Comments Thread For: Roy Jones Says Today's Fighters Focused on Talk, Not Taking Risks

[robertzimmerman]

Please the Tarver fight was no risk and the losing 20 lbs was so bogus even his friend Chris Byrd called him out on such trash excuse.

Another nonsense post.

You don't know anything.

Roy signed to fight Tarver in September, 2003. In August, he'd been negotiating to fight Corrie Sanders. He'd kept his physique from the Ruiz fight from March, in the hope of landing a mega money fight at HW. When one didn't materialise, he accepted Tarver, who'd be dogging him all year. Which meant he was still big, with a low percentage of body fat. Their fight took place on the 8th of November. So again, he had only a few months to get back down to LHW, losing muscle in the process. It was the hardest thing he ever did. Go and watch the fight. He was running on fumes for the last 3-4 rounds. He was completely exhausted.

Regarding Chris Byrd, yes, at the time, Byrd thought Roy had made excuses. But he quickly changed his opinion, when in 2008, the exact same thing happened to him when he dropped back down to fight Shaun George. He was completely devoid of energy and he couldn't do anything. After which, he admitted that he'd lost the weight far too soon. And the exact same thing happened to Antonio Tarver when he fought Bernard Hopkins, and to Chad Dawson when he fought Andre Ward. His trainer, John "Iceman" Scully, has given a detailed account of the nightmare they had in camp.

There was nothing bogus about it at all. I'll try and find you an interview from Chris Byrd where he speaks up on it.

[robertzimmerman]

No mate. Roy is still fighting cause he needs the money. The fight inside you speak of was taken out of him years ago.

Roy does need the money. But if you knew anything about him, you'd know that he'd still be fighting now even if he'd got billions.

He's been doing it since he was 7 years old. And he'll carry on doing it while ever he still feels good in the gym.

He still has passion. Go and listen to one of his recent interviews. He knows he can still fight at a low level, and he enjoys it. Nothing else motivates him in the same way.

[JJRod]

Another nonsense post.

You don't know anything.

Roy signed to fight Tarver in September, 2003. In August, he'd been negotiating to fight Corrie Sanders. He'd kept his physique from the Ruiz fight from March, in the hope of landing a mega money fight at HW. When one didn't materialise, he accepted Tarver, who'd be dogging him all year. Which meant he was still big, with a low percentage of body fat. Their fight took place on the 8th of November. So again, he had only a few months to get back down to LHW, losing muscle in the process. It was the hardest thing he ever did. Go and watch the fight. He was running on fumes for the last 3-4 rounds. He was completely exhausted.

Regarding Chris Byrd, yes, at the time, Byrd thought Roy had made excuses. But he quickly changed his opinion, when in 2008, the exact same thing happened to him when he dropped back down to fight Shaun George. He was completely devoid of energy and he couldn't do anything. After which, he admitted that he'd lost the weight far too soon. And the exact same thing happened to Antonio Tarver when he fought Bernard Hopkins, and to Chad Dawson when he fought Andre Ward. His trainer, John "Iceman" Scully, has given a detailed account of the nightmare they had in camp.

There was nothing bogus about it at all. I'll try and find you an interview from Chris Byrd where he speaks up on it.

In the interview Byrd states he had to lose 40 lbs in 5 weeks. A bit different from dropping 20 lbs something most LHW do now on a regular basis.
It was a poor excuse.

And let me tell you I was one of Roy's fans. I contend he's one of the best talents I've seen in my lifetime. But that doesn't take away from the fact he made a career of fighting low risks guys. I still remember how even hardcore fans turned on him and boycotted his fight against Julio Gonzalez

[SplitSecond]

In the interview Byrd states he had to lose 40 lbs in 5 weeks. A bit different from dropping 20 lbs something most LHW do now on a regular basis.
It was a poor excuse.

And let me tell you I was one of Roy's fans. I contend he's one of the best talents I've seen in my lifetime. But that doesn't take away from the fact he made a career of fighting low risks guys. I still remember how even hardcore fans turned on him and boycotted his fight against Julio Gonzalez

Jones was 25lb's of pure roided muscles over 175. It's different to losing some fat. The man was very obviously drained going into the fight.

Jones drained himself 20lb's a lot too, it isn't only the guys of today, vs Hopkins he was 180 for his 160 defense. The difference here is he had to drop muscle, in a very short period too, because if I remember he was in negotiations with some heavyweights.

[robertzimmerman]

In the interview Byrd states he had to lose 40 lbs in 5 weeks. A bit different from dropping 20 lbs something most LHW do now on a regular basis.
It was a poor excuse.

And let me tell you I was one of Roy's fans. I contend he's one of the best talents I've seen in my lifetime. But that doesn't take away from the fact he made a career of fighting low risks guys. I still remember how even hardcore fans turned on him and boycotted his fight against Julio Gonzalez

It wasn't an excuse.

Do some research.

Watch the first Tarver fight again.

Most LHW's do not burn muscle to make weight. What are you talking about? They burn fat.

Again, go and read up on the nightmare that Chad Dawson had, when he had to drop less weight than Roy did. John Scully had him running in the mountains for 2 weeks, under the sun, yet when he got weighed, he'd actually gained a pound or 2. It doesn't matter how much weight Byrd, Dawson, Tarver or Roy lost. The fact is, they all burnt muscle, and they all said that come fight night, they were completely burnt out, devoid of energy.

Regarding Roy's fight with the likes of Gonzalez, you have to know what was happening behind the scenes at the time. Gonzalez was just a keep busy fight, whilst HBO and Roy's team, did everything they could to secure a Dariusz M fight in the U.S. Then in the following year, Bernard Hopkins turned down $6m, as he instead wanted $10m, even though Roy had already beaten him, and Roy would had to have dropped weight for a CW. The big fights became impossible to make.

The other guys who didn't want to fight him were: Eubank, Liles, Calzaghe and Holyfield.

He wasn't just content to fight low risk opponents.

I've got videos, interviews and book excerpts, that all prove otherwise.

[BoxHec]

Good post.

Roy did take risks.

Benn wanted to fight him, but Eubank didn't.

A Dariusz Michalczewski fight became impossible to make because neither guy were willing to travel.

Thanks, yes I think Benn was afraid of nobody, big puncher + strong chin gave you all confidence! Toney/Benn will have been explosive!

about RJJ, three years after his last fight at 160 he also fought the then unbeaten light heavyweight Montell Griffin and of course Roy fought for the heavyweight title when he was only around 180 lb or maybe less, if RJJ has stopped his career right after the John Ruiz's bout he will certainly be considered as the GOAT today!

[robertzimmerman]

Thanks, yes I think Benn was afraid of nobody, big puncher + strong chin gave you all confidence! Toney/Benn will have been explosive!

about RJJ, three years after his last fight at 160 he also fought the then unbeaten light heavyweight Montell Griffin and of course Roy fought for the heavyweight title when he was only around 180 lb or maybe less, if RJJ has stopped his career right after the John Ruiz's bout he will certainly be considered as the GOAT today!

Yes, Nigel was a warrior who feared nobody.

I think if Roy had retired after Ruiz/Tarver, he'd definitely be considered as one of the greatest of all time, especially on a H2H basis. I still don't think he'd have been considered THE greatest though.