Was Roy Jones overated ??

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Dance84, Feb 9, 2020.



  1. Dance84

    Dance84 Unicorn and seastar land Full Member

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    he is one of my favorite boxers i think highly of a prime roy jones jr.

    i might sound crazy here but i dont think there ever was a boxer alive that could match his attributes

    the way he beat toney one sided and his accomplishment at catching the belt at heavy against the bigger man.

    who were the fighters you felt could of beaten a prime Roy Jones Jr at any weight during his prime,

    what were some fighters you felt he avoided .

    i think highly of Roy Jones . just trying to see if i am overating him and by how much.

    what do you think was overated about Roy Jones his speed ? skills ? Opposition ?

    Any and all opinions are welcome. Just trying to see if there is something i missed.

    thanks,
     
  2. steve1990

    steve1990 Active Member Full Member

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    No he wasn't overrated he cleaned out 3 divisions and had to move up to heavyweight just to have a challenge. There were reasons Bernard Hopkins avoided a rematch with him in the early 2000's.
     
  3. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Not overrated. Up until his mid-30's, many were discussing him as a Top 10 ATG. He was considered as close to undefeatable as any boxer I can remember seeing or researching. And because his reflexes started to go at 34, people have contrived some counter narrative meant to disqualify his previous 14 years as a pro.
     
  4. surfinghb1

    surfinghb1 Member Full Member

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    Not overrated.. But needed to do more work, face the better comp., at 168 which hurts his ATG rankings imo …. He does that and is successful, then he is a shoe in on any all time top 15 ATG p4p list
     
  5. Gazelle Punch

    Gazelle Punch Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Exactly this.
     
  6. The Morlocks

    The Morlocks Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Roy Edelbert Jones was the Buffalo Bills of the 90s in boxing
     
  7. mrkoolkevin

    mrkoolkevin Never wrestle with pigs or argue with fools Full Member

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    He's now underrated, if anything.
     
  8. surfinghb1

    surfinghb1 Member Full Member

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    This is extremely funny !!!! Always entertained when reading your post Randle Patrick
     
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  9. steve1990

    steve1990 Active Member Full Member

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    He fought way too long and got some L's that he shouldn't of.
     
  10. Bronze Tiger

    Bronze Tiger Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Not overrated...and a lot more just an athletic guy with natural ability
     
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  11. DavidBarnes

    DavidBarnes Member banned Full Member

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  12. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Jones jr was a amazing talent. One of the most talented athletes to ever grace a boxing ring, maybe the most talented ( Of course Ali is in the running) But break his opponents down and what do we have? His biggest wins were J.Toney and B.Hopkins, Toney was beginning to be lackadaisical at this point of his career, Hopkins was an unknown and green ( But honestly I'd pick prime Jones Jr. Over any version of Hopkins, whom in my opinion is VASTLY overrated. )
    His other name victories were a well past prime McCallum, a overrated Hil who was defeated by ancient version of T Hearns prior to his loss to Jones. Hills record looks good, but it really isn't.
    The rest, Tate,Griffith, Wolfe , Johnson are decent fighters but far from special.
    What are we left with? A bunch of good journeyman, or club fighters at the most. Even the Heavyweight he managed to defeat. But absolutely nothing special, and in some cases, not even good.
    How do we judge Jones career?
    We can't say he would've had the same success against fighters considered ATG's because he never faced a prime ATG.
    Could he have beaten a prime ATG Like Hagler, Monzon, or Robinson? He could've with his immense physical talent. But ATG fighters needed more than being a great athlete to defeat, one must be a great FIGHTER to defeat that level of talent.
    Jones never did that. So yes , he is possibly the greatest athlete to ever put on boxing gloves.
    But , to be a great FIGHTER, usually required a lot more, which he didn't prove.
    He was spectacular, an absolute joy to watch.
    But their are no scalps on his ledger close to Robinson, Monzon, Hagler or even Tiger.
    So he could've been the absolute greatest. But he never came close to proving it as far as his competition is concerned......
    But same can be said of MANY fighters in history like Tyson, Curry, Camacho that looked absolutely undeafeatable in their career at a point.
    So yes in my mind at least , your overrated him.
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2020
  13. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    I think there was a time when fans and experts got a tad carried away their perceived level of his greatness. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say he was overrated. Today he might even be a bit under appreciated if anything. He captured belts in four weight classes and was a long standing champion in one of them. In his travels he beat Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, John Ruiz, Antonio Tarver and aged but still competitive versions of Mike McCallum and Virgil Hill. His one missing component was never facing Darius Michaelzewski who more or less claimed lineage and made it to 48-0. His sharp decline was also likely hastened by his weight jumping from light heavy to heavy and back down again in such a short duration.
     
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  14. Richmondpete

    Richmondpete Real fighters do road work Full Member

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  15. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    If Jones's reputation isn't quite what it might have been then this is part of the reason for it:
    https://www.si.com/vault/1996/06/24...roy-jones-jr-took-moonlighting-to-a-new-level

    This is a prime Roy Jones. Sure, the super middleweight division was probably a little barren at that point (Benn and Eubank had lost their titles and were on the slide) but there were still better fighters than Eric Lucas out there.
     
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