:-(( I'd say it would be Roys toughest fight. Toney might have been but he had to drop so much weight to make weight that he wasn't right and Nard wasn't prime yet.
Dont I recall Jones himself saying even at his prime it would have been a close fight going either way? SD to the winner. Toss up to whom it would have been.
have you ever seen a prime joe calzaghe? Joe had great power before his hands went to ****. and he was faster. and no joe was not in his prime when he dissmantled Lacy:good
Calzaghe has accomplished most in the Super middle so deserves to be the greatest supermiddle of all time. But Jone sis the greatest fighter to ever fight in that division. Jones if he was in a ruthless mode...pre Mcclelan would blow Joe away. Jones Post Mcclelan wins 116-111. Dropping Joe and losing a few later rounds due to inactivity. One thing about Calzaghe he is a brave SOB and will take his licks.
was he prime when he KOD china chinned charles brewer? David Starie? robin reid? if you are saying that KO power vs Beyern Michell was Ko power than w ehave issues. note: in jones Calzaghe figght ....Calzagh was leading by 1 rnd going into the 7th...I think jones was ahving a very good round 7 till he got cut....would have been interesting how the fight would have ended if he didnt get cut. He was landing some clean blows on Joe. Still think Joe would have won, but Jones may have made it alot closer. That stoppage though mitchell was hurt was a crap stoppage. Joe never had top power at world level.
While I see Roy winning 10 out of 10, I do believe Calzaghe would be the only fighter who would give Roy a fight at 168. Roy's speed advantage would be smaller than against any other fighter he faced. Calzaghe's relentlessness and workrate would give Roy uncomfortable moments and while he can be knocked down while off - balance, he has an iron chin. If Montell Griffin could put up a fight against RJJ, Calzaghe certainly can do it as well.
Prime for prime RJJ was simply in another class. He was a H2H terror and he beats Calzaghe by wide UD.
Lets not forget Jones was P4P for a decade over 4 divisions...theres that stat for a reason. Joe only became a P4Per for 3-4 years....
Not sure Calzaghe fancied the fight much back then ('98 - '02).................it could have been a great fight. Calzaghe applies constant pressure and finishes strongly making it Jones toughest fight at 168 by far...............unless Roy manages to land a devastating KO punch like in the Virgil Hill fight.
Both fighters against each other in their prime at 168 would be a brilliant fight, too close to call in my opinion. It would no way be an easy night for RJJ. Calzaghe's relentless workrate, speed, power and style would in itself present problems for RJJ and vice versa. Remember, we're talking about prime v prime here, not a Roy Jones Junior who can only fight for 30 seconds per round or a Calzaghe with hands so brittle he had to change his punching technique in order not to keep breaking them. Both fighters were immensly quick, had great power and could adapt and change a fight in an instant, depending on the opponent. Shame we saw them fight above 168 and when they were both on the way down.