Why wasn't Roy Jones Jr. - James Toney More Competitive?

I remember James stating he had to lose an enormous amount of weight the week b4 the fight. I can't remember if it was 20 or 40 lbs. Of course if that's the case it's his own fault. Biggest fight of his life and that's how he handles it lol.

 

237. Two lbs heavier than the fight before, and four respectively two heavier than the fights with Peter. So pretty much the same weight for four fights in a row, three of them big fights. Quite predictable, I'd say.

 

Well thats on him if true.

No one made him be a fat unprofessional slob. If he lets himself go that much leading into the biggest fight of his career then he’s an imbecile and deserved the whipping he got.

I’ve got no sympathy for him and I’ll continue to give Jones props for the win. Fancy getting your self in shape for Anthony Hembrick and Prince Charles Williams but letting yourself go for prime RJJ! What a ****ing idiot lol

 

Both these men were magnificent and frustrating in their own respective ways.

Why didn't Jones just take his talent and go for broke?

Why didn't Toney develop a work ethic?

Both are great, but both should have been much more.

 

I can agree with that.However, the previous poster was suggesting that the Toney from theJones fight was the same than the Toney from the Williams or Barkley fights, which is BS

 

Gansta got gangsta'd.

 

I've actually not seen this fight or Jones Hopkins 1. Are they worth checking out?

 

So many of Toneys losses get excused because of him being lazy maybe those guys that beat him were just better?

 

I always hate this excuse because its always the boxers fault

 

Depends on the losses. Most of his "losses" were close fights he arguably won until he was old with the only exception being the Jones fight.

 

Agree with this take 100%. As a Brit, I thought at the time that Calzaghe wanted no part of Jones when RJJ was on top. Jones was light years ahead. It's no accident they didn't fight until Jones had clearly diminished. You get the same morons saying Roy 'always had a glass jaw ' or that Danny Green beat a 'near prime ' Jones ... despite it being palpably clear that Jones was never the same fighter after 2003. It's like saying a peak Tyson would always lose to Kevin McBride or Berbick always had Muhammad Ali's number. Yes, Roy's fall was dramatic and sharp. His style aged very badly beyond age 34. But you can't deny that from 1994 - 2003 he was the best fighter in the world by a considerable distance.

 

If he was or not it made no difference against Williams and Barkley he was fighting guys made for him to shine, aggressive guys who came to him and he could just sit and counter not to mention that those guys were not in the same stratosphere as Roy when it comes to skill and talent. Roy unlike those two was all wrong for Toney and not even the best version of Toney would come close to beating Roy to do that he had to be a different fighter with other characteristics.