Why didn't Roy Jones clean out the HW division after beating Ruiz?

[-Kev-]

Roy was looking for a HW he could beat. The only reason Roy moved up to HW was because Ruiz had a title. He was never serious about taking on someone like Lennox Lewis.

I know he was half serious about facing Tyson. I would've loved to see Roy vs Tyson back in 2003-04. Roy really messed up his career and hurt his legacy after his win over Ruiz.

Even against a way past it Tyson, that would have been dangerous, because Roy himself was past prime already in 2003 going to 2004. Hell, it could have been Tyson who Tarvered Jones had they fought. But getting KO'ed by Tyson would have been much more respectable.

[boliodogs]

Because Jones, a natural light heavyweight was not able to beat all the heavyweights. Ruiz was hand picked because he was not very good and quite slow making him a perfect heavyweight for Jones to defeat. It was a stunt for Jones to brag he beat a heavyweight champion. Lewis would have crushed Jones and Jones knew it and never asked to fight Lennox Lewis. Lewis had way to much size, speed and power for any light heavyweight.

[young_robbed]

Even against a way past it Tyson, that would have been dangerous, because Roy himself was past prime already in 2003 going to 2004. Hell, it could have been Tyson who Tarvered Jones had they fought. But getting KO'ed by Tyson would have been much more respectable.

Still would be a pretty bad defeat given how far gone Tyson was also. But it would have been acceptable.

[VatoMulatto]

Even against a way past it Tyson, that would have been dangerous, because Roy himself was past prime already in 2003 going to 2004. Hell, it could have been Tyson who Tarvered Jones had they fought. But getting KO'ed by Tyson would have been much more respectable.

Step into the ring with Tyson is always dangerous but back in 2003 after his win over Ruiz none of us knew or felt Roy was past his prime. He was on top of the world after that performance against Ruiz, P4P number one and everybody wanted to see him stay at HW. At that time a lot of people favored Jones to beat Tyson or at least gave him a very good chance to beat him.

I agree had Tyson knocked him the fluck out it wouldn't be a big deal, it's Tyson after all.

[PeasantCrusha]

Roy was looking for a HW he could beat. The only reason Roy moved up to HW was because Ruiz had a title. He was never serious about taking on someone like Lennox Lewis.

I know he was half serious about facing Tyson. I would've loved to see Roy vs Tyson back in 2003-04. Roy really messed up his career and hurt his legacy after his win over Ruiz.

Yeah, had he left the sport then or NOT have chosen to put his body through that HW experience in the first place, he may not have been KO'd by Tarver that night. I recall watching that fight and saying WTF just happened?! Roy was having convulsions... Not OK.

[-Kev-]

Step into the ring with Tyson is always dangerous but back in 2003 after his win over Ruiz none of us knew or felt Roy was past his prime. He was on top of the world after that performance against Ruiz, P4P number one and everybody wanted to see him stay at HW. At that time a lot of people favored Jones to beat Tyson or at least gave him a very good chance to beat him.

I agree had Tyson knocked him the fluck out it wouldn't be a big deal, it's Tyson after all.

He showed he was past his best form in the Gonzalez fight. Although Gonzalez was a very good fighter who also beat Glen Johnson and Dariusz Michaelwichdfdsjfd after being beaten by Roy, it was the fight that Roy started to lean on the ropes more and stopped moving around so much. Rewatch Jones-Gonzalez and watch him become more lazy with his movement. JSG gave him a tough fight even though Jones won clearly. Roy was a 90s fighter, so it's okay that he became past his best in 2003-2004 at mid 30s, it's pretty normal.

[BTL]

He did the right thing by vacating it.

[ИATAS]

Because it was a one time thing. He knew he couldn't go against the likes of Lennox Lewis. He immediately dropped the belt and moved back to 175, like a good boy. 7 months later he fought Tarver and won a disputed decision. Then fought him again 6 months later (14 months after the Ruiz fight) and got KTFO. He just got old is all, reflexes weren't the same at 35.

[Robbie Barrett]

Jones didn't clean out any division he fought in.

[VatoMulatto]

He showed he was past his best form in the Gonzalez fight. Although Gonzalez was a very good fighter who also beat Glen Johnson and Dariusz Michaelwichdfdsjfd after being beaten by Roy, it was the fight that Roy started to lean on the ropes more and stopped moving around so much. Rewatch Jones-Gonzalez and watch him become more lazy with his movement. JSG gave him a tough fight even though Jones won clearly. Roy was a 90s fighter, so it's okay that he became past his best in 2003-2004 at mid 30s, it's pretty normal.

You could be right but looking back now we can always see when he started to slip a little bit but during that time he was never considered to be past his prime. I mean he was playing with Gonzalez winning every round and those super fast hands that dropped Gonzalez I think it was three times were something else.