The greatest fighter of our generation

[Santa_]

A generation is 25 years.

Roy Jones Jr is clearly the best fighter of the last 25 years.

[meme_man]

Tarver lost the first fight and there really isnt any debate, it was close yes but he didnt win for *** sake. How many times has Tarver been popped for doping you dumb twat.

I came back here to say that I dont have anything in the world against Floyd, this dude is is the best business man we have ever seen in boxing. That being said he isnt in the same league as Roy when it comes to pure talent. Roy would have beat the brakes off Floyd in the ring but Roy could have never pulled off the money grab Floyd did.

So Roy never got caught for doping???????

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Respectfully, you appear to be conflating 'resume' with 'recognition'. I'm not dis*****g whether Toney had the better resume at the time they fought. I'm dis*****g the notion that RJJ was just someone known to hardcore boxing fans only at the time.

RJJ was THE crown ***el of the 88 Olympic Team at a time when that was still the primary launching point for a boxer's career and the main introduction of a fighter to the public. Everybody on the planet, including casuals, knew his name based on his performance and that robbery. If you weren't around then, it's hard to explain just how big that story was, even outside of boxing circles.

RJJ was already being talked about as the 'next big thing' in boxing and outside of it before the Toney fight, in the vein of a Sugar Ray Leonard combo type of skill, power, flash, in-ring charisma, looks and 'marketability'.

Hell, I saw the RJJ/Hopkins fight with my girlfriend and her aunt because they wanted to see the 'cute dude' fight. Gave no fucxs about the Bowe fight that night.

Again, I'm not dis*****g that the Toney performance launched RJJ into another stratosphere. But it was more like the Mayweather Corrales fight: the fulfillment of expected promise of a fighter people already knew rather that some 'who's-that-guy' deal. Everybody, including casuals, knew RJJ had 'supernova' potential from day 1.

For all of Toney's accomplishments, it's no accident that RJJ was (IIRC) his first PPV. (FYI - Toney was ranked p4p #2 going into that fight. RJJ was #3. )

roy had like 4 appearances on hbo,,, he was like how Andrade or charo brothers are now.. Been televised but not a star or well known...

Yes roy had a lot of recognition coming out of 88 Olympics but all that was wasted by his dad and all the bums he had roy face from 89-92..

Toney was the A-side when they fought

[Sweet Jones]

roy had like 4 appearances on hbo,,, he was like how Andrade or charo brothers are now.. Been televised but not a star or well known...

Yes roy had a lot of recognition coming out of 88 Olympics but all that was wasted by his dad and all the bums he had roy face from 89-92..

Toney was the A-side when they fought

Wow.

With a statement like this, it is obvious that you are, again respectfully, in all likelihood too young to remember that timeframe. To compare the 'name recognition' of Roy Jones amongst casuals going into the Toney fight to those dudes is silly. Come on.

Appearances on HBO were not a determination of whether casuals knew who fighters were. It was not uncommon to see big named contenders and young champions fighting on non-HBO channels.

Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, and for that matter most of the '84 Olypmic Team (Breland, Taylor, Tyrell Biggs, etc - CBS had Paul Gonzales IIRC) and young Mike Tyson was fighting on ABC Wide World of Sports long before getting on HBO. De La Hoya's first HBO fight was Paez (IIRC), but casuals knew who he was because of the Olympic hype and his other televised fights, including ESPN and CBS (John Avila).

You can't simply apply the last 10 years of HBO-defines-Boxing paradigm to the late 80s to mid 90s boxing landscape. A lot of those guys were known to casuals, ESPECIALLY Olympians, regardless of their count of HBO appearances.

RJJ was considered the 'Next' to carry that Sugar Ray Leonard torch, particularly after Nunn lost to Toney. He was always being groomed for stardom. Don't get it twisted, HBO was tickled pink that he whooped Toney. They knew who the 'star' was, regardless of who YOU think was the 'A-side'.

[Dosumpthin]

What?? Roy was hardly ever touched. Y'all musta forgot.

The guy was very defensive minded and called boring at the time, but if he wanted to he could certainly finish, switching instantly into offence from defence.

Casual spotted.

Roy Jones defensive minded? Hahaha ha. Wtf? Roy Jones was called boring at the time?

Foh

This has to be the ******est post on this forum.

Troll harder.

[Contra]

Lol Didnt Roy get caught using steroids?

Yeah, iirc it was after the Hall fight. They both pissed dirty.


But as to the OP's point, I will say this:


Roy looked great in his prime, and so did Floyd. P4p, it would've been close when they were 25-30 y.o.

After that, Floyd's phenomenal skills and dedication to the fundamentals of pugilism began to defy his age and define his legacy, and he surpassed Roy in the ranking of ATGs.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Wow.

With a statement like this, it is obvious that you are, again respectfully, in all likelihood too young to remember that timeframe. To compare the 'name recognition' of Roy Jones amongst casuals going into the Toney fight to those dudes is silly. Come on.

Appearances on HBO were not a determination of whether casuals knew who fighters were. It was not uncommon to see big named contenders and young champions fighting on non-HBO channels.

Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, and for that matter most of the '84 Olypmic Team (Breland, Taylor, Tyrell Biggs, etc - CBS had Paul Gonzales IIRC) and young Mike Tyson was fighting on ABC Wide World of Sports long before getting on HBO. De La Hoya's first HBO fight was Paez (IIRC), but casuals knew who he was because of the Olympic hype and his other televised fights, including ESPN and CBS (John Avila).

You can't simply apply the last 10 years of HBO-defines-Boxing paradigm to the late 80s to mid 90s boxing landscape. A lot of those guys were known to casuals, ESPECIALLY Olympians, regardless of their count of HBO appearances.

RJJ was considered the 'Next' to carry that Sugar Ray Leonard torch, particularly after Nunn lost to Toney. He was always being groomed for stardom. Don't get it twisted, HBO was tickled pink that he whooped Toney. They knew who the 'star' was, regardless of who YOU think was the 'A-side'.

Lmao... Roy was not a star to casual fans pre-toney. It's not even really debatable

[Sweet Jones]

Lmao... Roy was not a star to casual fans pre-toney. It's not even really debatable

Who said he was a 'star'? Strawman much?

The argument I've made it that he was 'known' to casual fans, and not just to boxing nerds. Not really sure what it is you are dis*****g here. And only someone who wasn't around during that time would even attempt to make the argument you are making.

But do you.

[pvj]

Statisicly it's Floyd hands down. I give floyd the edge as will history.

[BennyST]

And it started here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vdHJFJeijw

James Toney was a monster when this fight went down. Roy Jones was known only by some real hard core mfers. I was one of those hardcore mfers. Im going to be honest, Roy had knocked everyone out but one to this point. I thought if he dont get him Toney is going to walk him down. I watched a star born on this night, i saw a legend born. There will be many who disagree with me but I dont think there is any one who can beat Roy at his best. I truly think at his best there has never been any one who could beat him.

I mean anyone you can name from the beginning, Roy would make a fool out of them. P4P Roy makes them look dumb, there really is no argument.

Not that I disagree with your overall post, but Roy was much more known in general, and to casual boxing fans, than Toney ever was. Toney was the boxing nerd guy, while Roy had been looked upon as a huge future star since the Olympics gave him mass PR.

I remember that whole period very well, and Roy was without any doubt one of the biggest boxing stars of that time, despite his relative lack of experience and big fights.

Apart from having that bit ass backward, I would probably agree with nearly everything else.