Maybe it had something to do with the fact he was 35 when Tarver beat him. Fighters don't tend to miraculously improve after 35
I agree that he was drained for the first Tarver fight. But I think he had recovered for the second one. The weight loss is a little overstated. In ring, I think he'd usually be 185ish so it's not "20 pounds of muscle" or some similar nonsense.
Except the fact that ho lost to much weight before the first Tarver's fight....the biggest error in roy Jones career is: Fighting Glen Johnson just 4 months after the concussions he suffered against Tarver. You can see clearly at the beginning of the fight that Jones had no legs and no energy whatsoever. I live in Canada and concussion is a subject that we know a lot more because of all the concussions in Hockey. I read a lot of study in 2011 with the concussion of Sidney Crosby (the best hockey player in the world at the time) He suffered 2 concussions at the age of 23 and Crosby is not the same since then and he is almost done now at 28 only.. Since 2011 he lost some speed and energy and his reflexes and his vision on the ice is really bad right now. Jones should had taked at least 8 months between the Tarver and Johnson. And yes it's proved that when a human beeing suffer from a concussion , it's a lot easier to have a second one after that especially shortly after...
It's hard to tell anything in a first round as usually fighters are just feeling their opponent out. Roy was his usual cagey self early on, but the final 30 seconds would give us glimpse of what was to happen, with Tarver pounding Roy on the ropes.
Exactly. But that's why it's jumping the gun to say he was worse going into Tarver II than a couple years earlier. We just don't know. Guys like Toney routinely fluctuated the way Roy had and routinely turned in hot and cold performances as a result. It's unfair to Tarver to assume that he hadn't readapted to 175 by the second fight. It'll never truly be known because he got knocked out so early. And it wasn't 20 pounds of muscle that he shed. Look at Tarver himself. He wasn't shot post Hopkins after losing a bunch of weight and he was older than Roy at the time.
My thoughts are he was like a young Ali. Got away with fundamental flaws with his speed and reflexes. The difference was when he slowed down just a touch he didn't have the chin. He never got hit most of his career. Ali could gut out and take shots and keep going. Roy couldn't. First thing that goes is speed. That's how I see it
The weight gain and subsequent drain for Ruiz was the end of Roy. He squeaked past Tarver the first time but he wasn't himself. The second time he got caught and his invincibility cloak was gone. He did an amazing thing to get the HW title but it cost him in the long run. In hindsight staying at LHW would have given him longevity. In addition, Hopkins is a freak of nature that age forgot about, but that doesn't mean everyone else can box into their 40s successfully. Roy isn't a spring chicken.
Yep. A long rangy southpaw with a good jab and good power. Tarver would always make Roy work.. But I favor prime Roy, I think his body shots are the key here.
