Billy Conn vs Roy Jones Jr

Good fight, Conn UD12/15

Jones was a phenom in his prime, but far from unbeatable at 175. He has his little mandible probelm obviously but I can't see that being a factor here.

No I see Conn being able to take Roy's punches and using his footwork to skip around some of Jones less conventional shots, he'd have real issues with Jones's straight right imo, but he had the smarts and skills to outbox Joe Louis for 12 rounds, I think he'd manage to adjust to Jones.

Billy had better footwork and Jones's safety first legs wide apart style would cause him to lose rounds by being a step behind (both metaphorically and realistically), Conn would have to not trade with Jones, but tie him up or move off
Jones would have a better chance if he used his jab more, it was brilliant vs Vinny, but he never used it much

 

Conn could get a TKO late, and would probably have to .I'm just not a big fan of Roy at 175.

 

Conn is a BIG improvement over Corbett and Baer, Conn looks like a boxer. He'd be competitive with most light heavyweights in the same day weigh in era. After that he would probably be too small to fight at light heavy and would be a 160 (or even a 154) since he fought Bettina at 170 in a same day weigh in fight. RJJ was too quick, athletic, and skilled for Conn, but Conn was excellent for his era.

 

Conn wasn't as gifted as Jones, but he was a smarter boxer with a better chin & fundamentals....and would have whipped Jones...and I have a hunch, with mostly body punches.

 

Remember that Conn was the very spirit of the WW2 fighting man...and had the guts, attitude and fearlessness to topple Jones Jr.

 

Con did better v Louis than Jones would have, Ruiz landed some decent counters on Roy and Louis had faster hands than Ruiz, I feel this proves Conn had slightly better fundamentals than Jones did but at light heavy Jones would be faster which might have proved too much for Conn, close fight either way. I pick Conn at heavy though, based on how Jones fought carrying more weight, having said that Conn was much light than Jones was at heavy when he fought Louis.

 

If we take the most prime version of Jones that fought at 175, the version that fought McCallum, Johnson and Hill, then I take Roy to out-athlete Conn on pretty much every front. A KO is a possibility as Conn like the flail a bit and Jones could time those lead rights with great precision and power. Somewhat more likely, this goes to the cards where the decision is a foregone conclusion. Jones later flies off for some mediocre point guard play on a D-level bball team.

 

RJJ had excellent fundamentals, he just sometimes chose to be unconventional. Style is individual, fundamentals/good body mechanics are something that good fighters have. Elbows in, chin down, bend at the knees, move the foot first that is closest to the direction the fighter is going, etc. RJJ had fundamentals, he dropped his hands sometimes, he led with the hook sometimes, but his footwork was good, his balance was good, and when things got tough he usually became more "conventional." RJJ like FMJ, Tyson Fury, Chris Byrd, the Russell brothers, Shakur Stevenson, and Lomachenko was "immersed" in boxing from the time he was a baby, for people like that, boxing is second nature, they are relaxed in the ring, and see and do things that most boxers who start later can never duplicate. They are playing chess in the ring while most fighters are playing checkers.

 

Finally somebody gets it

 

Roy Jones for me

 

I like Roy via decision he would be the bigger, more powerful and faster man. Conn was very skilled but think Roy would be all wrong for him.

 

I see it as a 50/50 fight. I base that on the Conn of 1940 and the Jones of 1999.
Conn turned pro way too early, just before his seventeeth birthday. He should have had a couple of years in the amateurs. And then turned pro as a middleweight. Hence those five loses in his first thirteen fights.
Jones on the other hand should have retired after the second Tarver fight in 2004. Or at the latest the Green fight in 2009.

 

Roy Jones on points. put Roy in against any other boxer, and he outpoints him. Bill's problem would be swallowing too many right hands and Roy beats him to the punch