Could Roy Jones JR ever have beaten Mike Tyson?

Roy would definitely win around 2003/2004 if he had stayed at Heavyweight. I was a very active boxing fan back then and remember the boxing landscape vividly, I don't care what anyone says, Roy WAS the man pre Tarver and Tyson was shot as can be, depressed, heavily in debt, and got the dog **** beaten out of him by Kevin McBridge and Danny Williams. I undoubtedly believe that Roy can get through the first 4 rounds vs Mike because that's all he was, and win a comfortable decision. I even think the Ruiz who lost to Jones himself beats this version of Tyson, he was absolutely finished as a world level boxer by then.

 

Danny Williams had to survive a terrible round or two before Tysons knee blew out. If Roid had an opening round that badly he would have been a goner.

 

Williams was a British level fighter RJJ was a P4P great the gulf in class is huge I mean come on....

 

Tyson was 38 at the time and a shell of his former self. Roy was at his peak.

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What a shame that this didn´t happen tho. Even at 38, Tyson would have had a chance of winning and it was a fascinating style matchup.

 

Williams was a solid HW and he could punch. Roid was glass jawed and not a HW. It doesn't matter if he was a better fighter than Williams was p4p. If Tyson could still cause a decent fighter like Williams problems like that in 04 Roid beating him is far from a sure thing.

 

Yeah but the thing is, RJJ wouldn't just stand in front of Tyson from the opening bell and trade with him like that, then curl up and let Tyson wail away to his body. RJJ would move, be elusive, frustrate and tire that version of Tyson, and pick him apart from the outside.

Look, Prime Tyson or even 90s Tyson would be a problem for RJJ, but 2000s Tyson was a shell of himself, was slow, sluggish, unmotivated. HW RJJ in 2003 was on another level and should have an easy time outboxing him.

 

RJJ beat Ruiz you do realize Williams couldn't beat Ruiz right ? He was trading fights vs British level fighters like Julius Francis, Michael Sprott, Audley Harrison.

Williams struck lightning in a bottle beating a very faded Tyson who was no longer world class Williams's level was always British level.

And the fact you go into every thread about RJJ saying "Roid" I can't even take you seriously you're just a hater so it's literally pointless trying to have a normal conversation with you about RJJ when you can't hide your obvious hate for a fighter.

You really think RJJ would be plodding and standing right in front of Tyson like Williams ? So trying to say "Well if RJJ had a bad round like Williams" is an utterly ridiculous comparison. Because not only is RJJ about 4 times faster than Williams he wouldn't be stationary target and the gulf in class is very apparent.

 

Yes, had he avoided him for 4 rounds he'd have stopped Mike

 

Ruiz was not above that level without Don King buying rankings, rigging scorecards and paying refs off. Williams actually showed more heart in his career than Ruiz ever did. The Mark Potter comeback with one arm was like something out of a movie, the rd 1 KO of Meehan who went to war with Brewster in a FOTY contender and who many thought did enough to get the nod, surviving a thrashing from Tyson for 2 rounds before turning the tables(aided by Tysons injury but Williams showed a lot of heart to get through those rounds and of course the beating his took from Vitali. Ruiz in any of those situations would have looked for a way out. Williams was not the greatest fighter but was a solid European - fringe world level operator with some very memorable moments. Ruiz was a total joke of a fighter. The only people who defend him are Roid Jones fanboys.

 

In 2003, when stepping up to HW, I would pick Jones to beat that version of Tyson, as I did at the time.

 

He split fights with Holyfield who was seen as the 2nd best Heavyweight after his close loss to Lewis, he also has wins over Rahman, Johnson, Golota. I'm not a fan of his but he definitely reached a higher level than Williams that's for sure.

Williams was in exciting fights but he never reached world level the win over Tyson gave people a false impression but in reality Tyson was a shot fighter and no longer a world class fighter.

The beating he took vs Tyson for 1 round is irrelevant because RJJ is much more talented than Williams and wouldn't be a stationary target for Tyson like Williams was. Yeah there's always a chance Tyson could land one on RJJ, but all RJJ has to do is survive the first few rounds and then Tyson is done for he was only a 4 round fighter at this point.

It's nothing to do with defending Ruiz it's a fact he reached a higher level than Williams and more than likely would beat him in a H2H match up nothing about that comment is being a fan boy that's a factual statement.

The only one who clearly has a biased agenda here is you because you hate on RJJ in every thread, and can't even address him by his name instead you do these silly nicknames which is childish to be quite frank.

 

And yet you're totally ignoring gift decisions galore, his acting jobs to get opponents DQ'd and all of the BS refs allowed him to get away with. Ruiz without those things is a very, very mediocre fighter. I'm not sure he would have won fights against anyone of note without all of the above going his way.

 

Tyson`s last good win was v Golota, that version of Tyson would have destroyed Jones, after that Jones would stand a chance.

 

Hell nah
He chose Ruiz for a reason
Snatches the belt & dipped out.
Cmon now.

 

He was mediocre but he was better than Williams and I don't see Williams has any relevance to RJJ.

RJJ is a super fast mobile fighter who's a few levels above Williams, yes Williams has more durability but he's also plodding stationary target.

To think RJJ has virtually no chance against a very shot Tyson who was a 4 round fighter at that stage is a bit ludicrous to me. I mean as I said earlier Tyson could always land a KO punch, but if RJJ fights smart for the first few rounds it's a very winnable fight for him against a version of Tyson who lost to the likes of Danny Williams, Kevin McBride.