Stupid thread, of course he is. I have him in the top ten. The man defeated 15+ current, past or furtue champions and won titles in 4 weight classes. He was P4P the best for 10 years. Roughly 10 % of boxing history. Keith
To save typing, this is from another thread: Roy Jones jnr won every bout at the Olympics in 1988 and was robbed of a gold (payback for some US 'judging' in LA). He went on to a near perfect professional career, defeating legendary ATG and Hofer Bernard Hopkins for a middlewt title in his 22nd outing at age 24. At 25, he beat another legend and ATG HoFer, undefeated James Toney (by shutout) to capture a title at SMW. After a loss by DQ (where he was (rightfully) penalized for being a little too aggressive after a KD), he avenged the loss with a very focused first round KO of undefeated Montel Griffin. This gave him a light heavywt title at 28. After picking up two more belts at light heavy, he went on to capture a piece of the heavywt title at 34. This was a first for a middlewt in more than a century. In a career that spanned 49 fights till that point, he held victories over Hopkins, Toney, Griffin, McCallum, Hill and Ruiz. And he completely dominated most of his opponents, including ultra-slick Toney, losing very few rounds over that period. Consider his legacy, had he retired after defeating Ruiz. But he didn't. He could have even retired largely undefeated after his 50th fight, where he recaptured the Lightheavywt crown from Tarver, two months shy of 35. Think of his legacy at that point.
I can't believe there are newbies that even ASK that these days. Youtube is full of his fights, interviews and many other stuff. You no longer need a proper connection to download either, just view.
ATG If you hold his late career against him than you have to hold that against every ATG who fought for too long.
he was quite entertaining in his prime. To be honest I have a lot of respect for his work the last few years: he's shown balls, guts and a desire to overcome odds recently - I admire him for this. He's a definite Hall of Famer. To be called an ATG is a big accolade, I'm not sure if he quite qualifies, I'm ready to be persuaded either way. His performance against a pre-Burger King Toney was very good, but is it enough?
He looked really great in his prime and picked up titles in four division. But other than Hopkins and Toney HBO kept him on a strictly-bum-diet: Frazier, Lucas, Telesco and all those names don't make you an ATG. So I'm not sure actually...
How can yu eve ask that question really?? lets say for argument sake he BEAT Danny Green like he was spose to ...he beat Calzaghe like he was spose to ...he beat Tarver and Johnson like he was spose to ...he still be same age ..wud he still be too old ... Dude the fact he lost these fights is one thing ..BUT the fact WE all thought at the time because of his ability achievements and downright superlativeness that he should have won them ..is tribute in itself ... Definate ALL TIME GREAT !!! the question should not even be raised ... Thats like say Cos ALi lost to Holmes and Berbick then he was less great !!! Im sorry I know yu playing Devils Avocate and sparking a decent convo ..but this is a no brainer Who wud yu put in his place as ATG and deny him a slot ????
He's definetly an ATG, Middleweight title holder, Super Middleweight title holder, Light-Heavyweight champion and Heavyweight title holder - that's a great career. Then purely in terms of skills, talent and ability - Roy Jones was one of the greatest ever, in his prime - he was unbeatable.
Lucas wasn't a bad fighter he won titles and had good showings against some competition. Frazier was terrible as he was a NYC police officer or something LOL and Telesco, well he had power but couldn't seem to do much else. Lucas was not a bum, Gonalez was not a bum, Ruiz was not a bum, Woods was not a bum, Griffin was not a bum, and I can go on and on.
His recent defeats don't really make a dent on an otherwise legendary record. RJJ is a legend and he never ducked anyone, always entertained and always came to win! One of the fastest and most skillful fighters i've ever seen.