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

[A-Wolf]

Oh right.

And did Glen Johnson just have his number too?

Are you saying there was no difference between the versions of Roy who fought Hill and Griffin, to the ones who fought Tarver and Glen?

Roy's unique ability was based around his incredible athleticism.

He was never the same after he dropped back from HW.

Tarver would always have caused Roy problems, but in their rematch, he just caught him with a peach.

You understand he fought Glen Johnson after getting KTFO by Tarver, YES?

This is exactly my point. If you look at my previous comments in this thread, smart guy, you'll see that I had already stated that basically anyone could knock Roy out after Tarver took his soul.

[A-Wolf]

I'm an advocate of how huge psycholology is in any aspect of life. It really does play a huge role.

Yes, I agree that Tarver turned his world upside down, before Glen Johnson capitalised on that. Yes, it made him gun shy. But that does not alter the fact that he was 35 years old, and he'd been up to HW and back over a 50 fight year career.

If he hadn't have fought Tarver or Glen, I agree that he'd have had huge confidence fighting someone else. But realistically, if he wasn't willing to adapt his style to his advancing years, it was always going to happen sooner or later. He was a reflex based fighter. A split second is all it takes.

Look at his fights after his mini comeback when he fought Tito and Calzaghe. He had the hand speed but not the legs. His reflexes were also diminished. It's clear to see.

Look what happened to Chris Byrd and Chad Dawson when they drooped weight. I think Tarver also suffered when he dropped weight to fight Hopkins.

With Roy, it was a mixture of confidence, diminished reflexes, and diminished punch resistance. The shot he took against Glen wasn't particularly brutal, yet he was out for a long time.

Bro, it's really simple and you've heard it before - 90% mental, 10% physical.

It's SIMPLE.

[A-Wolf]

I'm an advocate of how huge psycholology is in any aspect of life. It really does play a huge role.

Yes, I agree that Tarver turned his world upside down, before Glen Johnson capitalised on that. Yes, it made him gun shy. But that does not alter the fact that he was 35 years old, and he'd been up to HW and back over a 50 fight year career.

If he hadn't have fought Tarver or Glen, I agree that he'd have had huge confidence fighting someone else. But realistically, if he wasn't willing to adapt his style to his advancing years, it was always going to happen sooner or later. He was a reflex based fighter. A split second is all it takes.

Look at his fights after his mini comeback when he fought Tito and Calzaghe. He had the hand speed but not the legs. His reflexes were also diminished. It's clear to see.

Look what happened to Chris Byrd and Chad Dawson when they drooped weight. I think Tarver also suffered when he dropped weight to fight Hopkins.

With Roy, it was a mixture of confidence, diminished reflexes, and diminished punch resistance. The shot he took against Glen wasn't particularly brutal, yet he was out for a long time.

And yes; that's an excellent observation.

[robertzimmerman]

Thank you, it’s all about what’s around in the relevant era and in his era he was way above anyone. However, Eubank or benn fighting him would have been something to see.
I am an Englishman and would have always favoured either man against him but just watch him....unbelievable talent.
Some just don’t get it.

I don't think Eubank could have coped with the speed. I think Roy would have won a U/D. Eubank himself said that fighting Roy would have been career suicide.

Nigel would have rushed him and tried to have had a shootout. I'd have given him a 4-5 round window to get the job done. After that, I think Roy would have picked him off to win a TKO.

[robertzimmerman]

Jones was one of the all time great talents, but talent alone doesn't translate to greatness. He avoided dangerous opponents like Gerald McClellan, Nigel Benn and Dariusz Michalczewski. And get real concerning heavyweight. Beating John Ruiz did not make him the heavyweight champion. Lennox Lewis was the real champion at that time, and Jones would never have dared to get in the ring with Lewis. Jones is in many ways a great created by modern day boxing nonsense.

He didn't avoid those guys.

He'd never have dared to fight Lennox? Get real man. Roy was already in his 4th weight class at LHW. And he was 34 with 50 fights on his resume. He's also 5'10, with a 75" reach. Which other guy would have fought Lennox under those circumstances?

[Dosumpthin]

"Once ya get knocked out, the rest of losses DONT COUNT."











Smh.

Delusional.

[robertzimmerman]

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.
Was Max Schmeling a good SMW?
Was Michael Spinks?
Prince Naseem was the best Super Flyweight?

If GGG moves up to 168 is he then among the best SMW of all time even if he only has one fight there?

It's: HEAD TO HEAD.

Are you telling me that because Roy only had 6 fights at SMW, that it would be foolish for anybody to rank him in the top 10 SMW's of all time?

The same thing applies to MW.

He's not rated highly based on his thin resume, he's rated on his ABILITY.

Do you understand?

Did you watch his career unfold?

He had the same attributes across 4 weight classes, from 92-02.

Are you going to tell people that they couldn't favour Roy over the likes of La Motta etc at MW, on the basis that he only fought a few named fighters there?

Are you serious?

You can go on the 'eye test'

Yes, if GG moved up to SMW and dominated very good-great fighters there, as well as dominating guys at an even higher weight class, people could rightly class him as a great SMW based on a H2H basis. Roy moved up and beat Toney with absolute ease. Malinga if you count the C-W. He then beat a decent guy like Lucas after playing basketball. His overall resume at SMW is thin. But go and ask people to list their best SMW's of all time. I think he was just about unbeatable at the weight. And I don't care that a guy like Joe Calzaghe had 44 fights there. In my honest opinion, Roy was a better SMW and he's the greatest SMW of time on a H2H basis.

[robertzimmerman]

You understand he fought Glen Johnson after getting KTFO by Tarver, YES?

This is exactly my point. If you look at my previous comments in this thread, smart guy, you'll see that I had already stated that basically anyone could knock Roy out after Tarver took his soul.

That's an exaggeration, but we're almost on the same page regarding someone's mindset/confidence. But you simply have to factor in Roy's age and the number of fights he had. Unless he'd have adapted his style, that knockout loss was always coming against a top ranked LHW at some stage. It wasn't just his confidence. It was his diminished reflexes, which led to him being hit by shots that he could have reacted to when he was younger.

Look at the confidence he had against Lacy. He was sharp and he was enjoying himself. He then went to Australia to fight Green. Go and look at the right hand Green hit him with. The 90's version of Roy would have seen that before Green had even thrown it.

[robertzimmerman]

Bro, it's really simple and you've heard it before - 90% mental, 10% physical.

It's SIMPLE.

It's not that simple.

Roy's whole style was based upon split second timing due to his incredible athleticism.

Again, unless he'd have adapted, it was inevitable that the shots that once just missed him, were eventually going to land.

Look at this gif from the Reggie Johnson fight:

https://imgur.com/gallery/dkADuyL

How long could he have fought in that manner?

[robertzimmerman]

And yes; that's an excellent observation.

Right, so he also had physical issues along with psychological ones.