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Okay.
First off, Chris Eubank has admitted that he was never interested in facing the biggest U.S. stars of the 90's, such as: Roy, Toney and Nunn etc. He was more than content to just defend his WBO belt in the U.K. on Sky Sports and ITV. He said that he would only have fought those guys had they have become his WBO mandatories. He also said that fighting Roy in his prime, would have been suicide. So if you take into account his comments and you look at their timelines, you'll see that a fight between them was never viable.
Nigel Benn genuinely wanted to fight Roy in 1995. But the fight was extremely difficult to make, as Roy's handlers, the Levin Brothers, couldn't reach a compromise with Don King. According to Roy, Don wanted future options that they wouldn't agree to.
Michael Nunn became Roy's mandatory at LHW in 1997. Although he was faded, I think it would still have been an interesting fight. I always felt that Roy should have fought him. But to be fair to Roy, when he relinquished his belt, he had signed to fight James Douglas at HW for $6m. As we know, Roy's father blocked it at the last minute citing that Douglas was too big. So he wouldn't let him go through with it, and in stepping in, it was the first time the pair had spoken properly to each other for 6 years. Afterwards, Roy then approached Evander Holyfield who was obviously a smaller HW. But Evander respectfully turned down the proposal, as at the time, he felt he was in a no-win situation. So Roy ended up fighting Virgil Hill at a CW. Although Roy pursued those HW fights, a lot of people think he relinquished his belt because he feared Nunn. And whilst I can respect their opinions, I don't happen to believe it. The reason being, because I know Roy tried to fight Frankie Liles the previous year, and I know he went on to face the likes of Tarver later. So in my opinion, that theory is illogical.
Steve Collins was a warrior, and like Benn, he genuinely wanted to fight Roy. And because of that, I've got enormous respect for both of them. But unfortunately, Collins was bypassed on 2 occasions. Once in 1996, and once in 1999.
1996:
In 1996, Roy decided to move up to LHW, as he couldn't unify with Benn/Nardiello and Liles. So Collins was left behind to defend his lightly regarded belt against faded versions of Benn.
1999:
After Roy had beaten his lightly regarded mandatory, Ricky Frazier, Collins famously got into the ring and challenged Roy in his post-fight press conference. But HBO weren't interested in the fight, as Collins hadn't fought for 2 years and he'd never fought at LHW before. They instead wanted Roy to fight Reggie Johnson (who'd beaten Collins 8 years earlier) to unify the division. And that's what Roy ended up doing.
Julian Jackson wanted to fight Roy in the early 90's at MW. But Roy's father wouldn't allow it as he'd wrapped him in cotton wool. By the time Roy had split with his father, signed for HBO, and had beaten Hopkins for the IBF title, Jackson had been taken out by McClellan. At that point, Roy wanted a huge fight for big money. So after only a single defence of his title against Thomas Tate, he moved up to fight Toney at SMW.
Regarding Dariusz, yes, Roy didn't want to go to Germany. But that was because at the time: he was considered the best fighter on the planet, he'd got all 3 of the major belts around his waist, he'd been robbed in the 88 Olympics, and he'd seen Dariusz feign injury to get Graciano Rochigianni disqualified. The reason why he now travels, is because obviously his circumstances have drastically changed. He's no longer 'The Man' with all of the belts. He no longer fights on HBO. He's now the challenger instead of the champion. All of which means that he now has to make concessions that he didn't need to when he was at the top.
I would have loved to have seen these fights along with everyone else. They would have been great. And it's a real shame they didn't happen. But there's always reasons/circumstances as to why they didn't happen. Without knowing the circumstances, it's unfair to say that Roy avoided these fighters. Unfortunately, every fighter has gaps in their resumes. But boxing politics rob us fans of great fights every year. There's: rival promoters, rival networks, rival organisations, along with the huge egos of the fighters.Last edited by robertzimmerman; 01-05-2017, 09:20 PM.Comment
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Unwilling to travel hence Unwilling to take risk.
As a poster above said fighting good fighters like Tarver and Glen aren't risks. It's expected that a champion fight good competition. The risk comes when fighting out of your comfort zone and daring to be great.
Roy's dare to be great moment came only after years of teasing fans he was moving to hw when he saw a chance to win a title against a limited Ruiz. A fight he was a 2-1 favorite in.Comment
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Didn't Kell Brook just take a risk facing Golovkin... I hate when old fighters try to **** on the new school, it happens every generation.Comment
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He was unwilling to travel to Germany, because he'd been scarred from the Olympics, and Germany was notorious for awful decisions. We've all seen some of Ottke's fights. Go and watch Dariusz's fight with Rochigianni where he feigned injury to get Rochigianni disqualified. Why would Roy have taken his 3 belts there?? That didn't mean he wouldn't have fought Dariusz in the U.S. it just meant he didn't want to get robbed in Germany. Kerry Davis of HBO, did everything possible to try and bring Dariusz to the the U.S. but he wasn't interested.
You say Ruiz was limited, but what about Dariusz? Wasn't fighting Ruiz at 235 pounds a bigger challenge than fighting Dariusz at LHW? Who did Dariusz beat? Would fighting Dariusz have meant that Roy had dared to be great?
Wasn't Roy fighting out of his comfort zone when he fought Ruiz at 34? You can say he was limited, but he was a tough HW. Roy was a LHW. Not only was Ruiz heavier and stronger, he was also taller, with a longer reach, and he obviously hit a lot harder.
Fighting Tarver at LHW was a huge risk due to the circumstances. He had to burn muscle in just a few months to make weight. Which is why he was absolutely exhausted in the last 3rd of the fight.Last edited by robertzimmerman; 01-05-2017, 11:48 PM.Comment
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Fighters are petrified to potentially take a loss! because of the stigma that it has on a fighters career (Due to the sheeple mainstream fans perceptions! and promoters working within the sport) In any other sport watching a team or a individual athlete redeem themselves from a loss! adds to the drama and theater.....
Life is not about winning all the time, we are not living in Disney Land! and deep down we call love a good comeback!
Also some people think Roy Jones is tarnishing his career by fighting on past his prime, but for me personally i understand what he is doing? Gladiators/Warriors they fight until the end! they fight until their is nothing more to give, until that fire inside is no longer flicking violently.......
This is excalty what Roy Jones Junior is doing, and if you look back in history all the great fighters go out exactly the same! and metaphorically in life, it is a man thing! we stubbornly never give up, its a trait all men have......
Roy Jones past his prime has proven his bravery beyond measure.Comment
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