Roy Jones Jr was a very talented Light Heavyweight Champion with speed of hand, and used angles to perfection but I do not buy that his prime ended early enough to be defeated by an Antonio Tarver. The fact that he did not have longevity on his side prevents him from beating the past greats. Excuses will abound when many do not want to accept reality. Yvon Durelle was a very strong light heavyweight that came close to defeating then champion Archie Moore in Dec 1958. Roy with his speed could out box Durelle at the outset of this contest as Yvon is slow afoot. But Jones has to be weary of the former fisherman's power, Roy will be hurt several times during this fight but will emerge with a unanimous 15 round verdict victory.
O don't know if RJJ recovers from the right hand he had Moore hurt with. But he may not land it on Jones.
Going back from HW to LHW ruined Roy, especially at that age. So yes, his prime ended early enough. Prime Roy is nigh on invincible.
I mean watch the rest of the 2 Moore-Durrelle fights. Durrelle gets completely schooled by a 42 year old Archie. I can't see him getting anywhere near a Prime Jones who was so much faster and harder to hit than Archie
When compared to past greats Roy's lack of longevity hurts him? Really?? 25 world title fights over a period of 11 years. In the Top-3 of Ring's P4P list 10 years in a row. Pretty decent longevity, if you ask me.
I don't think that RJJ could have taken the beating that Archie Moore took from Durelle in Montreal in December 1958...and survive...
Yes but I am only referring to his longevity as a Light Heavyweight Champion, not at other weight classes, do you think that Antonio Tarver could have ended the long reign of someone like a Matthew Saad Muhammad or a Bob Foster? In my own opinion do not think so, he ended Roy's though.
If you talk about a 4-division champion's longevity... I find it a bit strange, that you would restrict that to just one of the divisions. I would have thought, the longevity of a boxer refers to his prime years. Anyway, Jones was reigning LH champion longer than both Muhammad and Foster - so even if we only look at LH, how does Jones' longevity suffer in comprison with Foster and Muhammad (who only held the crown for 2 years, 8 month - not really a "long reign" at all)?
