What if Roy Jones Jr was in his prime now?

[therealpugilist]

Funny, I watched a couple of his fights yesterday, too, because of all the Olympic robberies leading me to his gold medal robbery. Roy was stunningly great. I've never seen anything like him. Because of his athleticism people completely overlook how great a counter puncher and body puncher he was. His timing was just as brilliant as his speed.

Also his defense was versatile and his sense of anticipation was uncanny....before he made a move, he knew what he could do to control you, land, be on the other side of the ring before you realize you got hit

anyone who says he was just super athletic dont know anything about boxing

a great understanding of timing, distance, and anticipation can overcome better technique or orthodox skills.


imo roy jones was the greatest counter puncher of all time...he literally had guys handcuffed if he didnt knock them out early he could coast to UD12

[Kigali]

Im watching some of Roy Jones Jr fights in his prime. Like im sure most of you I go on youtube and watch old fights all the time and I always end up watching Roy Jones jr fights. The reason I make this thread tho is in my opinion if Roy Jones Jr was in his prime now or even in the last 5 years or so that he would be the PPV king and even would have competed with Floyd for that spot. I think his appeal his style everything happened just a few years too early. Im not saying this because of the competition though now networks are good at propping up opponents making them seem better then they actually are.

Just curious what you guys think, would Roy be a bigger star if he was in his prime now rather then when he was? He was a big star in his own right but he was always second fiddle to others even though his talents were far more flashy and unmatched at times. I think he would of been a mega star and I think his character everything happened just a bit early. What do you guys think?

He'd be looking at multiple manslaughter charges for killing mofos in the ring.

[Motofan]

Roy had a lot of competition for being the biggest star during his dominant years. A lot of it came down to what the networks wanted to promote. They created the agenda all themselves. Plus, there really were a ton of big personalities and great fighters in boxing when he was prime. Today? He would stand alone. A brash, athletic freak of nature who knocked people out with highlight reel ko's and had a face you could put on a wheaties box? Plus, as others have pointed out, social media would help a guy with a real personality like Roy to get more exposure.

[Kigali]

I can't see Kovalev withstanding those bodyshots Jones used to dish out at 175. And Ward would still be asking if anyone got the license plate on the 18-wheeler.

Bodyshots would be the least of Kovalev's problems.

That leaping left hook would have in a coma.

[elgu]

Ward and Kovalev at 175 would be his biggest challenges, but he could easily win both those fights in a 9-3 fashion or by KO.

[robertzimmerman]

Im watching some of Roy Jones Jr fights in his prime. Like im sure most of you I go on youtube and watch old fights all the time and I always end up watching Roy Jones jr fights. The reason I make this thread tho is in my opinion if Roy Jones Jr was in his prime now or even in the last 5 years or so that he would be the PPV king and even would have competed with Floyd for that spot. I think his appeal his style everything happened just a few years too early. Im not saying this because of the competition though now networks are good at propping up opponents making them seem better then they actually are.

Just curious what you guys think, would Roy be a bigger star if he was in his prime now rather then when he was? He was a big star in his own right but he was always second fiddle to others even though his talents were far more flashy and unmatched at times. I think he would of been a mega star and I think his character everything happened just a bit early. What do you guys think?

Roy was never media friendly in his prime and he felt underappreciated. But if he was around today, he would be a superstar due to the social media society that we live in. Every online forum etc would have daily threads analysing his fights and his attributes.

Imagine his fight against Glen Kelly where he knocked him out after having both of his hands behind his back. Today, that would have gone around the world on Twitter and Facebook etc, and the casual fans would have gone crazy. Imagine his ring entrance against Clinton Woods. Roy would be on the lips of every boxing fan all throughout the world. He would be huge.

[Fists_of_Fury]

It would be now how it was for him then. Roy had loads of haters. He was a ducker. He was boring. He was scared to do this or do that. His best win came against someone weight drained. Blah blah. Sound familiar? There was even a Roycott for his fights and the media loved to blast him. Yup. Deja vu.

^^^This. If Roy would sign to a network he'd be ducking the top fighter of his weight class signed to the opposing network. The VADA and USADA testing would be brought up with Roy too... he did use a supplement that was only banned by the IBF before. I almost think he would have more haters than he did before... but he'd have more fans too.

[KillaCamNZ]

Usually, I'm very skeptical when it comes to comparing fighters of a past era (yes, RJJ may be active but he's not relevant today) to the current era. We look back on fighters with fondness, criticisms fade, and in doing so, our judgement is often clouded.

However, I have zero doubt that RJJ would be P4P #1 in the game right now. He was that damn good, he was marketable at a time where he fought with so many other superstars for the limelight, and social media would be a huge boost to someone with the attitude and presentation as he had.

He deserves to be remembered for being an all time great.

[KeyboardWarrior]

I'd like to see him take on Julio Cesar La Cruz

[Achille]

If RJJ was in his prime now he definitely would be pound 4 pound number #1 and he would be getting the money he deserves because he actually took real risk moving up to actually fight bigger guys.

Too bad after the Ruiz fight he didn't fight Tarver at CW and not go back down to LHW that weight drop is what done him in. Was never same after that.