewski

Tarver - was on a good run and pushed Jones then beat him in the rematch
Johnson - Was on a good run and beat Jones
Tarver - beats Jones again
But Jones then has a run of 3 convincing wins against similar opposition to the Fraziers, Kellys etc and looks just as good.
Calzaghe - On a good run schools Jones
Then Jones has 2 fights at his old level and looked as good as before
Hopkins - now LHW champ beats Jones when he stepped up again

So was Jones a great LHW and just got old, or was he never a great LHW and just exposed when he stepped up

Discuss

**** no!!!!!!!!! He beat Tarver in the first fight when it was clear that he just wasn't himself after dropping from heavyweight.

The rest is history.

Had Jones stayed down at LHW, fought Tarver then, etc. We would have never seen him lose to the likes of Tarver, Green, Johnson and Calzaghe. Hopkins would have never touched Roy prior to the move to heavyweight.

The irony is that in order to make history, Roy essentially ended his own career and lost his place in the top ten ATG's.

It's a shame but I will always be a Jones fan to the core. No body could match him at his best.

[Mr. Invincible]

Interesting post, however it's important to note that Tarver was a serious step up in class from the opposition Jones had been facing previously, and Jones was able to win a close decision, I don't think he was past it at that point. Then Tarver got to him in the rematch. Jones was ranked P4P number 1 when Tarver beat him. Also Jones was on winning streaks when he fought Calzaghe and Hopkins

This post shows that you're a moron. I'm done responding to you.

[PeacefulFury]

I think the reign of terror he put on for over a decade is enough to keep Roy in the top 10 ATG. He was named Fighter of the Decade... that by itself makes him a top 10 fighter of the past 100 years...