How much (if at all) did Roy Jones's losses change your view of him, ATG?

Roy Jones DOMINATED the boxing world for well over a decade.
He spanked James Toney easily.......only for people to say it was Toneys lack of discipline with his weight that allowed Roy to win so easily.
He outboxed Bernard Hopkins in a fght that he was never close to losing.......... yet people love to point out that t was because Hopkins was still "green".
Jones turned pro in 1989 and did not lose till 1997 when basically a boxer put on a great acting job to gain a victory and then got crushed in the rematch.
Tarver would have given Roy problems- tall southpaw who can punch but to say Jones who was around 35 years of age was in or close to his prime is just ridiculous.
And the funny thing? Roy BEAT Tarver the first time and you could clearly see Roy was no longer in his prime.

 

Dropping back down to successfully defend against Tarver was a huge risk, whether or not via MD. He was the undisputed LHW Champion. Declare victory and get out for good! He'd won titles from MW to HW like Fitz. Get out! Let the fans speculate. Just say you were fortunate to get the decision over Tarver, but that you're getting older and dropping back down to 175 from 193 was too much of a strain. Nothing left to prove or gain by sticking around. Make easy money by being a crossover celebrity like Foreman or Tyson. He blew it, pure and simple.

 

I remember watching the first fight against Tarver and thinking Tarver definitely has the tools to trouble Jones but also Jones does not look good.
Jones was blessed with extreme reflexes that cannot be taught and most people do not possess.
When you lose say even 15% of that through age that is going to have a dramatic impact on you.
And as you get up in age the reflexes continue to erode.

 

Yes he did

 

Wait until you find out how old Tarver was.

 

Yes but to be fair RJJ had fought double the amount of professional fights as Tarver, although i agree Tarver always poses a stylistic problem for RJJ. Whilst i'm a big fan of RJJ i don't agree with the notion that a prime RJJ dominates Tarver.

Tarver was a Southpaw very good counter puncher and had KO power in that left hand, i think people forget RJJ looked beatable vs Eric Harding and was dropped and visibly hurt by Lou Del Valle what do they all have in common ? Southpaw stance.

 

Tarver used to smoke crack and had worse injuries in the first Harding fight than Roy had in his career. +hundreds of am fights.

 

Did he actually ? i never knew that so he was like Pinklon Thomas then ? but he actually managed to beat the habit in the end and not let it effect his career.

 

He used to smoke crack before he decided to take boxing seriously. He then put together the great am career, but that’s part of why he turned pro late and fought in the 96 Olympics instead of 92. Thomas took up boxing to kick heroin.

 

It does not matter because Tarver had what 21 fights and Roy had double that? Roy had been a pro for almost 10 years before Antonio had even turned pro.
People fail to realize how much pro boxing really takes its toll on the fighters because they never actually see it close up- the hard sparring,the countless injuries etc.

 

What Roy is never credited with is his boxing IQ which was also extremely high.
As a commentator he was quick to point out other things people were not aware of.
I have seen boxers in person and I have never seen a boxer like Roy that had that blend of power and speed- I almost would feel sorry for his opponents.

 

And Tarver had the kind of am career that burns a lot of fighters out.

You can have whatever opinion you want, but you can’t change the facts that Del Valle dropped Roy with the same shot Tarver landed and that Roy struggled with Harding—two southpaws who were worse than Tarver and had none of the power.

Now take five minutes of your life to watch the footage leading up to the ko and try to tell yourself that Roy wasn’t having an “on” night.

 

Learn the sport of boxing first before you comment on things.
Eric Harding beat the hell out of Tarver even BROKE Tarvers jaw and dropped Tarver remember?
Or did you forget that they fought TWICE?
At what point of the Harding bout was Roy looking like he was going to lose? Because at times Roy looked bored and yet he still stopped Harding.
Del Valle was a pretty good pro with pretty good pop in his lefthand who also dropped Virgil Hill who had a pretty good chin.
Other then that one punch Roy won that fight easily.
Tarver was an amateur for a long time because while he was very talented Tarver was extremely undisciplined and would even quit boxing and then comeback. As a matter of fact Tarver was known as a headcase and there is a reason why he did not turn pro until well into his twenties - I think he was 27/28 when he turned pro.
Donald Curry. Johnny Bumphus. Bernard Taylor. Those boxers had OVER 400 amateur fights. And they were crammed in a very short time.
Antonio had about 165 amateur fights spread out over 13 years with multiple year long breaks from boxing hardly the "lengthy" amateur career of a Curry,Bumphus, or a Taylor.
Jones had about 136 amateur bouts by the way in a much shorter time span then Tarver had with his fights.
There was a reason why alot of trainers did not want to work with Tarver when he first turned pro.
And it wasn't because Tarver was not talented because he was but he was a pain to work with and was known for not putting in the work.
Tarver in my opinion would always give Roy a problem because of his style height and reach.
But Tarver would never beat a prime Jones.