Could you argue that Roy Jones was the greatest athlete of all time?

He was a better athlete!

 

No.

What about Phelps, Fish, Jordan, Jim Thorpe, Gretzky, Bolt etc etc and I'm probably missing quite a few.

What seperates the above from RJJ is that they competed against the best of their time consistantly, Roy didn't.

 

LOL Bailey of CANADA was the worlds faster man @ 100 and had the world record at the time! Remember they ran that special race @ 150 and Bailey was spanking his ass and so he decided to pull up lame! Johnson was great but fact the is the 100m record holder and champ is the WORLDS FASTEST MAN. Yes, 19.32 was impressive but he wasn't even the best in his era so you cannot compare.

 

Roy Jones should stop fighting. He's hurting himself and his legacy now. He will never be as great as he used to be so no more fights please.

 

Yes

 

Jordan never could dominate oponets like roy
Roy would go be perfect.
How the **** is that evdn possible?
Some nights roy wouldnt get hit......

 

Numerous times per year throughout his career Jordan would be up against the best, the same can't be said for Roy.

 

Bingo!

 

Before he went to heavyweight his chin was pretty good
[ame]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UEtWnFFaZs[/ame]

 

A lot of you guys are confusing athleticism with greatness. Jordan, Gretsky, Bolt, Phelps etc... Are greater in their respective sports, but for sheer athleticism Jones is slightly ahead of anyone I've seen.

 

its hard to judge across sports . . . in boxing within in the last 20 years only no one is close. The problem for roy is not that he didnt face the top comp like the rest, its that he never master the art of boxing. I see him as a bit of waste of talent because of that . . . he will never be in the discussions over who is the GOAT like the others because of this

 

I would rank Deon and Bo above the rest . . . it was to bad Bo got hurt cause he could have been a legend in both sports. I remember when he ran over that hype job Bosworth . . . i was like WOW! I think Deon could have played Basketball and I believe both had Olympic sprinting speed . . . I think Bo was a bit faster and I think he made the olympic track squad, but i could be wrong

 

From WordReference.com dictionary
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/athleticism

Since english is not my first language and seeing some of these post saying stuff like yeah X, Y and Z guy are great in their sports but talking athleticism, RJJ is the best, I decide to go check for the definition of athleticism.

So it is: physically strong and fit

I dont know in that regard what RJJ then do to beat all these other great athletes.

 

True. They are two different things. This topic is about pure athleticism.

 

Boxing, RJJ has to be one of the most athletic ever.

All sports? I doubt it. People forget RJJ tried his luck in pro basketball. If he was that athletic, he could have made a dent in the USBL (United States Basketball League) as a 5'11 point guard. He didn't.