Why didn't Dariusz Michalczewski & RJJ ever fight?

[Spray_resistant]

Cutting muscle is easy? That's interesting. Sure seems like it takes something away from boxers when they do it. Oscar De La Hoya was a shell of himself when he did it. So was Chris Byrd. So was Roy Jones.

I personally believe the weight loss was secondary to his rapid aging, which no one seemed to notice. And whatever he had left was beaten out of him in that first Tarver fight.

It wasn't alot of weight to begin with, Roy isn't normally 175lbs so take that away from what he normally cuts to make 175 and what did he put on maybe 8 or 9lbs of muscle?

You have to eat to build muscle that is beyond what you would naturally have if you reduce that calorie surplus you created your body will go back to what you were meant to be at for the frame you have.....its pretty easy and actually much much harder to keep all of that excess muscle on.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

He wasn't in any way connected though. The names for BALCO came out.

Yeah because they were the only ones who were dirty.

[Vasyl’s dad]

No... Don't even go there

Who would have won Tyson Douglas if it never happened?

[IMDAZED]

Yeah because they were the only ones who were dirty.

From Balco? Yes. Since the records were released.

[IMDAZED]

It wasn't alot of weight to begin with, Roy isn't normally 175lbs so take that away from what he normally cuts to make 175 and what did he put on maybe 8 or 9lbs of muscle?

You have to eat to build muscle that is beyond what you would naturally have if you reduce that calorie surplus you created your body will go back to what you were meant to be at for the frame you have.....its pretty easy and actually much much harder to keep all of that excess muscle on.

Doesn't matter much to me. To me, not the primary reason for his loss at all.

[Spray_resistant]

Doesn't matter much to me. To me, not the primary reason for his loss at all.

Me neither, I think he got a bit older speed/reflexes are the first thing to go usually with older fighters and he was up against a very good and determined challenger then got caught clean right on the button....it happens.

[IMDAZED]

Me neither, I think he got a bit older speed/reflexes are the first thing to go usually with older fighters and he was up against a very good and determined challenger then got caught clean right on the button....it happens.

Yea he was 35. Had been fighting non-stop for 15 years professionally, longer really. And had been showing signs of slipping for years. As you said, it happens. Nothing to be ashamed of when it's preceded by a decade long run as the world's best.

[KiloTeague]

You're talking absolute ****e, mate. Jones stated time and time again that he wouldn't fight in Germany, stating it would take $20 - $25 million to get him to go over there


I've no idea what you're talking about with the bolded. You're talking about him walking around at a lower weight than his fight night weight, which is obviously complete bollocks. Jones consistently weighed over the 180 mark as a Light-Heavyweight.

On fight night for light heavy weight fights, he came in 2-3 pounds under 175 consistently.

[MikeTapia]

Wow! So much false information that thread. Some of you guys probably weren't already into boxing during Michalczewski's prime or career.

First of all you got to understand that Michalczewski was a superstar in Germany. He was way bigger then Huck, Abraham or Sturm today. I won't say he was that big as the Klitschkos today, but he came close. Actually they used to fight on his undercards.

When Michalczewski fought Virgil Hill 1997 - that was THE fight at LHW at that time. Hill had around 20 title defenses and was regarded as THE man at LHW after beating Maske. At that time Michalczewski was regarded as a paper champion by the media until he has beaten Hill clearly. He was THE man after that. Jones had one fight at LHW at that point. He won the title against the 42 year old McCallum (who was a great fighter in his prime but way over the hill when he fought Jones). So don't twist things up here. Michalczewski has just unified the titles and made big money in Germany. Why should he fight Jones in the USA at that point? He was the main attraction in the division at that point.

From there on Michalczewski called Jones out after almost every time they fought. They even showed Jones vs. Hill in Germany because they wanted to build up that fight. But here comes the thing: Back then there was no twitter, no facebook, no youtube and all that ****. You can't compare the time with today. Michalczewski said on German television and to newspaper all the time that he wants to fight Roy Jones, but those "call outs" didn't make to much noise in the USA and Klaupe Kohl (Boss of Universum) probably never really made contact with Jones to make the fight. Michalczewski was his cash cow and he made good money with him in Germany.

Jones at that time fought for the titles Michalczwski had vacated. I don't know if it was the IBF or the WBA, but they asked Michalczewski to make a defense within 45 days after winning the title from Hill. Of course that was not enough time and he vacated the title.

Jones never called out Michalczewski until 2002. Up to that point fans got tired of seeing him fight guys like Frazier, Hall and Kelly. Jones made around 3 million dollar a fight from his HBO contract. Some fans were really angry and and called out the "Roycott". At that point HBO started to push for Michalczewski vs. RJJ. They even handed out banners to the fans before the Kelly fight ("Dariusz you're next!"). I think it was after the Kelly fight were Jones officially called out Michalczewski. He said something like "Tell him I want to fight him. Tell him that I ask for that fight.". Michalczewski was way over the hill at that point. He had a very short prime because of his lifestyle. He loved to party, to **** women and just be a playboy. Shortly after Jones called him he went to war with Hall and lost to Gonzalez. At that point he would have lost badley to Jones.

Michalczewski once said: "The are no dream fights. The are only dream purses."

Michalczewski was all business. He was scared of nobody, but money was his main focus. After Brewster knocked out Wladimir Klitschko Michalczewski was very serious about challenging Brewster for the heavyweight crown. Of course Kohl didn't allowed that to happen. He had to protect Michalczewski.

A RJJ vs. Michalczewski fight was never realistic because of the money. Those two guys had very big egos. Michalczewski was a real champ and a superstar in Europe. Of course he wasn't willing to fight on an Jones undercard for peanuts. The Telesco fight didn't happen because Telesco asked for 1.5 million dollars which was ridiculous at that point.

The numbers you guys are talking about are also wrong. Somebody wrote that Kohl offered Jones 5 Million dollars for a fight in Germany and Michalczewski would have made 8 million dollars. That's absolutely unlreastic. No way in hell these numbers are realistic or true at all. You simply can't generate that much money with a fight in Germany. There's no PPV in Germany.

When they asked Michalczewski about how much did he expect to make against Jones he said: "10 million dollars for both guys. That's realistic.". But it wasn't realistic at all. If they would have fought in the USA no way Jones would accept a 50:50 split. And even if he did both guys would make maybe 3 millions at most, because Michalczewski was unknown in the USA and no PPV-fighter. And if they would have fought in Germany both guys would've made the same money at most. This fight wasn't about money - it was about legacy. And both guys cared about money more. That's why it never happened. And of story.

[richardt]

You're talking absolute ****e, mate. Jones stated time and time again that he wouldn't fight in Germany, stating it would take $20 - $25 million to get him to go over there. I've no idea what you're talking about with the bolded. You're talking about him walking around at a lower weight than his fight night weight, which is obviously complete bollocks. Jones consistently weighed over the 180 mark as a Light-Heavyweight.

STOP WITH THE BULLSHT!!!!!!!!!!!! I followed EVERY single article and every single bit of information for years regarding this! Jones NEVER asked for 20 -25 million, that is CRAP you are pulling out of your ass! And I said that Jones weighed in for the Ruiz fight at 193 and weighed between 198 and 199. Go watch Beyond the Glory, that is where it indicates Jones weight when he went in the ring. This has nothing to do with Jones typical Lightheavyweight walk around weight, he was in a different training reg with a different body type.