Why was Roy's fall from grace so sudden?

Jones was shot in the Calzghe fight has been for 4 years now to deny it makes you lose credibility.:deal

 

The truth is... you really don't know what would happen in a fight between Calzaghe and Jones Jr.

In my view, style for style, Calzaghe in 1999-2002 would have been the hardest challenge Roy took at 168-175 because of the things Joe does in the ring, his ability to adapt.

I assume Jones Jr from 1994-1999 beats him, solely because that version was the fastest, strongest 160-168-175lber you'll ever see and proved it time and time again.

But... Hopkins wasn't clowned by Jones Jr when they met and in my opinion, Age wasn't a defining factor of Joe vs Hopkins, Hopkins was a better style NOW to beat Calzaghe than he was back when he was dominating guys like Joppy....

So, it's really not as easy as it seems, most people just don't want to take the step of believing Joe can get up there, because there is grumbles about his competition.

It's a big what if, because if Jones Jr was 80-85% of what he used to be in the ring (which with performances against Tito, Ajamu and Hanshaw, he seemed to be) and Joe was that dominant over him, while clowning the entire time and not being able to land the power shots he used to be known for in his youth, then who knows what they're like prime for prime?

One thing is for certain, people have high expectations of Calzaghe despite his age. Seems they write everyone else off at that age except him, because he fights like a young fighter.... but hell, anyone who saw him in the early 00's knows he's not as good as he used to be, just a lot smarter.

 

lots of people have acused him of taking roids the same with david haye.

 

Some think that Roy not using the jab had a lot to do with it. This might be agreed with by trainers, but in Roy's case, it was the weight loss. Going to 199 lbs and fighting a heavyweight, and then coming back down to 175, and then gaining weight before a fight was his demise. A nutritionist was used to get the weight off of Roy. That type of food that you eat to lose weight is not food you eat before a fight. You can't eat diet food during your training, and then fill up on regular food before a fight. Your body won't react right.

When your body is active like a boxer's is, your body constantly uses energy. Roy eating the more solid food trying to rehydrate slowed his digestive system and made Roy feel sluggish because his body constantly asked for energy. His ATP never arrived. Roy was never a 175 lb fighter to begin with. So when he lost all of his energy, he was basically a SMW or even a MW dealing with bigger men. I remember Roy said during the Julio Gonzalez fight that Gonzalez was strong. Jones body was getting older and that unorthodox style of fighting was starting to catch up to him.

Jones had to fight unorthodox because he was fighting bigger men. The jab can't work on guys that are naturlally bigger than you and a longer reach. The average LHW is about 6'2 175 which is about or close to the average size of a LHW. Roy's frame is naturally smaller than a guy who fights at 175. Roy staying at 175 as he got older was becoming risky, and the fact that he went up to 199, and then back to 175 because he owed Tarver a fight was the beginning of his demise.

 

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I dont think it is impossible. It depends where he came from.

I have tried 2 extreme ways of eating that both effected my power and size considerably. Even under the same training conditions.

One time I was a vegetarian. VEGAN. Then I began eating 80 grams of animal protein a day and I gained 7 kilos of muscle mass virtually no fat increase in 5 weeks. And there was no change in training conditions. I was artificially holding my bodyweight under my natural bodyweight.

I heard that hopkins used to be a vegan. And do a lot of extra running to force himself down under the middleweight limit. He really was way below his natural weight limit in all the ears as middleweight champion.

I think that Hopkins is a "natural" light heavy or maybe super middle. It is something that you can just sense about a person: what their natural weight is.

I dont think however that Jones was a natural Heavyweight.

 

Perhaps there's some truth in the saying boxers age overnight.

 

Joe is not the same fighter he used to be if you ever saw him fight since 1997. Jones put his body throught hell while Joe only went up one weight class. Cal is also a bit bigger than Roy naturally. Joe always gives Roy fits because of his style, speed and defense. People think that 3 years sounds very minute. It was not Cal fighting Jones who was 3 years inactive. Jones had gone up and down in weight, was tko'd and ko'd twice, and fighting in a division that was probably a weight class too high for him. roy could fight all day as he said, but once he came back down from heavy, he was never the same.

 

Drooping back down to 175 from heavyweight did hurt him. I think he would have been better offf going to cruiserweight and finishing off his career there.
However the main cause of his downfall is that Roy Jones Jr. was an athlete who was a boxer rather than a skilled boxer. He used speed and reflexes rather than boxing fundamentals, and for a long time it worked and worked well. There is no one that I would pick to beat Jones in a prime for prime match up at 168, and at 175 he might not beat every one every time but at his best he could have beaten any 175 lber in history. Once he got "old" his athlecitism went away. (Boxers as well as other athletes get "old" at difrent ages.) Not being a skilled boxer he has not performed as well as he used to.
It is clear tht from the first fight with Antonio Tarver he has not been the same boxer that he was.

 

great post, jones was prime in the ruiz fight,tarver 1 he looked tired and drained due to abnormal weight loss,tarver 2 he was as quick as ever in hand and foot up until the lucky punch.

just because it landed doesnt mean roy was shot and slow,it happens,just as in the telesco fight,only not as flush.after that it was a mental decline NOT phisical. he started to fight with his hands up much more and was always worried about being countered thus not throwing as many punches.

this being said boxing is mostly mental and if you lose that you are gone,i think roy mind was clicking in and out of confidence mode during fights,which explains some glimpses and round of the old roy,in shell out shell and vise versa.

the only difference in the prime roy was his output, willingness to fight with his hands down [confidence],and stamina,being able to bounce around more.

when you have that kind of natural explosive power that roy has it is imposible to maintain that speed power with good workrate through twelve rounds,somthing has to give ,thats were doping for stamina comes into it.

:deal

 

thanks brew

 

RJJ relied on his cat like reflexes and speed above boxing technique. He's close to 40 years in age and those reflexes aren't what they used to be.

 

After defeating Ruiz, he should have dropped the WBA belt and just called his own shots fighting at around 199.

He weakened himself dropping back to 175 and getting tagged by Tony Tarver shook his confidence.

EDIT: In fact after Ruiz, he should have just gone for broke against Lennox. The payday would have been outrageous. It would be expected that he'd lose, but if he had somehow won...