Did Roy Jones duck Mclellan, Benn, Eubank?

he would have been the favorite, but I think he did duck them. Those would have been great fights which might have tested him.. He would favored to win, but if he won those are guys who were all top fighters and it would have given him a lot of credit. He did a little of the Mayweather thing of fighting guys at the right time and handpicking smartly.. I am not sure that way gives guys a great legacy.

 

I think he'd have been favourite against all three, and odds are he'd have beaten all three.

He may have been most wary of the vicious punching McClellan - though I reckon McClellan is the only one he'd beat comfortably.

Eubank would probably be the most dangerous for Jones, since he'd be in it right to the end.

Jones was phenomenal - but a very cautious picker of opponents.

 

To be fair, at the time, Roy Jones had an exclusive television deal with HBO. In the United States, Benn, Eubank and McClellan's fights all aired on Showtime, which had an exclusive deal with Don King and King's PPV company KINGVISION.

Back at that time, those exclusive deals prevented a lot of fights from happening. The roadblock wasn't overcome until Lewis-Tyson, when both HBO and Showtime came to an agreement.

So, unless Jones agreed to sign with King, or King agreed to let his fighters move to HBO (which would've broken King's contract with Showtime), those fights were never happening.

Had they taken place, Jones would've been the favorite.

I also agree that Eubank would've likely given Jones his toughest fight. Although, Jones and McClellan had a history in the amateurs.

We actually missed out on a lot of fights because of those exclusive TV deals. That's why I prefer it when fighters don't sign deals with networks. It always messes things up when they do.

 

Oh, a cherry picker, eh?

 

He'd have beat all of em but each could have been his toughest fight s .Loved to have seen Benn v Jones ,Nigel roaring out at him. Eubank would give him a puzzling fight but Roy wins by decision .McClellan would be rough but Jones stop's him late .

 

Totally agree with the consensus that he would have beaten them all - though each had the potential to be a great fight for a variety of reasons - but I'm not sure he 'ducked' any of them.

Jones Jr didn't win his first World Title until May 1993 by which stage Eubank and Benn were in a division above and on course for a lucrative re-match and possible rubber match too. Neither of them would have taken a Jones Jr fight instead of the pay-day(s) against the other and that's before you take into account the pure, genuine hatred each felt.

By the time Jones Jr was a Super-Middleweight, November 1994, Benn was preparing for McClellan and Eubank was committed to the 'Chris Eubank World Tour' with Sky.

So, the fights against Eubank or Benn become a reality in the middle of '95. By this stage Eubank had already agreed to fight Collins - and we all know what happened - and Benn had a fight planned for September and this would be his last ever win.

So, I would say that timing was the issue.

 

Springs Toledo thinks so in his excellent book "In The Cheap Seats".

 

You'd have to favour jones strongly in these fights but they are definitely big holes in his resume

 

Is it just me that thinks if he fought all 3 back to back he loses atleast one of these fights?

 

The only one of the three who I think had a shot at beating Jones is McClelan because of his combination of strength, speed, power and chin. I would still favor Jones by decision, though, as McClelan's defense and late round stamina were questionable. He would need to get Jones out of there in an early round, which is unlikely but possible. He has a puncher's chance. Eubank would go the distance. He was good in all areas but not really great in any one area. Jones would out speed him for a comfortable decision win aka Toney. If Benn comes at Jones in an aggessive manner, he gets stopped by the mid rounds. If he boxes he lasts the distance or is stopped late. His defense and chin would be major liabilities.

 

jones was too good for eubank, eubie had some great attributes but not skillwise..

You'd not write off Benn but its not likely he would come out on top.



Just because these guys were playing musical chairs with the wbo title, doesnt mean they were elites capable of facing off with jones. wbo was little league back then (although they all proved they were worth more than mini league titles, especially G-mac and Benn).

 

Fighting these kinds of opponents add to the wear and tear factor. So instead of showing up for the Tarver destruction, that ko happens earlier. That's the result of fighting top level opponents and being asked to absorb to win===it subtracts.

 

No one is talking about the guy he really ducked .... Nunn

 

Did Eubank lose to Collins around the time they were looking at that fight? I remember Roy being suprised at that result.