Comments Thread For: Griffin: Andre Ward is on Roy Jones' Level With His Boxing IQ

[FeFist]

if Roy had such great boxing IQ, wouldnt he have been able to adjust his skillset, after his physical abilities started to diminish?

Hopkins has great boxing IQ and used every ounce of it to be competitive at his age, Roy Jones was ridiculous good at his best, but once his reflexes and speed/power were gone, he couldnt keep up anymore.

Mayweather also adjusted his style, after he started to get slower.

Roy's biggest problem is denial. It is also difficult to kill old habits: Bernard relied on good fundamentals, Mayweather's foundation was on the technical side of things, Roy did a lot of would be wrong for anyone else type of things.

On the move so there's only so much I can say. Basically his understanding of boxing is good but he got too used to a style that relied on athleticism and is too stubborn to change.

[swifty007]

Well them guys didn't move up to HW and then moved back down in weight. Once Roy did that he's always been a shell of himself. First Tarver fight barely won, first time you scene busted up and bleeding. The weight dropped really messed him up at that age affected his body severely. Even Mackie Shilstone told him not to move back down and he was the one that helped Roy bulk up and prepare for the HW fight with Ruiz.

Roy has made some adjustments at an older age in some fights, but he chooses not to and reverts back to his old ways fighting like he's young again. The best trainer he had been Tom Yankello, he worked with him helped improved his defense/keeping off the ropes/Hands up etc. Fought Max Alexander and RJJ's back only touched the ropes one time. His next fight, fights against the dude in Poland RJJ reverts back and doesn't listen to Tom in the fight so they parted ways.

So many people miss this. Many people lose weight in their 30's, but to lose ,give or take, 30 pounds can destroy the average body. Let alone an elite one. That's why his punch resistance disappeared overnight. Hell Matthew Mcconaughey lost a lot of weight for a role and he has looked sickly for the last five years.

[bojangles1987]

Ward's boxing IQ is astounding. I have no problem with Griffin saying this.

EDIT: And of course people are going to act like Roy didn't have a terrific ring IQ. Just listen to his commentary now, after years of getting his head bashed in. The man knows what is happening in the ring and why. He was a brilliant fighter.

[bojangles1987]

if Roy had such great boxing IQ, wouldnt he have been able to adjust his skillset, after his physical abilities started to diminish?

Hopkins has great boxing IQ and used every ounce of it to be competitive at his age, Roy Jones was ridiculous good at his best, but once his reflexes and speed/power were gone, he couldnt keep up anymore.

Mayweather also adjusted his style, after he started to get slower.

Because Roy's reflexes were shot after he moved back down after Ruiz. You can have the greatest ring IQ in the world and it doesn't matter if your body can't respond. That's why "inability to pull the trigger" exists. You can see the opening but not act on it. Mayweather had a great IQ, but it wouldn't have mattered if his reflexes vanished like Roy's did.

[New England]

Because Roy's reflexes were shot after he moved back down after Ruiz. You can have the greatest ring IQ in the world and it doesn't matter if your body can't respond. That's why "inability to pull the trigger" exists. You can see the opening but not act on it. Mayweather had a great IQ, but it wouldn't have mattered if his reflexes vanished like Roy's did.

roy never had great fundamentals, and relied much more on being the faster man and quicker to react. when he'd lost that he was basically all done. great example is the hopkins fight. hopkins hadn't been knocked out twice, but he was older than roy by a stretch and he'd been taking punches in victory and actually had a reputation as a "hard fighter" coming up and in his reign at MW. at LHW, when both had faded, bernard had fundamentals to rely on, and roy needed to try and channel flashes of his speed and power. tarver is another good example, and although he was drained by coming down in wiegh tafter playing a HW in a rocky movie, he was also comprehensively outboxed by hopkins, who was never an elite physical talent to begin with.


hopkins, toney, floyd, their reflexes diminished but they had more solid fundamentals, [and in teh case of hopkins and toney iron chins,] that allowed them to fight and be effective.


your craft can cause you to rely less on your reflexes, and adapt your style as they go. roy's technical flaws stuck with him as he aged, and once he'd lost 2 steps he was human again. whereas hopkins could be slower than you, react more slowly, and still get out of the way of your shots because of his balance and sense of distance and angles.

[old cat]

Ward's boxing IQ is astounding. I have no problem with Griffin saying this.

EDIT: And of course people are going to act like Roy didn't have a terrific ring IQ. Just listen to his commentary now, after years of getting his head bashed in. The man knows what is happening in the ring and why. He was a brilliant fighter.

Seriously.

People tend to regurgitate what they hear. It's laughable to say because Roy's setup moves weren't textbook, they didn't have deep level thought behind them. Roy's traps , while in his prime , were a function of his other worldly physical abilities and guys hand being in their pockets. Unorthodox yes, but freaky high level none the less.

Mike Mccallum said, in a "the best I've faced- ring mag." interview, that Roy was the smartest fighter he fought. Something the effect, Roy was always one step ahead of him.

[darius45]

roy never had great fundamentals.

Disagree. It's that Roy didn't need to RELY on fundamentals. But he had them (he should of won gold at the Olympics for crying out loud). As far as Roy's decline. I think he's a proud fighter and he wants to fight the way he wants to fight. An athlete of his caliber could adjust if he wanted to.

As far as the Topic of the thread is concerned. Ward isn't on Roy's level, but I don't think anyone is. Roy is a more than "a little bit faster" than Ward too. But in all fairness to Ward, not even Ward thinks he would win in a dream matchup with Roy.

[-PBP-]

Ah the good old Roy Jones "athlete with boxing gloves debate."

The most misunderstood fighter of all time. His feints, timing, punch selection, punch placement, ability to set traps range control. It looked like Roy could slip counter with his eyes closed. Dude had a very high ring IQ that was complemented with Superman level athletic ability.

You can't be that great of a counter puncher and not have a high ring IQ.

[Champ Wilder]

Ward is a better boxer IMO

[IMDAZED]

if Roy had such great boxing IQ, wouldnt he have been able to adjust his skillset, after his physical abilities started to diminish?

Hopkins has great boxing IQ and used every ounce of it to be competitive at his age, Roy Jones was ridiculous good at his best, but once his reflexes and speed/power were gone, he couldnt keep up anymore.

Mayweather also adjusted his style, after he started to get slower.

Everybody loses at some point when they start to slow down. Hopkins lost several times. Mayweather was an exception but even he would have eventually lost. Plus, lest people forget, Roy Jones -- after moving down -- went a very rough 12 rounds with Antonio Tarver where he took plenty of shots. The combination of all those things caused his first defeat. Roy Jones didn't start slowing down the day he was KO'ed. He was already slowing down when he fought Derrick Harmon.