Who Could Roy Jones Not Have Beaten?

[GhostofDempsey]

Bermane Stiverne, Ruslan Chagaev, Chris Byrd, guys like that.

Maybe he could beat them, but the thread asked who do we think could have beaten Jones, hence my list of ATG HWs.

[billeau2]

Roy was not a heavyweight.

Roy does not beat heavyweights... He gets walked down and put to sleep like he did against pressure guys when he lost a step.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Roy does not beat heavyweights... He gets walked down and put to sleep like he did against pressure guys when he lost a step.

I wouldn't rule him out against Louis. I think 15 rounds against a guy that good makes Roy a strong underdog, but not someone to be ruled out. Look at how well movers fared against Louis, and how men like Schmeling and Two Ton Tony put him on the mat. Louis has the jab and the footwork that I think he could set Roy at anytime; Roy is gonna have to depend on fundamentals we don't know that he had. I'd be mildy surprised if he won, but definitely not shocked.

[Rusty Tromboni]

More detail: Here is everyone that held a significant belt between 1990 and now that I think Roy would beat:

Michael Bentt
Herbie Hide
Bruce Seldon
Oliver McCall
Chris Byrd
John Ruiz
Clifford Etienne
Hasim Rahman
Lamon Brewster
Nikolai Valuev
Siarhei Liakhovich
Oleg Maskayev
Sultan Ibragimov
Ruslan Chagaev
Samuel Peter
David Haye
Chris Arreola
Bermane Stiverne

Byrd was no Willie Pep, but he was a better pure-boxer than Roy. He definitely can take Roy's punch and just about match his speed.

Haye's size and punch would be a huge threat to Roy.

[Rusty Tromboni]

this is just comedy gold!

look, i'm very much an old school guy and disagree with the whole "all athletes are better today" stance that many people take. but lets not get ******ed..

have you actually watched guys like loughran fight?

you clearly have a problem with roy jones..

LOL, yes. Yes I have. I've seen Loughran fight. And I have seen even more of Roy Jones' fights. You must WANT to get embarrassed because you've brought this upon yourself: there's plenty of footage of Roy looking far worse than Loughran ever did. We have Roy getting stopped by Tarver, Green, and Johnson. He got embarrassed against Calzaghe. Looked pitiful in the fight he had with Hopkins when (mostly) clean. And his great fight w/ Ruiz saw him run the whole time, and land only 32% of his punches.

So if you wanna talk about what we've seen. We have seen Roy look very pedestrian against men who did have an ATG jab, chin of granite, and move around the ring like a gold medalist figure skater.

Would you say Locche is a better fighter than Mayweather just based on the fights where he got molested by Maidana and Castillo? No. So don't say Roid Jones is better than Loughran based off a fight at the end of the dude's career.

[billeau2]

I wouldn't rule him out against Louis. I think 15 rounds against a guy that good makes Roy a strong underdog, but not someone to be ruled out. Look at how well movers fared against Louis, and how men like Schmeling and Two Ton Tony put him on the mat. Louis has the jab and the footwork that I think he could set Roy at anytime; Roy is gonna have to depend on fundamentals we don't know that he had. I'd be mildy surprised if he won, but definitely not shocked.

Thats an interesting proposition... Actually Louis, who might to some be the best heavy there ever was, is a really good style for Jones. there is a time for Louis when he became a stalker in the ring and got good enough to win that way because of his incredible punching. BUT contrary to popular opinions there is tape of Louis, sort of before his main prime, but still in his great years, that show he had fast feet. I always kick myself for not bookmarking that information.

In a 12 round fight I think Roy has an opportunity. Roy was just superhuman fast enough to avoid traps...was Louis skilled enough to cut the ring on Roy? In a 15 round fight I see a Conn job...that is Billy Conn lol. Roy looks good and gets caught and thats all she wrote. Roy's problem would always be the need to avoid getting hit. And it is true that his chances to use his evasive skills are better for him against the premier punching heavy weight, than guys who had enough speed to catch up to Roy and make it a fight...guys like Ezzard Charles....and guys who were just wrecking balls that threw lots of punches and walked through opponents, like Marciano.

Two Ton Toney...Underrated fighter. Very smart, cagey and able. Another guy who looked a certain way but threw lots of punches, applied pressure and was dangerous to any guy who he could get his barrel chested body on. People sometimes gloat that Louis went down in that fight once...Truth is if TT caught any fighter right they could go down and he had good feet...Had to because of his reach.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Maybe you were still in Diapers when Roy shamed TTT in the ring.

According to this crowd Helen Keller and Sammy davis jr would made mince meat out of him.

No matter, after he whooped Tarver he coulda retired with one of the all time great records and considered the p4p GOAT.

Yeah, that gets your goat so Mickey Rooney beats him now. Same deal with Tyson.

Comedy gold, thanks!

[OctoberRed]

Byrd was no Willie Pep, but he was a better pure-boxer than Roy. He definitely can take Roy's punch and just about match his speed.

Haye's size and punch would be a huge threat to Roy.

Too bad Jones vs. Holyfield fell out back then.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Too bad Jones vs. Holyfield fell out back then.

I think Roy would have done bad things to him then. In a Prime vs. Prime situation, I dunno who to favor. Probably Holyfield, though.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Thats an interesting proposition... Actually Louis, who might to some be the best heavy there ever was, is a really good style for Jones. there is a time for Louis when he became a stalker in the ring and got good enough to win that way because of his incredible punching. BUT contrary to popular opinions there is tape of Louis, sort of before his main prime, but still in his great years, that show he had fast feet. I always kick myself for not bookmarking that information.

In a 12 round fight I think Roy has an opportunity. Roy was just superhuman fast enough to avoid traps...was Louis skilled enough to cut the ring on Roy? In a 15 round fight I see a Conn job...that is Billy Conn lol. Roy looks good and gets caught and thats all she wrote. Roy's problem would always be the need to avoid getting hit. And it is true that his chances to use his evasive skills are better for him against the premier punching heavy weight, than guys who had enough speed to catch up to Roy and make it a fight...guys like Ezzard Charles....and guys who were just wrecking balls that threw lots of punches and walked through opponents, like Marciano.

Two Ton Toney...Underrated fighter. Very smart, cagey and able. Another guy who looked a certain way but threw lots of punches, applied pressure and was dangerous to any guy who he could get his barrel chested body on. People sometimes gloat that Louis went down in that fight once...Truth is if TT caught any fighter right they could go down and he had good feet...Had to because of his reach.

great insights.

I can believe Louis was more mobile. In his era he had to span the breadth between fast Light Heavyweights a la Conn, and monstrosities like Carnera. He needed to be mobile enough to catch fast guys and out-pace ponderous giants, while being big enough to inflict his power and not get muscled around. Roy might have been able to exploit that, but a "fast" Louis might put him away quickly.