Did Roy Jones losing 20 lbs of muscle factor in him losing...

it's not an excuse per say.

Roy Jones should of retired after the Ruiz fight or the first Tarver fight. He clearly was not the same.

For the 2nd fight it was still effecting him, his body took damage in the process of what he did to himself. He got slower a slight bit sluggish. Not the same. It's a reason why he dropped from looking like an ATG to an okay fighter.

 

This is where i believe that psychology has a lot to do with a fighters ability to take a punch, recover and continue. Lets consider these factors:


*Emotional and psychological state
*Memories
*Attitude
*Expectations
*Beliefs and values
*Age
*Sex
*Social and cultural influences

After Roy fought and defeat John Ruiz and won the WBA Heavyweight title, he achieved pretty much everything he could in boxing. So keeping that in mind you can imagine what kind of affect that could have had on his passion/desire and valves.

I think a combination of weight loss, age and psychology is what turned Roy from a superstar to an ordinary fighter.

Just my thought.

 

No one thought it was "obvious" coming into the fight, when he was an 8-1 favorite and widely expected to win even easier than the first fight.

Nor did anyone think it was "obvious" as the fight was unfolding, and Roy looked like he was on his way to shutting Tarver down.

It's just an assumption that because he unexpectedly lost, there must be an excuse - and this happens to be the most convenient one.

I have no doubt Roy was slipping around this time, but no more than the usual decline suffered by fighters at this stage in their career. Perhaps a time to consider his options, but not a cause for total panic.


This whole story is just emblematic of a common mentality among many boxing fans today. The more decisively a fighter gets beat, the bigger they think the excuse must be, when in fact the opposite should be true: the worse a fighter gets beat, the less excusable the loss should be.


Anyway, Roy could settle this all by getting in the ring with Tarver and Johnson and whupping their asses. THAT's how a fighter validates his excuses.

 

I say yes, but no one forced him to move up and fight Ruiz

 

the weight affected RJJ definitely for the 1st fight...but RJJ did look better in the 2nd fight, altho he got caught with a by big shot Tarver thru while praying to God it would land...

 

im surprised that after 3 pages rico has'nt come into this thread yet.

 

There's a big difference in loosing, 20lbs of fat..to..20lbs of Muscle.

 

I think it's twofold.

Loosing the 20 lbs of muscle combined with the fact his style is just not fundamentally sound. His style was based on reflexes and athleticism to combine with his speed of hand and foot and as a result when he lost a step or two he didn't have a Hopkins' or Toney-esque skill set to fall back on, just hard lessons from the erosion of time.

 

ok, pay attention for the last time and quit listening to stupid **** on the boards.
roy fought clinton woods at 174 3/4 pounds
6 months later for
ruiz he weighed 193 punds.
right there that is only 18 1/4 pounds difference

now, when someone fights at 175 pounds, he doesnt walk around at 175 pounds.... they are drained down when they weigh in..... roy probably walks around at a minimum 185 pounds and thats a stretch. i would venture to say roy put on maybe 5 pounds of muscle and had to lose a total of 20 pounds period.
heres a tid bit of info...
YOU CANNONT GAIN 20 POUNDS OF MUSCLE IN 6 MONTHS
and you damn sure CANT lose 20 pounds of MUSCLE ....how do you lose muscle? cut it out? atschatschatsch

 

Stop thinking it was 193.

Roy weighed 200lbs, not 193.

 

Not now. It's way to late to validate that.

Excuse or whatever.

People act like (mainly Jones haters or Tarver fans) that somehow because Tarver beat him, he takes over Jones career. sorry but no, just because Tarver KOed Jones doesn't make him near the fighter Jones once was.

 

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Start watching at 3 minutes.

Mackie comments on it as well

http://www.**************/forum/index.php?topic=4006.0

 

http://www.aussiebox.com.au/jones.html

 

losing weight and age were the factors that has to be considered when RJJ first lost against Tarver. He wasn't able to adjust well, and his natural traits as a boxer diminished (he relies so much on athleticism during his prime that he does not need to be technically sound) so he got KTFO when Tarver caught him.