Was Roy Jones a paper champion??

Exactly no one doubted who the number one was at the time. Roy just beat John Ruiz for the WBA belt, which at the time was aready a joke for stripping Lewis after he unified the belts after 7 long years of them being seperated, over some silly mandatory that could've waited and did'nt let him defend them once with the other belts. The WBA is even more of a joke today.
Roy looked sensational at heavy against Ruiz,and although Lennox Lewis was out of the question and that match up was never really taken seriously, i would of liked to have seen Roy have a couple more fights at HW.

 

At heavy only. He beat quality opposition at the other weights. Paper champs= Sturm, Zbik, Sylvester.....germans that hold belts hostage and fight nobodies

 

Someone did call him that from HBO though? Was it Larry Merchant? I don't remember.

 

dm was shot to hell by then.

& i don't think anyone can argue that the way others (namely dm & rocky) were completely wrongfully stripped of their titles just so they could be gifted to rjj was disgraceful...some of the worst corruption the sport has ever seen (& that was proved in court too).

iirc it was well known at the time that universum were offering roy huge amounts of money (double what hill got for both maske & dm) to fight in germany in huge stadiums (which he turned down because roy don't travel) while roy was counter-offering dm peanuts to fight in the states in front of a tiny crowd in florida...which just says to me he didn't want the fight.

 

that sounds about right, and vaguely familiar. never heard it myself but i've seen it quoted many times

 

"reluctant roy" was his nickname because he "danced" around the ring refusing to throw a punch or engage his opponent.

a better example of what you're talking about was "roycott" a campaign to stop buying his ppvs & watching or attending his fights until he stopped facing part-time police-men, garbagemen, bouncers & postmen.

 

Lets see what it says in the record books :

. As a professional he has captured numerous championships in the

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Dam nothing about a paper champ !! Get over it Bailey !

 

You ****en moron RJJ is top 10 ATG.

 

Roy Jones... The most exciting and talented fighter I have ever seen (in my lifetime), always (in his early and prime career) put out for the fans. Unothodox, phenomally quick, athletic and POWERFUL. Once the speed/reactions started to diminish (always the 1st attributes to go due ageing) still maintained his spot!!. Since too many years he acts more and more like Evander.
Great pity he didn't pull out after the HW forray/scam vs John Ruiz. His legacy is judged as in tatters today, however over time the fights held beyond his best weight/age will be taken in to the same perspective as the Ali and even Tyson fights.

Roy is an ATG, as such to talk about "paper" belts is giving too much respect to the belts. It was Roy and the Champs he took them from (and eventually lost them to) that gave their own credibility to the baubles we call belts.

Just wish he had hung them up earlier (but as a fan was always rooting for him even after :-(

Cheers.
Duncanne.

 

Its always sad to see the greats hold on for so long but no ones career is defined by losses ..Its easy to knock a fighter when they look like a shell of their former selves ..But then again we live in an age where its cool to be disrespectful even to legends who most people wish they could be !

Cheers to you brotha !

 

I stopped reading there because it became clear to me what this is about.

This is a covert way to undermine Jones by trying to establish a consensus that could later be used to aggrandize Joe Calzaghe. If it's not my apologies but lets get one thing clear; I don't know how long you've been watching boxing but James Toney at 168 was considered a great fighter in the making regardless of resume. Jones beat him. Clearly.

At 175 who had the better resume Jones or Michalczewski?

End thread.

He wasn't a paper champion, he was THE MAN at Light Heavyweight.

Put it this way during Tyson's reign Spinks was regarded by some as lineal champion but nobody regarded him as THE MAN. Tyson on the other hand was the "baddest man on the planet" and he was the fighter to beat, not Spinks. Same with DM and RJJ.

 

Calzaghe fought only bums and old men.

 

:roflatsch

He isn't even Top 10 All Time at Light Heavyweight much less Top 10 All Time. :roflatsch

 

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!:hi:

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arguments could be made for both to be honest. his legacy though is tied into his weight jumping so strangely it may be easier to rate him all time top 10 before top 10 at 175. still, the 175 argument is feasible...off hand i'd say the top 10 in no order could feature spinks, foster, loughran, tunney, charles, moore, maxim, fitzsimmons, and harold johnson. ****, 175 has some solid mother****ers. it's possible to get him into top 10 but you'd be leaving out some terrific fighters.