Roy Jones Jr. vs. Ken Norton...

If Norton landed on jones I would think he would put him in the upper level but Jones was very quick. Not to make a monster out of Ruiz but he was probably as big as Norton and definitely more awkward. It would have been nice to see jones fight Holyfield instead of Ruiz but nothing should surprise anyone about Jones. His fall from grace was fast and furious but he was something I've never seen in boxing when he was at his best. jones could have faced Norton and Ruiz at LH.

 

I'd say Norton was way more awkward than basic John Ruiz. His cross armed defence makes him an odd enough opponent for Roy to approach, his arching overhand right the kinda' shot to catch someone with a low slung left hand.

And Roy's reflexes against Ruiz were not quite as cat like as in the lower weights.

 

Norton was better conditioned, smarter, stronger, and had better punch selection than Ruiz. He specialized in beating the speedy boxers. His good jab, brutal body shots, and hard left hook and over hand right enabled him to work his way without getting tagged hard much yet at the same time put in his own good work.

I just see nothing Jones could really do beat Norton.

 

The guy who's 6'3" with an 80" reach and very ripped at about 220 Lbs.

Norton had good overall skills, a good jab, good stamina... and he showed it going the distance with the likes of Ali x3, Holmes, and Young among others. Jones doesn't have the size, strength, or punching power to bother Norton.

Jones does have good speed, accuracy, and defense. Would it be enough? Could Jones handle a few good shots from Norton?

Norton was a better boxer than Ruiz and he had more power. He'd land more punches than Ruiz did on Jones and they'd be harder.

Norton by late round stoppage in a good fight.

 

Jones as a LH spent many of his training camps sparring Alfred Cole who was probably comparable in size to Norton but certainly not as good. Point being the idea of Jones just getting run over because of the size diff is false.

 

Not as good or as dangerous a fighter as Norton as you say.

And sparring isn't the same.

Again, which fighters weighing over 200lbs has Roy stopped?

 

When you spar a heavyweight you get more comfortable with the size and strength. He only faced one as a pro, so how do you judge? Ruiz was proven to be pretty tough after the Tua fight. He really adapted to an awkward defensive grappling style and Jones stung him pretty good if I remember correctly.

Jones didnt even need to move up to heavyweight weight to fight at heavy, he should have stayed around 180 and used his speed.

IMO, Jones would have beat the **** out of a 240 pound Hasim Rahman who was slow as a sloth. Jones' deal was speed and the ability not to get hit and he could have boxed circles around Rahman. Ruiz happened to be pretty quick for a heavy with his jab and righthand and he still couldnt find the mark on Jones so I think he would have done well with bigger slower guys, but if the power was landed he would have been knocked out. Jones wasnt even a particularly big LH so even at that weight had guys landed on him he would have been in trouble. Light hitting Lou DelValle probably landed the best shot on Jones prior to Tarver taking him out and Jones was hurt badly but got up and got his **** together, but it just showed that Jones could be flattened if he was hit cleanly, but it rarely if ever happened prior to that fight.

 

Yeah I know all about Jones, my point is if you can't judge him off one fight at heavy how can you judge him to beat a heavyweight of Norton's calibre? Surely the door swings both ways?

Also, I agree there are guys he could outmanoeuvre; I do not agree he could take out Norton.

 

Yes, Jones specialized in beating the slow, ponderous guys who would fling single hail mary shots at him. Norton is not one of those guys. Norton had trouble with the massively powerful and hard hitting guys that forced him backwards when he didn't want to go back. Jones would not be able to do that to Norton. Just as Jones specialized in picking apart the slow guys, Norton specialized in landing big punches on the quicker and evasive guys.

Norton is a terrible, terrible match up for Roy at heavyweight and P4P.

 

I didnt pick Jones to win I said I wouldnt be surprised if Jones caught him because Norton has been down and out in several fights. He was first knocked out by a 188 pounder.

 

As I said, why wouldn't you be surprised when:

-Apart from once it was massive heavyweight punchers that stopped Kenny

-Roy hasn't stopped anyone of Ken's size?

Just seems an out of the box pick.

 

You've never been to the Boxed Ears Traveling Road Show, Burlesque, and Apothecary?

 

I agree to an extent and wouldn't pick a KO for Jones, although the irony is many pick Dempsey who weighed the same as Jones while being a less explosive puncher to blow Norton out the water but then laugh at the thought of Jones ko'ing Norton.

He's only fought 1 HW so these points are a tad moot. The one 230lb HW he did fight he stunned/hurt while boxing reasonably conservatively. I don't think a conservatively boxing Jones would KO Norton, but I do think he can stun him

 

A prime Norton's Ko's Roy Jones...