Prime Roy was unreal, however, I believe he deserves both praise and criticism for the career he's had. The longer he continues the more his legacy is tarnished in my view, but I feel this way about all fighters who continue way past their 'useful by date'. But no-one can deny the fighter that was.
Roy Jones was one of the best ever during his prime. I can't see anybody beating him at the weight class he was in. Middleweight-light heavyweight he destroyed his opponents. If Joe would have had the balls to come to america back then, then we would have seen roy jones knock his azz out.
He certainly was one of the best,i dont really understand him carrying on but i guess it is up to him.He will be remembered for his prime years and not what he is doing now.
It's astounding how many misconceptions there are surrounding Jones. For one; he was never physically "shot," IMCV. His confidence was shattered after Tarver and Johnson removed him from his senses in back to back appearances. Now obviously Roy's legs aren't what they used to be - he's 40 years old, but his handspeed, fast twitch muscles, and general reflexes are still quite good. He's not the RJJ of back when, but the problems he's had over the last 5 years have been far more MENTAL than physical. Just ask Enzo Calzaghe, who stated they knew Jones would "have fear" and would hesitate in the crunch, before they even fought him.
i agree...he should hang'em up...i suppose that he would not be that good of a trainer either. bhop would (prolly another thread) but i don't think rjj would be a good trainer. the physical gifts he had were so freakish that it would be hard for him to try to train someone no matter how good they were b/c everything came so easy to him....
Hop has been a magician (in the ring and in his matchmaking). Hop has kids on ESB (and generally many of those younger than Hop) believing that he was still in his prime versus Trinidad (when he was pushing 37) and near prime up until recently. He wasn't close to it then and is far, far from it today. He has made up for his physical deficiencies (compared to his prime years in the 90s) by being cagier and meticulously well prepared. He struggled with Jermaine's youth (who is a great athlete but is not nearly as talented of a fighter as BHOP) and after that has avoided facing any more great athletes (and this is not a knock on Winky who while younger than Hop is ring-worn (nearing 60 career fights) and also way past prime (and smaller)). Hop at 43 made JC look like anything but a great fighter. In his prime, he would have destroyed JC. In his old age, BHOP understands his limitations so he avoids calling out Chad Dawson and pointedly looks at lesser athletes (e.g., Calzaghe, Pavlik, etc.). Roy handled Hop when Hop was near his physical prime. Prime Roy could have worn a blind fold and still KO'd JC under the distance after battering him pillar to post on radar alone. Roy was the closest thing to Jordan in basketball or Tiger Woods in golf in the recent era.
The thing is, when he was in his prime, you were the youngster. And when we're young we tend to put people on a pedestal, make them superhuman. Roy isn't as good as he once was. But he outclassed Sheika today, and he outclassed a lot of his opposition when he was prime. He was always very good, but the quality of his opposition made him look even better. He was not the superman many people think he was, but he wasn't as bad as the haters say he was. The truth is somewhere in between.
This is the sort of comment I'm talking about. If you think prime Roy would have beaten Calzaghe, then OK. That's an opinion. But it's really a delusional train of thought if you think it would be so one sided. It would have been a good close fight.
Maybe because ROy lived in fighting fighters who he new he could beat , he neverf challenged himself with real talented fighters, he has a record padded with fighters who never posed a threat other than toney and a green hopkins, Roy could of been so much better, 1 title at heavy doesnt turn him into the greatest fighter of all time, where is lennox lewis, or holyfield when he went to heavy! Steve Collins went to a roy jones jr ppv and called him out to his face, roy didnt even want to know, roy has ducked to many fighters to mention, no dis credit he did what he had to do and was a fighter blessed with skill behond belif but Roy jones jr's resume could of been so much better
yeah his resume could have been better but who's couldnt?? i don't think you are giving rjj enough credit for getting in the ring with a legit hw when he was 193lbs. who else does that?? who else would risk that?? there are two lines of thought... 1. rjj didnt fight the best and padded his record...as you put it 2. rjj was so good and so gifted that it was hard to tell how good his competition was b/c he outclassed them so bad. i respect anyone who thinks that 1 is the right choice. i respectfully say its 2