Why didn't Jones go up and fight Tyson or Holyfield

[robertzimmerman]

He would've bee beaten to a pulp but that didn';t stop Wilfred, Floyd, Duran, Pernell, Oscar, and now Crawford from challenging themselves. Why does Roy get such a pass

Roy fighting Mike at anywhere near his best, would have been a completely different challenge to the ones taken by the guys you've mentioned.

I can only assume you're trolling.

[robertzimmerman]

Seriously he gad no chabce if winning. He only did it as a one off thing. He had no intention of remaining at heavyweight. He got his name in the record books and generated some publicity.

He would have had a good chance of beating Evander in 2003, and he was open to the fight.

[Prince Madison]

he'd have got found out against lewis. he picked the easiest title holder.

[robertzimmerman]

No, my point is that if you are going up you should fight one of the best. When Wilfred, Pernell, Oscar, Floyd, Holyfield, Toney, Ward, Pac, and now Crawford went up they fought the best. Fighting a Mike Tyson or Holyfield would've done wonders for Roy. He possibly could've won.

What on earth are you talking about?

Roy was already in his 3rd weight class at LHW.

Which fights did Floyd, Oscar and Ward ever fight which would have been similar to Roy going up and fighting Mike Tyson?

[robertzimmerman]

He didn't have a chance in hell, man. It is disrespectful to even suggest, honestly. Roy CANNOT take a punch. This is what we didn't know back in his prime when he was fighting taxi drivers and cops. He is not stupid and that's why he never moved up and fought either one of those guys.

Roy had a good chance of beating Evander in 2003.

[demigawd]

Dude started at 154 pounds and we are criticizing him for not fighting top heavyweights. This is how far gone we are with our expectations. If basketball fans were like us they would slam Jordan for not guarding Centers every game.

Anyway, at the time he moved up, Tyson was no longer relevant. Roy wanted a heavyweight title. Mike didn't have one, he just came off a loss to Lewis, and opted for a comeback fight against Etienne shortly before Roy's fight against Ruiz, which turned out to be the final win of Tyson's career.

Holyfield didn't have a title, either. After Jones won the title from Ruiz, he did challenge Holyfield, but Holyfield declined. I remember him giving an interview explaining why and he said something to the effect of "I don't want to spend 12 rounds running after a jackrabbit."

Anybody who faults Jones for not fighting Lennox Lewis is a moron.

Still, Jones' plan was to drop back down and dispatch of Tarver, then move back up for some big money fights against any named non-superheavy who makes him money, then retire as GOAT with $100m in the bank.

But Tarver derailed those plans with a strong performance in the first fight and the rest is history.

It was really that simple.

[RamBoVee]

UHHHH how about the time difference?

[Prince Madison]

...i'd give him 3 rounds max against lewis. lewis was an all time great and imo the best heavyweight of all time. roy knew his chin wouldnt have held up against him, we all saw what happened when tarver landed clean.

[Reloaded]

he'd have got found out against lewis. he picked the easiest title holder.

Found out lol like that he is half the size and wouldn't be able to reach his chin, you guys might think jumping all these weights means you can do it with anyone and give away unrealistic advantages to giants.

Pound for Pound and weighing the same Jones would KO Lewis.

[demigawd]

For the record, I would have given Roy odds over either that version of Tyson or that version of Holyfield. Holyfield went life and death with Ruiz and was Tysons superior. Jones absolutely dismissed Ruiz and Toney stopped Holyfield shortly after. Jones would have beaten them both, maybe even stopped them and today I would be on a thread called "why did Roy cherrypick Tyson and Holyfield?"