Roy Jones is underrated

I agree he didn't fight *everyone* but he did not have mediocre opposition. 19 world champions, a heavyweight champion, Hopkins and Toney in their primes. The reason the DM fight didn't happen was the obvious hometown bias factor which Jones had already suffered in Korea - and which gave DM a gift win by dodgy DW in one of his title fights, by the way. Germany is notorious for dodgy hometown decisions.

By the way, this idea that Hopkins was not in his prime is rubbish. He was 28 and had just had a 20+ fight winning streak, he was knocking people out left right and centre. After the Jones loss he was a dominant middleweight with a 12 year undefeated record and another 20+ wins.

The only reason you say it was not his prime is because Jones beat him! If Jones had lost, Hopkins would have had like a 45 fight undeafeated streak and you would have been saying it was his prime all along. This is typical "pick and chose" boxing logic.

Saying Hopkins was not an ATG before the Jones fight is like saying that Ali wasn't a great before the Liston fight - or that Jones wasn't a great until the Hopkins fight. If Hopkins was not ATG then, neither was Jones.

 

How often did Hopkins and Toney land flush on his chin?

I agree Roy had a dentable chin (not glass), this is the one legitimate complaint against his ability. Pep also had an average chin, so did Locche. To exploit an average chin, first you have to land on it.

A lot of the complaints about his durability come from when he was older. Ali and Leonard also got brutalised in their mid/late 30s. And remember Roy has got off the deck to win, so he has been tested on the heart/durability side.

 

"Bums if you beat them; ATGs if you lose"

 

His record at LHW I agree - but his record at SMW and MW is dominant (2 prime ATGs beaten), and his HW title is a great achievement. You also have to account for how *long* we went basically unbeaten (apart from the 1 DQ loss), it was pretty much a decade or so. I feel you underrated him on record - 19 champions beaten, remember.

Ok the Hopkins fight wasn't a shutout, I overstated it. It was a clear victory where Jones was never troubled though.

After thinking about it I have to agree about Spinks, I'd have him favoured over Roy H2H but not massively. But remember despite Roy's size, he clearly beat Ruiz at heavy. He showed his skills could offset his size disadvantage.