Great boxers that could have achieved more.

Floyd.

He could've fought Tszyu, Williams, Margarito, Cotto, Mosley before he was beaten by Cotto and nearing 40, and Pacquiao.

I doubt he would have won all of those fights if he had them all within the years 2005-2010, but he would still have been greatly enhanced as a fighter, because wins over Sharmba Mitchell, Carlos Baldomir, and a bloated welterweight version of Juan Manuel Marquez absolutely suck anus.

 

agreed. with that kind of talent, it would have been better if he proved to us how he would have beaten those fighters. also, win or lose, mad respect.

 

Riddick Bowe

 

ricardo lopez should have moved up in weight and challenged himself. roy jones should have fought better competition in his prime (benn was out there) and the obvious is floyd who had a stacked welterweight division but chose not to fight the top contenders instead just lame belt holders like baldomir.

 

Benn wasn't out there for Jones. Jones won a smw title from Toney in Nov 94, Benn had already lined up the McClellan fight. Post-McClellan, Benn was not the same fighter and didn't have the same appetite. He showed no interest in Jones, then he lost.

I agree with you on Lopez though. Carbajal and Chiquita were there to be fought, and he chose not to fight them.

 

Jones - could have fought, Benn, McClellen, Eubank, Collins, Calzaghe sooner, Michalczewski, Erdei

Hopkins - could have fought Jones rematch sooner, Calzaghe sooner, after his move to LHW could have fought Erdei

 

Jones:

Couldn't have fought McClellan obviously, because McClellan sustained career-ending injuries in what was meant to be his title-winning tune-up for Jones at a new weight

Couldn't have fought Benn because Benn was mentally damaged by the McClellan fight, showed no interest in fighting him, then lost

Couldn't have fought Eubank unless he fought him after Collins had beaten him

Couldn't have fought Collins because Collins had no interest in it. Collins had lost to McCallum, Kalambay and Reggie Johnson in the US, then went to the UK and feasted on past-prime Eubank and Benn for much more money. Why would he want to go back to losing in a small hall in the USA? He didn't.


Couldn't have fought Calzaghe earlier because Calzaghe himself admitted he didn't want Jones:

"I'm not chasing after Roy Jones. Be honest, Roy Jones is a good fighter and I don't want tough fights, I just want big money."

Daily Mirror, 1999


Could and should have fought Michalczewski though. That's the only one I'll give you.


Erdei? That's like criticizing Floyd Mayweather for never getting round to fighting Matthew Hatton.

 

Bowe
Tyson
Judah
Max Baer
RJJ
Mayweather
Hamed
SRL
Cooney
Barney Ross
Stanley Ketchel (not his fault though...murdered)

 

People need to get their timeframe right when criticizing Roy Jones.

Jones moved up to smw to fight the p4p#2 fighter in the world, James Toney, in November 1994.

At this time, Benn had already signed to fight McClellan in February 1995, and Eubank had already signed to fight Collins in March 1995.

Benn was mentally in disarray after the McClellan fight, fought two routine hometown defences in London, then lost.

Eubank lost twice to Collins, then disappeared into semi-retirement for 2 years.

Collins made some fast cash beating Eubank twice, Benn twice, and having some routine hometown defences. He never fought in the US again after taking Eubank's title.


What exactly was Roy Jones expected to do with these guys? Force Benn to fight him when he wasn't showing any interest? Drag his p4p#2 ass over to Dublin on a plane to challenge for Collins's WBOgus belt? Fight Collins's leftovers in Eubank?

It has become popular to say Jones avoided all these old guys, but the facts don't back it up at all.

 

Totally agreed with Popkins.

 

floyd.

hatton,had he not been such a fat junkie between fights and had he got a decent trainer,and not try beat the 2 best in his era,and just unify light welterweight,beat other welters if he could.

klitschkos,if they had a better mindset,and wanted to fight the absolute toughest opponents out thier,and not get any good opponents when they are too green and inexperienced.