Greater fighter: Roy Jones Jr or Floyd Mayweather?

[Vadrigar.]

Lmao hopkins wasnt prime

He was 28 years old and went undefeated for the next 12 years. I'd say he was prime.

[Chollo Vista]

So canelo was prime when floyd beat him then. He went on to become the middleweight champ and is undefeated since and if he beats ggg???? Hmmm

Canelo is definitely the X factor.

If Canelo is able to go and become an ATG, he will be the first prime ATG that Floyd will have on his resume. Roy has 2.

But in order for Canelo to become an ATG, he will have to do much more than just beat GGG

[robertzimmerman]

Floyd. Floyd's resume is far superior, its not even close. He fought better fighters and lasted longer doing it.

Roy beat Toney and a green Hopkins then fought nobodies for 10 years. That doesnt come close to matching floyd's consistency.

Roy is the better natural athlete and had better p4p power and speed. Floyd did literally everything else better.

Floyd's resume isn't far superior. Not when you break it down.

Roy won a title at HW and was was outweighed by over 30 pounds, even after he'd bulked up to just under 200. He then burnt muscle in a short space of time, to become only the 2nd man ever to have won titles at MW, LHW and HW, before then going on to reclaim the LHW titles.

Although Ruiz and Tarver weren't ATG's, you have to note Roy's age, his number of fights, the weight loss, and where he'd come from. Those 2 wins were truly great. Because he beat Ruiz with absolute ease, but he had to dig deep to beat Tarver, as he was absolutely exhausted in the last 3rd of the fight. And to do that after fighting as a JMW in the Olympics, was absolutely amazing. People forget that when Roy was at LHW, he was in his 3rd weight class, giving away lots of natural weight.

Floyd also had an extraordinary career, but he didn't take the risks Roy did, and although he was often outweighed, he was hardly ever outsized, enjoying a reach advantage over almost all of his opponents. He has the longevity, and he's never lost to B class guys like Roy, and he's never been knocked out. But Roy's accomplishments definitely match up.

[Vadrigar.]

I always see this argument and can never figure out why people say Hopkins wasn't prime. Was it because he didnt have the notoriety at that time and the public didnt know him?

Hopkins didn't lose for another 12 years after Roy beat him.

Has anyone ever beaten Prime Hopkins? Was he over the hill when Taylor beat him? Was he too young when Clinton Michell beat him? Was he not old enough when RJJ beat him?

Fact is, he was just right when Jones beat him. He was experienced enough to have not lost in 5 years and been on a 20 fight win streak.

Good points. As I just said Hopkins was 28 years old which would be in his athletic prime (speed, power, reflexes, stamina, endurance, recovery). Roy did a number on him with one hand.

[robertzimmerman]

This. His style was based on his reflexes and speed, it was unconventional and he did a lot of things "wrong" but it works when you have that speed. It doesnt work anymore as you age.

Floyd is one of the really rare fighters to be very physically gifted but maintain sound fundamentals, its why he never lost. There were a few guys that might be faster like judah and khan had faster hands but they didnt have the skills Floyd had. There were guys like Toney and Hopkins that had the skill but didnt have the speed and reflexes floyd had.

True. I think Roy could have adapted though If he'd have set his mind on it. But I don't think that he wanted to admit to himself that he was ageing.

[robertzimmerman]

Great points. Especially the part about fighting once a year and several retirements when things were hot. I forgot all about that.

If Floyd fights Williams, Marg, Pac and Cotto between 2008-2009, does he make it out unscathed? I don't know.

But what we do know, is Roy fought Toney, Hopkins and Top 10 of all time Virgil Hill when he did.

So many question marks about Floyd, but not that many about prime Roy.

Also, prime for prime, Floyd arguably lost fights to DLH/Castillo, whereas Roy was DQ'd. I don't know what that means, I'll boxingscene decide

It's a fantastic topic to ponder.

There's no easy answer.

Floyd has the greater longevity, but again, he preserved his body better.

It's also ridiculously hard to rank fighters of different weights who peaked at different times.

[Chollo Vista]

Good points. As I just said Hopkins was 28 years old which would be in his athletic prime (speed, power, reflexes, stamina, endurance, recovery). Roy did a number on him with one hand.

Yes, I forgot Roy beat prime Hopkins with one hand. Thanks for the memory jogger.

I just never understood that prime Hopkins argument. Hopkins always understood the game mentally. But when Roy beat him, Hopkins wasn't just decisioning guys like he was forced to do when he got older, but Hopkins was still KOing guys when Roy beat him and was prime in all physical areas

[Floyd is TBE]

Greater fighter? Mayweather, easily. And I like Roy but he relied too much on his athleticism. Once he started to decline physically he just looked like an oridnary guy, whereas Mayweather was able to adjust and fight at an elite level very late into his career. And i really do like Roy, he was one of my favorite fighters ever. But once he couldn't fall back on his elite athleticism to compensate for his piss poor jab Roy started getting his ass kicked by some mediocre fighters.

[BKM-]

Jones went from JMW to Heavy while defeating prime Hopkins, Toney, top 10 Light Heavy of all time in Virgil Hill, mulagni, Johnson, Paz, McCallum, Harding, Sosa, Castro, Vaca, Tarver, Woods, Gonzales, Griffin, Ruiz for the HW title, Lacy, Trinidad, etc....

Maywether went from 130 to 154 while defeating prime Corrales, Hernandez, Gatti, Mosley, DLH, Hatton, Cotto, Pac, Marquez, Canelo, Castillo, Maidana, Ortiz.

Here's where it gets tricky. Prime RJJ was never really contested while prime FMJ has a few asterisks next to his name against Castillo, DLH. Floyd wasnt prime against Maidana.

Secondly, if you're going to include Mosley/Cotto/DLH on Mayweathers resume then you have to include Trinidad/Lacy because all of the aforementioned were past prime.

So what do you say? RJJ went from Junior middle to heavy winning titles and Floyd went from super feather to JMW.

Floyd has more champs and HOF'ers, but Roy has more prime ATGs. It's tricky.

I would also say that Roy was more dominant in his prime since his only close fight was against Griffin in a fight he was en route to stopping Griffin. Floyd arguably lost to Castillo in his prime.

Has Floyd ever unified or been undisputed champ of a division?

Anyway, enough of my take, what you got?

Stopped reading at "prime Hopkins".

[robertzimmerman]

I see you unblocked me.

Show me a pic of Floyd sleeping on his back
You can't

RJJ got KTFO by Glenn Johnson....Sven Ottke whipped Glenn

Floyd didn't retire at the hottest time of anything

Who made the division so hot?

Cotto and Margarito??..lol

Floyd's work ethic and defensive skills are the reason you don't see pics of him sleeping in the ring

Have another

Floyd purposely retired to let everyone fight each other.

Come on.

The money man who's in the: "cheque cashing" business, had a scare against Oscar, and he wouldn't cash the rematch cheque.

Nobody believes that he wanted to spend time with his family.

Granted, Floyd never got beat by the likes of Johnson. But then Roy fought more often, and he gained muscle and then burnt it off in quick succession, never looking the same afterwards. And the exact same thing happened to Tarver, Byrd and Dawson. What if Floyd had bulked up to fight at MW, before dropping straight back to WW after 50 fights? We don't know what would have happened.