Are there any fighters in history you think could beat a prime Roy Jones?

It was clear Roy was bigger than the belts. They weren't really. It's why he had that HBO deal and they didn't. If he dropped the belts then he would of no doubt picked better opponents for himself than the governing bodies were handing him. He wouldn't have dared put up some of those guys as opponents without the bodies as shields.

 

Butterbean after SLIMFAST diet

 

I think Ward may have a better chance at getting inside than you think especially if the fight is at 175. First Ward is extremely skilled, he knows how to navigate the waters of the ring. Second, RJJ is a hard puncher, but he's a speed based power kind of guy. He punches you and it stings, it causes flash knockdowns especially because he's so fast you don't often see it coming. But he's not a heavy handed power type who gloves thud and who's punches take away your energy and damage you permanently for the remainder of the fight. He hits you and it's more like a stinger, it discombobulates you, and can shut off the lights. But it's not heavy power that has a lasting effect on your body for multiple rounds.

 

If he'd have dropped the belts, yes, he could have fought better opponents than some of his mandatories, but he still wouldn't have got fights with the big names he missed out on.

We'd have just seen more keep busy fights against the likes of Gonzalez and Harmon etc.

Dariusz and Bernard etc still wouldn't have been interested, and lesser fighters would have fought to try and win the vacant titles, before then fighting their own mandatories had they have obtained them.

Pointless.

Roy would have sat back and watched guys pick up his old belts, some of whom may have been guys who he'd already beaten.

The division would have been in chaos, and it would have done absolutely nothing for Roy's career.

It's okay to look at Roy's mandatories and to see who he missed out on. But again, you also have to look at other fighter's mandatories, and then look at if those missed opponents were viable fights. Because I can assure you that many of them weren't.

Every fighter wants to be a champion. Roy was no different to anyone else. Every fighter has a goal. Roy didn't hide behind those belts. He didn't want to win those belts, just so he could have easy mandatories after. Look at his history. He moved up from MW and dropped his belt to fight Toney at SMW. He then moved to LHW and dropped his IBF, SMW belt, when he couldn't unify against Benn and Liles. Now if he'd have wanted an easy ride, he could have just stayed at SMW, where I'm certain he could have equalled or surpassed the reigns of Bernard and Calzaghe. At 34, he then went up to HW for Ruiz, before dropping back to LHW for Tarver. And that was after HBO and his advisors had done all they could to land fights against Dariusz and Bernard. Those were not the actions of a man who was content for an easy ride against lowly opposition.

 

Roy had 2 one punch knock outs at LHW.

He took out Griffin with a lead uppercut, and he was the only man to ever knock out Virgil Hill.

Roy had genuine power. But he had hand troubles when he was in his 30's, and he was more than content to cruise without really pressing for stoppages.

If he'd have fought every opponent in the same mindset that he was in against Griffin in the rematch, then I'm certain that he'd have scored many more big knockouts. He was a puncher at the weight.

I'm a huge fan of Andre's, but I think Roy's speed would have been too much for him. I think it would have been a cautious/boring U/D.

 

The thing is I think by racking up those poor mandos he made himself look like a lazy champ happy to feast on mandos - hence the reluctant Roy 'myth' being such a popular opinion amongst his detractors. That wouldn't of happened with a better level of competition. We'd purely be talking about why the biggest fights didn't get made.

The other positive that could of come out with freeing up the belts would be the occasional credible threat emerging from the 'chaos' with legit confidence that they might actually be the man in the division. Anyway I understand why he did what he did so am talking with hindsight and plenty of potential benefits rather any guarantees.

 

Sugar 88,

Only to the uneducated.

He didn't look like a lazy champ when HBO's Kerry Davis tried in vain to land him a fight against Dariusz.

He didn't look like a lazy champ when HBO and Roy's advisors offered Bernard $6m for a C-W in 2002.

He didn't look like a lazy champ when he fought Ruiz and Tarver.

He didn't look like a lazy champ when he fought Harding who'd beaten Tarver.

Again, when a guy unifies the division and has obtained all of the belts, then anybody who knows anything about boxing knows that unless he gives up the titles, he has mandatory obligations from all of the org's. HBO knew that when they were pushing for the fight against Reggie Johnson.

