I had the pleasure of re-watching Michael Spinks vs Muhammad Qawi last night, and it got me thinking how well the Camden Buzzsaw would have done with some of the more excellent Light Heavyweights of the last 40 years. The fight itself was dictated primarily by an excellent left stick from Michael Spinks, who was obviously enjoying a size advantage over Braxton. Besides the odd leaping left hook and a few furious rallies on the part of the smaller man, Spinks was taking the rounds with his jab, and moving laterally which seemed to prevent Qawi from setting. The odd power punch was being thrown, but what was anticipated as being a slug-fest really developed into a high quality technical display, at least on the part of Spinks. A clear victory. Would Roy Jones, who wasn't as tall, rangy, or as hard-hitting as Spinks, have been able to replicate the same game plan? Would he have needed too? Discuss.
ohhhh, while i wouldn't favour qawi, much like galindez, i think he has the style to bother the hell out of roy and is very much a dark horse in h2h fights. 7/10 i see roy taking a very close decision in a brutal fight 3/10 i see qawi wearing him down, forcing him into the corner ala tarver, and roughing him up to a late corner stoppage or UD
Jones did really well against fighters who came at him and I wouldnt discount his power in this type of style matchup. He could use his speed and angles a lot better. I think he stops Qawi by mid fight. I could see Qawi getting timed by an uppercut or lead right and then Jones finishing him.
Qawi seemed like he'd have been a nightmare to fight, and certainly nobody else at 175lbs around that time would have beaten him in my opinion. Amazing head movement, every time Spinks unleashed his awkward combination's, even though he went up, down, and mixed in hooks from both sides, most of the shots were whizzing past Qawi's head.
Noone really, but stylstically a lot (even though hes better). He comes forward with a lot of offense, but I think a guy with Jones excellent timing and speed at his best finds a fighter a lot easier than a guy like Spinks for example.
good point about the defense. he was also tough as **** and had brilliant fundamentals. his first fight with holyfield shows his stuff and roy would fight an opponent not intimidated in the LEAST by his showboating roy scared people in a different way than tyson did: by the time he was known, no one thought they could win a round against him and often just came for a paycheque not so with qawi: every second, of every round roy would have to earn that win
I dont know about that. I think Roy just broke guys will early in fights, because they couldnt find him and everytime they let their hands go they were countered to hell. The more offensive fighters are not going to offset his speed. An awkward counterpuncher would.
true, which is why stylistically i agree spinks is a worse fight. in fact, THE worst fight for him still qawi was quality and roy would not deter him. could jones keep up the movement, power shots to gain respect and defense over 12 rounds? I think he could most of the time. but if they fought 10 times, qawi would take a few
I think coming at Jones hard is probably your best strategy for dealing with him. He's not the kind of guy you can outbox easily. Of course, you could always end up like this [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uus5wDjGV6Y[/ame]
Funny I thought of this fight when I was envisioning how he would catch Qawi. I always felt letting Jones lead was the best approach and then try and time him coming in. Del Valle did it, so did Tarver. You have to find a rhythem in the fight with Jones and then just try and time it and let your hands fly. Other than that, your pissing in the wind, he was just impossible to outbox and you had to walk through a **** storm of counters to get close to him.
A lot of pretty, flashy and spectacular stuff done by Jones for 10 rounds or so, but Qawi would be steadily eroding Jones and would come on to win a tko in the 13th round, ...and how the hell could Qawi fail to do what the lesser Tarver and Johnson did to Jones?
the thing will roy is that we never needed to ever see his plan b until the tarver fight. much like mayweather, who knows what he was capable of doing if TRULY challenged?