Comparing Roy jones Jr at LHW to Artur beterbiev is crazy talk

Ahhh the "fundamentals" myth.
His chin deteriorated after coming back down from Heavyweight. He was essentially shot.
Let's not forget he took several flush shots from Ruiz etc.
Before that his arsenal of 'fundamental' punches was better than anyone I've seen, hook off the jab, jab, right/left hook, body punches, uppercut, head movement, feet, counters.
The perfect fighter who, when he chose, boxed in a fundamental style.
It's just that the untrained eye only sees highlights and assumes every punch was a bizarre speed counter.
I could send you specific time stamp clips should you wish.

 

Bivol boxed Beterbiev's head off in the early rounds, built up an early lead, so Beterbiev showed more urgency by throwing more punches as boxing against a superior boxer wasn't working for Artur. Beterbiev's post fight interview he admitted to Bivol being the superior boxer, also when Beterbiev says one day he will become a good boxer, looks like he still trying to master the art of the sweet science at his advanced age even though it worked against him. Also the stakes were alot higher in this fight than it was against Yarde which may also explain Beterbiev's higher punch output.

Against Yarde, it seems Beterbiev had faith in his own boxing ability to be able to time and counter Yarde, which he eventually did, but against Bivol he realised he is up against a far superior boxer so adjusted his gameplan to throwing more and outworking his opponent rather than outboxing him.

Caution was probably the main reason Bivol's output was reduced against Beterbiev. But also factoring in Beterbiev did land some body shots and forced Bivol alot more than Canelo and Joe Smith did. Leading to less punch output from Bivol and a more deflated performance in the championship rounds from him.

 

I think that we have a bottom line here.

Despite super middleweight having been Roy Jones jrs most natural weight class where he didn't suffer from any size disadvantage against his opponents he would absolutely have destroyed Bivol and Beterbiev at light heavyweight. This shouldn't be looked at as a blemish on Beterbiev and Bivol but rather as a testament to Roy having been one of the greatest fighters of all time if not the greatest.

 

Interesting

I had Bivol winning the 12th. He blocked most of Beterbievs shots and they landed the same amount

 

All fighters decline in athleticism as they age. Bernard Hopkins is a contemporary of Roy, while Hopkins declined in his reflexes, speed and athleticism he adjusted his style, he adapted, and became more of a grappler using trickery and headbutts to win. Roy wasnt able to do this adjustment in his mid to late 30s as he always relied upon fast reflexes and athleticism. Naseem Hamed is another example of this, as his physical gifts declined he called it a day. Mike Tyson may be another example of this.

If you wish to educate me with specific time stamps of Roy's pure boxing without using his speed, reflexes and athletic advantages then I would welcome it.

 

12th round: When Beterbiev threw punches, whether they landed, missed or were blocked Bivol was visibly being backed up. When Bivol threw his shots, Beterbiev was still coming forward.

Also Bivol initiated some clinches to buy time this round, and when the ref stepped in to separate them Bivol grabbed longer to get a few extra seconds of the clock.

Bivol was wilting.

Bivol had a few flurry combos sparsely here and there this round while Beterbiev stayed active throwing shots hit or miss throughout it.

At this stage of the fight the momentum had fully swung into Beterbiev's favor, Bivol was seeing the fight out while Beterbiev was pushing the action.

 

I don't think he was, he wants an immediate rematch. Bivol himself said he doesn't like to clinch, but when he did here he controlled it entirely, he certainly wasn't getting pushed off like Gvozdyk. Bivol didn't look tired and beat up to me, he was still firing back and avoiding shots in the final seconds

 

By what metric did you give Bivol round 12?

Punches landed favored Beterbiev.
Punches thrown favored Beterbiev.
Damage inflicted favored Beterbiev.
Dictating the tempo favored Beterbiev.
Ring Generalship favored Beterbiev.
Pushing the opponent back favored Beterbiev.
Going for the win in the final round favored Beterbiev.

Blocking punches doesn't give Bivol the round especially if those blocked punches still managed to bruise up his cheekbones.

 

I counted the same number landed for both although I'll rewatch, Judges don't have the benefit of slow down, but I saw 80% of Beterbievs shots hit glove, he's just that devastating. I don't think throwing more matters that much when the opposite opponent has a much higher connect percentage and manages to lower the formers with defense. Round could go either or, Beterbiev was just more active imo. Full credit to beating Bivol at his age, he's a top tier atg at LHW, but i do think Jones is being downplayed here especially given their styles

 

I mentioned this in this very thread many Pages before, Beterbiev always has a stamina advantage over his opponents. An advantage he’d not hold against Jones.

And you explained the reason yourself. Roy would not go guns blazing, would not show eagerness to stay in the pocket and exchange like Bivol did in some of the early rounds. He’d pick his spots and do just enough to win the rounds. Because of his low output and cautious style, he’d have more left in the tank in the champiionship rounds.

 

To be honest on fight night live viewing I scored it a draw while slightly leaning towards Beterbiev as he did better in the championship rounds. The 116-112 scorecard shocked me as it did most people that night. Upon a rewatch I thought Beterbiev won.

Jones getting downplayed here has been part of this forums culture for over a decade. Loudon can testify to that.

 

That's a fair assessment. Only rebuttal from me could be that Beterbiev's sneaky power jabs and body shots here and there could slow RJJ down the stretch, as it had done all his previous opponents. But then again 40 year old Mike McCallum did keep Roy busy all night with his work rate, McCallum threw around 700 punches at Roy, mostly jabs from what I remember. But then again 40 year old Mike McCallum doesn't have the heavy hands of Beterbiev. But then again Beterbiev doesn't have the body work that Mike McCallum dished out.

 

More nonsense.

 

This content is protected