How many low level mandatories did he actually fight at LHW? They were only a handful.

Even if he'd have dropped the belts and not fought guys like Frazier and Kelly etc, he'd still have been criticised for fighting the likes of Harmon and Gonzalez instead of Dariusz and Bernard.

Who were the credible threats?

Personally, if the belts had been freed up, I think Roy would have fought less.

The guys who he fought as keep busy fights such as Gonzalez, probably wouldn't have wanted to have fought him. Because they would probably have have wanted to have been in the mix with everyone else instead.

 

He beat McCallum in his 34th fight. As for Nunn, he got knocked out by Toney who was then soundly beaten by Roy. Nunn got beat by Liles, Little, and Rocchigiani too. If they could turn the trick then Roy would have savaged him.

 

Well, Roy was hittable. You'd have to think that prime versions of guys like Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, Ezzard Charles etc. would have a shot. Maybe even a lefty like Moorer.

 

not suggesting he'd have "no chance". the US networks surely would have warmed to the match if he had a US profile

 

how hard would it have been to get a few decent fights under his belt in the US?
this is a common theme during hopkins' and jones' reign regarding European fighters

this is a topic that bites bailey hard especially, because he knows that Calzaghe doomed himself by being a frank warren fighter. we only have to look at amir khan and ricky hatton, for example, to see how a fighter can set up his dream fights by leaving warren, crossing the pond, and earning their shot at elite fighters in their prime

golovkin is another great example
does anyone really think his career was going to take off while he was in the stable of felix 'king of the paper belts' sturm? of course not.
and surprise, surprise - look at how golovkin's career took off once he crossed the pond

 

Obviously quite a few fighters "could" have beaten him. But really here what we are talking about is who would beat RJJ more than 50% of the time.

At 168 or below, I think hes the favorite prime vs prime against anyone in history, even SRR. Robinson was more naturally a MW. I think that is super close, but i give Roy a slight edge. I realize RJJ wasnt a MW long, but we are talking prime for prime. As for Greb, honestly we are all guessing there.

At 168 hes a wide favorite over everyone. I dont want to hear about Joe Cal, Prime Roy is another animal.

At 175 its tougher to say. Quite a few guys have a decent shot, like Ezzard charles, Archie Moore, Foster, Spinks, etc.

I will say, tho, that watching Jones in his prime, he was the greatest fighter ive ever seen in real time. Im almost 50, and I remember prime SRL, Hagler, Floyd. The two best fighters I ever saw were Jonesand young Iron Mike. Tyson's prime was so short its hard to rank him historically. But Jones didnt lose until he was around 35. I believe he is top 10-15 PFP all time, I think I had hm at 12 when i tried to make a list.

He was so good that reputable boxing people were honestly discussing if he could beat Holyfield at HW. The idea that he could be the GOAT, right up there with Robinson, Armstrong, etc., was realistically being bandied about in his prime. And i dont mean by guys at the barber shop. I mean knowledgable boxing people.

Fastest hands ive ever seen. Power, strenght, speed, reflexes. Incredible fighter. His devestating shut out of Toney was amazing.

I wish hed quit.I hope his next fight is truly his last.

 

Mike was almost 40 when Roy fought him at LHW.

I'm looking at the best versions of Mike from when he was at MW in the late 80's-early 90's.


Nunn was faded when he fought the likes of Rocchigianni.

It doesn't matter to me that Toney beat him, then Roy easily beat Toney. We all know about triangle theories in boxing.

A prime version of Nunn would have given Roy huge stylistic problems.

 

Joe never wanted to go to the U.S. and fight the likes of Roy earlier in his career. He was comfortable doing what he was doing.

Eubank was the same and he's been honest enough to admit that over the years.

Nigel did cross the pond for DeWitt and Barkley, and he would have fought Roy. The issue was Don King. Both Frank W and Don King had a contract with Nigel. King's fighters were with Showtime, and he had a deep dislike of Roy's advisors, the Levin brothers. And the feeling was mutual. They didn't trust King. According to them, King always wanted options on Roy, that they and Roy would never agree to. Also, Roy had an exclusive contract with HBO.

 

Anyone could, only takes one good punch.

But as for would, below 175 there's no one I'd pick.