2003 Roy vs 2017 Floyd. Who was greater?

[Chollo Vista]

Let's say Roy retired right after Ruiz, who would've been the greater fighter with the better resume at that point in their careers? 2003 Roy or 2017 Floyd.

Roy's resume:

Tarver
Ruiz
Gonzales
Woods
Harding
Johnson
Hill
Griffin
Sosa
Pazienza
Toney
Hopkins
Malinga
Castro
Vaca
Tate
McCallum

Mayweather's resume:

Berto
Pac
Canelo
DLH
Maidana
Ortiz
Castillo
Hatton
Cotto
Mosley
Guerrero
Baldomir
Judah
Corrales
Manfredy
Hernandez

[billeau2]

This has been debated here is my take

First when we get data from about each fighter, we have to work with it to give it meaning...Polish it our way, being transparent in the process, so the data tells a meaningful story.

I believe one simply has to cut Jones off after the loss to Tarver. To carve out Jones greatness from the data, I will lop off all those subsequent fights...

What JOnes manages to do is dominate his class, and manages to beat some ATG fighters in the process. So while his longevity was not an asset of Jones, he so dominated his class when he did, that this makes him a very special fighter.

Mayweather did not dominate so much at the weight that I believe he fought best at (135 and below), and he never fought a prime ATG at any weight... Pac was not prime when they fought.

They were both great fighters, ATG I think JOnes was better.

[OctoberRed]

If Jones had retired after Ruiz or Tarver, he would have been one of the greatest fighters ever

[IronDanHamza]

Probably Floyd but both ATG fighters obviously.

[DeeMoney]

This is why I choose to primarily focus on prime when evaluating greatness. There have been so many fighters who stuck around too long that I dont think its fair to judge fighters at what they are when they are nowhere near their best.

Why downgrade a fighter for what they did when they were old, unless you are judging specifically who was the best old fighter?

[katjack]

If Jones had retired after Ruiz or Tarver, he would have been one of the greatest fighters ever

Agree with this.

[Mash121]

Two incredible boxers.

P4P before Jones loss to Tarver, I would take him over Floyd.

Jones was literally baptizing his opponents and toying with them where as Floyd was in some competitive, tough fights. Arguably loss to Castillo.

Jones losses overshadow his record. He was a freak of a nature in his golden years.