Visions of the Morrison-Mercer fight immediately come to mind. Mercer could take a licking and turn it all around with one good shot. Jones could win but he would have to be on his A game and stay on it the entire route. And if he couldn't hurt Mercer, the latter's chances improve dramatically. I'll pick Mercer in an exciting fight, and venture to say that he catches and stops RJJ in the later rounds.
Jones would never take this fight. If he did maaaaybe he decions Mercer, or Mercer brutally KOs Jones, it would be interesting.
This. Jones had the ability to possibly decision Mercer, but I also don’t see Jones entertaining this fight.
Jones knew better. This would be a leopard vs an elephant. Sure, the leopard is quick and agile enough to get in a few good swipes and make the giant look goofy, but can't actually hurt it. And the longer it keeps fighting, the more chances the elephant gets to smack it one good time and cripple it for life. The idea of Jones being able to dart in and out, getting a hit in and then retreating without getting caught by a single flush bomb for 12 rounds is comedy. Mercer is actually taller with a longer reach and is much more aggressive than the cautious Ruiz who was content to box. Mercer would know he couldn't be hurt and would try to exchange, counter, go to the body, walk through a barrage to land something, hit and hold, etc whatever it took to get one solid hit in. At some point he does and Jones does not get up. Whether that's the 1st round or the 12th, Jones gets caught and does not survive that round.
I don't think Jones' one off HW success against Ruiz can be necessarily extrapolated into victory over any other decent HWs. Ruiz was a spoiling mauler, not a boxer per se. Even so, it was expected that he would reasonably utilize his superior size and signature style to overcome Jones. Instead, inexplicably, Ruiz primarily stood off and tried to out box Jones and Roy couldn't have wished for anything better. I could be wrong but I also recall the ref. made sure that Ruiz couldn't get too up close and personal with Roy even when Ruiz tried same. Leading into the fight I think Roy preemptively noted Ruiz's tactics in order to put the ref on notice which might've lent to nullification of Ruiz's usual in close work. It was more than bemusing to see Ruiz stand so perfectly in the pocket of Roy's punch zone, not too close nor too far. Does ego drive some boxers to fight against type and their own best interests? Certainly Marv H. blew the first 4 rounds against Ray Leonard in an effort to prove he could outbox Ray rather than tear in and do what Marv did best. Later when Marv tried to put the pedal to the metal he found his gas tank fast depleting, age catching up with the toll of so many previous wars revealing itself rapidly . Anyway, for all that, at least fighting to type initially, Ruiz still managed to have Roy tottering from a less than outstanding, clubbing, not so clean right hand punch to the side of the head in the very first round but then, almost abruptly, he dropped his usual tools and, while somewhat governed by the ref, he went on to fight the least intelligent fight for the remainder of the bout. I shudder to think of the consequences of a clean Mercer connection. Put it this way, I would not have sanctioned a Mercer v Jones fight.I like Roy and my conscience wouldn't have handled it. But, as already said, this is a match Roy would not have taken anyway. Roy's viability at HW maxed out at exactly the low threshold represented by Ruiz. Just my opinion, but for Roy at HW, the bar goes no higher.
