Who ranks higher on the ATG list, Tyson or RJJ?

[sunny31]

My first instinct was that this thread is laughable, but then I thought bout it for a while, maybe I'm missing something about Mike's career...

Conclusion is no I'm not...Roy by an absolute country green mile

[QballLobo]

This idea that you "need" a "rival" is really ******.

Ridiculous. Nonsensical.

It's far more impressive to dominate everyone you face than to "struggle" or have a "close" fight with a "name".

Furthermore, a name doesnt equal elite. It just means popular.

Seriously the ******ity and rationale that you want to rate a fighter higher because he was in a closer fight with someone elite (subjective in and of itself), as opposed to steamrolling people, whether by KO or decision, is laughable.

Legacy is about who you beat. Roy Jones Jr. is the best of his era but it was a weak era. If he had a true rival or even an A fighter to his A+ skills he would be talked about among the all time legends. The reason he isn’t is because for how talented he is he was never in a big cross over fight that the casuals stopped for. Even his foray into HW wasn’t that big. The closest he got was the first Tarver fight and that didn’t work out for him.
You ask any casual or non boxing fans who they know guaranteed Tyson is one of the first names mentioned.

[Szef]

That’s a tough one.
Roy Jones Jr. is probably the best P4P fighter I’ve ever seen live. Unfortunately he never had a true rival in his prime (not his fault) to bring out the best in him. After going to HW then back down he wasn’t the same guy and the later half of his career is embarrassing for someone of his pedigree.
Tyson had a shorter prime but man what an impact. Before jail he was on the international fame level of Jordan and Micheal Jackson. Still a mainstream star. And being undisputed heavyweight champion in that era meant so much more than today. Prize fighting was a major sport vs the niche following it has now.
Close but I’ll give the edge to Tyson based on impact and legacy.

He could've fought Dariusz Michalczewski

[boliodogs]

Jones was pound for pound considered the best in the world and was unbeatable for many years at 160, 168 and 175 before he went down hill after the KO loss to Tarver. Tyson never was considered the best pound for pound that I can recall. H was in the top 10 but never number 1. Tyson never had a very long run of being unbeatable. He lost to Douglas and later lost twice to Hollyfield. Jones gets my vote. Prime Jones was better than prime Tyson.

[BodyBagz]

Success at multiple divs.
Non HWs always have that edge.

Ironically, it's right after his foolish move up to HW that signed the end to RJJ's greatness.

[Squ□redCircle34]

Big fan of both but this is too obvious!

Roy has some all time great wins on his resume while Tyson has none but Larry Holmes!

Let’s be honest here, a Tyson with Cus D’Amato and no prison would’ve washed the division including in the 90’s!

We all know his downfall was his mental state and Cus D’Amato was the only one who could balance him out!

[techliam]

Mike only really belongs in discussions about top 10 heavyweights

He ranks much lower when looking at all weights combined, because other divisions are crammed full of historical talent

Roy is arguably the greatest super middleweight of all time, and has a solid argument for top 10 light heavyweight of all time - an absolute stacked division historically. He also made some history moving up to HW, fractured title yes, though post 1989 Tyson also held fractured titles