If Roy Jones Jr retired after he beat John Ruiz....

[VatoMulatto]

....when it comes to legacy how would we be talking about him today? Would he be the GOAT to many people? I know he didn't have the absolute greatest resume but RJJ looked almost untouchable in the ring making good fighters look average. The speed, the reflexes, athleticism, power. He had it all so it was so hard to see anyone beating him. That aura obviously disappeared after the KO loss to Tarver.


Even though the losses don't diminish what he did. However the losses after the Ruiz fight do look bad. I know they shouldn't since it was past his prime, but they do look bad.

[ShaneMosleySr]

He wouldn’t be the goat but his believers would be louder about it.

[Earl-Hickey]

People often ask this but I think retiring at heavyweight after fighting Ruiz would lead to "why didn't he fight any of the good heavyweights"

No offence to Ruiz but everyone knows he was pretty average at best so that win hasn't aged well.

[White Mandela]

His resume aint deep enough. You’d still get the TMT groupie logic with people claiming he was “unbeatable” but in reality he had 1 A grade win: James Toney.

Then don’t forget the steroids!

[White Mandela]

No offence to Ruiz but everyone knows he was pretty average at best so that win hasn't aged well.

Agree! AJ deserves no credit for beating that fat pudding.

[Apollo7]

Many would consider him the GOAT based on the way he went through multiple divisions looking almost unbeatable. People will always have doubts about him now based mainly on his chin but I don't remember that really being noticed or discussed much prior to him going back down in weight after Ruiz.

Should he have quit while he was ahead? Maybe. He would have been remembered a bit better, maybe had a greater legacy and been more reserved. On the other hand I think the thing that made him carry on after Ruiz was part of the thing which made him so great, love if boxing/competing and a stubborn determination and never give up attitude.

[Apollo7]

People often ask this but I think retiring at heavyweight after fighting Ruiz would lead to "why didn't he fight any of the good heavyweights"

And the answer would be because he was tiny for that division and had no business competing there.

Even most casual fans know that there are several belts so winning one doesn't mean that much. This is more about what if RJj quit before he started looking genuinely vulnerable/beatable.

[hugh grant]

Rjj is an atg, he beat toney and bh and heavyweight title. He is deserving top 20. I remember talk after he best ruiz and he was compared to srr

[Larry the boss]

I gotta be real, it seems like we get the same threads about the same people over and over again on here.

[NORMNEALON]

What if he dropped down to cruiserweight and rematched James toney for the ibf strap after ruiz . If it was the weight cut that apparently took Jones prime . He could have come in the exact same weight as he did vs ruiz. He could have gained 7 lbs . Cruiser limit was moved to 200 in 2003 i belive. Anyways all speculation, coulda, shoulda ,woulda........didn't. But cruiser was stacked then . Would have been awesome to see a still " prime " Jones vs bell, mormeck , haye etc .

How about this . What if Jones unifies at heavy vs byrd or didn't demand 90 million to fight Lewis and that scrap came off ??