Why was did Roy Jones Jr. decline dramatically after the Tarver rematch fight?

Crazy how Roy fought almost as long post-Tarver II as he did pre-Tarver II. In the past I’ve looked at the record of guys like Langford and co and thought their fans were just making excuses for all these losses. Why would they fight another decade plus past their sell by date? Then you’d realize there’s actually several guys you grew up watching in the same boat.

 

Yeah, look at Holyfield, he fought more years past his prime than prime. His past prime stage spans about 17 years.

 

Ohhh whoopy-doo.

 

Well at his best he was unbeatable and getting caught once is not the crux but it kept happening....

 

He became shell shocked more or less. Old Roy getting wailed away at leaning on the ropes became his version of the fetal position.

 

I can't really see how this has become a discussion about his chin. If you're off balance and caught flush by the best punch by a huge puncher at the weight, you will get iced, or at best get up to be stopped shortly after.

 

He was knocked out heavily two fights in a row. If his chin had been great that might not have happened.

 

Same as most old fighters he slowed down and his legs could no longer get him out of trouble.

 

It's happens look at Ray Leonard he looked terrible against Norris after dropping back down to junior Middleweight. Also he couldn't take a punch against feather fisted Camacho.

 

Roy Jones had been slowing down for a few years but no one cared to notice because he was still a step ahead and a level above the competition.

 

Mackie Shilstone says that the scales weren’t calibrated properly when he weighed in at 193 pounds. So he then asked for Mark Ratner of the NSAC to re-weigh him, and that when he did, it registered 199 pounds. It’s documented in the ‘Sweet Science’ documentary which covered the build up to the Ruiz fight.

Roy never weighed anywhere near 190 pounds in the ring for his LHW fights. The most he weighed was 185 for Tarver. Most of his LHW fights saw him weigh in the low 180’s in the ring, especially the ones where he weighed in at under 175. In some of those, he didn’t even weigh 180 when HBO weighed him just before the fights.

The main point, is that he was solid for Ruiz with a low percentage of body fat. You can clearly see a big difference in his physique if you watch the Ruiz fight. And whatever he weighed for Ruiz, he had to burn muscle to get back down to 175. Like you’ve already noted, he didn’t lose 25 pounds of muscle. But it had to have been in the region of 10 pounds, and it was done in a hurry within just a few months.

Regarding Tarver, yes, he was in his late 30’s. But he turned pro late, so he’d only had just over 25 fights when he fought Hopkins.

Regarding Dawson, he was only young and he couldn’t lose the weight. John Scully had a nightmare with him in camp. I’ve spoken to John online about the ordeal they had.

Chris Byrd fell apart against Shaun Byrd when he dropped back to LHW.

That’s 4 fighters who all struggled after burning muscle, where they all said that on the night of the fight that they were completely devoid of energy. And you can see in the Tarver fight that Roy was exhausted. So along with Mackie Shilstone saying that losing muscle can have an effect on the immune system, they must be something in it. Some fighters just don’t seem the same afterwards. It takes something from them. Although like I’ve said earlier, I think with Roy that it was a culmination of things. But the weight was definitely a significant factor.

 

How is it an excuse?

He was clearly drained in the first Tarver fight. He was running on fumes for the last 3 rounds. His tank was empty. He was exhausted.

In the rematch, he was caught with a great shot.

I think that those 2 fights had an effect on his punch resistance, as well as his once supreme level of confidence and his slowing reflexes due to his age.

Like a member has already noted, it was the perfect storm.

 

Roy probably didn’t even lose 10 pounds of muscle when you factor in fat and water weight.

You’re cherry picking examples and proving nothing. Oscar, Pacquiao, Mayweather, Mikey Garcia, Canelo and others have all moved down in weight and done fine. There is almost zero evidence that moving up for a single fight will turn a pfp number 1 fighter into a pfp nothing.

Roy’s stamina and legs were a little off in the first Tarver fight and it ends there.

 

He was timed by a perfect shot in the rematch. It was great. But he didn’t look anything like the same fighter in the first fight as what he’d done previously. Yes, Tarver was a tough match up stylistically. But he was exhausted in their first fight even though it wasn’t fought at a frenetic pace.

 

Think before you type.