Comments Thread For: Where Does Roy Jones Belong On The List Of Greatest Boxers?

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"Jones faced didn’t quite rival what Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard faced. Even Floyd Mayweather, for all the criticism that he’s received over the years, has had a more complete career" HA for those who tried to come at me in that last article!

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Ray Robinson repeatedly came back to boxing as he was struggling to pay the bills in his later years and took unnecessary losses. Leonard also missed the spotlight and came back to take losses again against sub par competition.

So by that definition, RJJ, SRR and SRL are not all time greats.

Ummmm no! Nice try. SRR did way more than Roy!

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I would rate him as a middle and super middle as TBE at those weights. As a light heavyweight I would go with in the top 5 off all time.
His step n half upper hook was delivered with precision and venom.
I would struggle to pick a dull performance.

That's kinda tricky since Calzage retired undefeated and Andre ward. But yea I can see your point.

[robertzimmerman]

It depends how you look at how to define a fighter - do you define a fighter on his whole career or the period of when he was a champion. To me The All Time Great are those when they reach the top they maintain it not those who fall from Grace then blame it on age and did not know when to quit for reasons of money or thinking they still have it. Therefore Roy Jones Jr can't go down as one of the all time Great.

Roy stayed at the top for 10 years, across 4 divisions, barely losing rounds.

He only lost after 50 fights, at 35, after dropping back from HW.

[robertzimmerman]

Andreas Hale, really good article! I'm convinced Roy stayed in the game for money, but he'll never admit that. I know of no boxer that ever admitted that or would admit that. Ruiz shoulda been the end - finito. Why? he eventually gave us fans & the paying public no respect by coming in there old, decrepid & unprepared taking unneccessary uneventful licks!!

He knew he was "prepared" to lose against Calzaghe & the rest of the crew - unconcerned with rematches. His ambition and pride was out the window after Tarver.

His European promoter (I forget his name - a cool caring dude towards Roy) claimed he paid him in advance for whatever reasons (reasons that can be found on the web - I've lost interest in even remembering)........

Roy did what he had to do for survival, so he can't be faulted for that, but acting like he had such a love for the game while clearly operating on empty & ending his career with 30% zeal after Tarver, isnt fooling me or anyone who dug him.

He was absolutely ELECTRIC in his heydey, no boxer was ever faster or quicker, unbelievable to watch! The latter part of his career was crap.....didnt care to find the time or even know the dates he was fighting.......(just a thought) imo, a Mayweather shoulder-roll defence with his natural abilities would have had him undefeated to this day.....to this day......

Roy has been in love with the sport since he was 8 years old.

He loves the competition.

He has never fought purely for money.

What do you mean no other fighter admitted staying in the game just for money? Many did, most notably Mike Tyson.

Of course Roy was in a different mindset after Tarver. He was no longer a top level fighter at that point.

[robertzimmerman]

RJJ had 19 fights at middleweight, where 18 of them were against nobodies.

They weren't nobodies.

The point is, you can rank him on a H2H basis there. Because he fought Tate the same year as he fought Toney. Those fights were only 5/6 months apart. The version of Roy who fought Toney had the exact same attributes as when he fought Tate and Hopkins etc. So you can just use the Tate version as a measuring stick.

[robertzimmerman]

To answer the author's question I won't rate RJJ as one of the true greats for one simple reason; the manner in which he responded to adversity - which is the very essence of boxing and the true measure of a fighter. This is the reason The SRR's, Ali's, Louis's and the Duran's are considered the greatest.. They came back from terrible losses, yada, yada, ect, ect..

Let's be clear. It wasn't being past his prime that caused RJJ's record to go from 47-1 (should have been 48-0) to 18-8 (w/ 5 knockout losses). That's bull****. It was Antonio Tarver.

Tarver took his confidence. Tarver took his soul. On an EPIC scale.. So much so that almost anybody could KO Roy after Tarver was done with him.

Love and respect to Roy but that isn't what greatness is or means. Call him the "best" in his prime but don't call him great. Certainly not ATG.

Absolute nonsense.

Tarver did take his confidence, but he was 35 at that point, and he'd had 50 fights across 5 weight classes, which included going up to HW and back. His unorthadox style was based around his incredible athleticism.

Looking back with hindsight, Roy had 2 choices:

1. Either retire early.

2. Adapt his style to compensate for his age.

He did neither and paid the price.

[robertzimmerman]

Rjj is a childhood hero of mine, he ruled boxing when i first started watching so he holds a special spot in my list but i have to keep it real, he wasted his prime years fighting mostly bums. Had he retired after winning heavyweight title how many great fighters would he have fought? toney, bhop anyone else? Good wins over mike, griffin and ruiz too but compare that resume to other atg and it pales.

Physically 1 of the most gifted fighters ever and he has left a massive mark on boxing with his style, aint no one fight like he did. Pascal, haye and bunch of others tried to imitate him but it goes to show to hard it is to fight like that.

Overall im disappointed in rjj, his resume just doesnt stack up.

He didn't fight mostly bums, he fought mandatories and keep busy fights like every other fighter does.

Give me a list of all the big fights he missed, and I'll show you why only a handful of them were viable.

Despite the myth that Roy ducked everyone and he was happily sat on his fat HBO contract, only a handful of guys truly wanted to fight him when he was prime.

[robertzimmerman]

You people understand that boxing is 80-90% mental???

No. You don't. Clearly.

Roy's decline had NOTHING to do with his physical abilities. Perhaps you should go back and watch his career from the Glen Kelly fight forward to present time so you're properly informed.

What a joke.

Are you telling me that his reflexes didn't diminish?

[stealthradon]

They weren't nobodies.

The point is, you can rank him on a H2H basis there. Because he fought Tate the same year as he fought Toney. Those fights were only 5/6 months apart. The version of Roy who fought Toney had the exact same attributes as when he fought Tate and Hopkins etc. So you can just use the Tate version as a measuring stick.

Apart from 8 pounds. That means he is not MW.
And name a good fighter RJJ fought at MW except Hopkins.
Just one that could be considered to be equal to even Daniel Jacobs' top 5 fights.