Would You Pick RJJ, Against Most Middleweight Champs?

Ridiculous strength and power Ferg.

 

Jones never fought any fighter with 1 punch KO power though, and Jones's chin may be a question mark even in his prime. But we never really see him get hit in his prime to judge, but I feel fighters like Hearns, McClellan, could definitely catch him. And it would be interesting to see if Jones's chin could hold up.

 

Roy, James Toney and Frankie Liles all rated Sosa as the hardest puncher they ever faced. Hard to imagine all three were overestimating his power after being in the ring with him.

 

Has he got 1 punch power KO though ? No. He hit plenty of fighters with everything but the kitchen sink, and never really stopped anyone of note apart from Prince Charles Williams. And even that was after a long drawn out war in the 10th round I believe ?

Fighters like Jackson, Hearns, McClellan, are far more dangerous proposition due to their 1 punch KO power. And with Jones's chin being a question mark, and with Jones's lack of fights against genuine KO artists. It's not a certainty he walks away from those fights without a loss.

 

Agreed. Hop and Toney both caught Roy - he was that quick that he didn't ship many punches but every fighter gets hit with something.

As much as Hearns poses real threat to Roy, Roy could equally clean his clock. G-Man is interesting because of his size and chin, but his defence and headmovement or lack of it, I wouldn't fancy him in the match up.

I do think his chin is likely to get cracked out of the elite fighters in and around this weight class, but only by the guys capable of offsetting his own mercurial talents. Guys like JJ, I can see a bigger Roy destroy tbh.

 

I would think Jones would be the favourite over them, but when you factor into he would have to fight 3 or 4 genuine 1 punch KO artists. And with Jones's chin being a question mark, I wouldn't bet on Jones walking away from all those fights undefeated.

 

Obviously not a certainty.

But Roy is a one-punch KO artist too. How many of those guys fought one-punch KO artists (and survived)?

Of the bigger threats at middleweight all-time, none of Monzon, Hagler nor Greb are one-punch guys. SRR was but he’s a welterweight moved up and Roy’s a lot bigger.

I also don’t see Roy’s chin as a major question mark. Maybe in the fact that he didn’t get hit a lot at middle, but the only time we saw him have any problems in that area was after moving up to heavy and coming back down to fight Tarver. Hearns, for instance, has a much more questionable chin. And Jackson also got KO’d at that weight. I don’t know how we consider McClellan given the brain damage situation.

I don’t think anyone in boxing history is completely unbeatable at any weight. Too many things can happen — cuts, a KO punch (even an average puncher occasionally takes out a sturdy-chinned guy by hitting him just right), hand injury, closed eye, etc. So no, Roy is not unbeatable at 160 or even 168. But he’s about as close to it as you can get IMO, and he’s a nightmare matchup for just about anyone given his ungodly speed to go with real power and reflexes.

 

As I mentioned before I don't think any fighter is unbeatable if plonked into a deep division. Technically he gives anyone trouble but what makes boxing so fun is the unexpected. We all know great fighters who lost to lesser opponents due to a clash of styles. On the surface he has the skills to comfortably outpoint anyone, I don't think there are any great middleweights who had his speed and reflexes. But I suspect there is someone in middleweight history who we have perhaps overlooked who may upset Jones on the right night, even at his peak.

I am not saying he loses to Marcel Thil but I think any of the established ATGs are just too good not to give them a chance, Hagler, Monzon etc. Also I wonder how some of the dirtier old timer punchers would do, Kid McCoy or Billy Papke anyone? Of course anyone with a mighty one punch power has a chance if they can land so we can throw in Rodrigo Valdez, Julian Jackson and Gerald McClellan for fun. Leonard and Hearns were not really at MW that long so find it very hard to judge how they would do.

 

At 168 I would say Jones is pretty much the best H2H fighter overall, as i think he was still a tad green at Middleweight. Plus theres alot less competition at 168.

As for Jones's chin ? Again it's funny one. I'm not entirely sure how good Jones's chin was in his prime. The best shot I see him take was being floored by Del Valle, and I think Tarver punch was just a freak punch, plus Tarver could actually hit hard with left hand, he's stopped fighters at Heavyweight.

 

Mysterious Billly Smith was a welterweight but he seems to have fought up around middle a time or two.

I state with utmost confidence that he could get DQ’d against Roy. He got DQ’d against far lesser fighters.

 

I will skip this thread because anytime some superstar loses, it is because they are supposedly past their prime even at 23. That is the biggest dodge in the world next to someone else made me do something.

 

Eddie McGoorty has the style to beat him ten out of ten times.

 

I agree JT. But in most of his big fights ( Duran , Leonard) Hagler and his brain trust used the wrong tactics. Against Hearns he/they absolutely got the tactics right. See the results.

 

Absolutely he did. Tho unexpected and game it was the way to go. Hearns was almost impossible to outbox and Hagler had some scar tissue built up around the eyes at this point.