Does Montell Griffin deserve credit for his win over Jones?

Or even old McCallum.

 

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I don't think so... but even if he would have, it doesn't matter. Tarver and Jones already fought, and we saw what happened. Jones himself said going into the second fight that he was 100% at the top of his game.... and even AFTER the fight, still to this day Jones denies being over the hill for that fight. Jones says that boxing fans refuse to understand that fighters can lose in the prime. As soon as he lost, people wanted to act like he didn't have it anymore. I completely agree with him. What happened to me is very simple. Tarver had A LOT of hatred towards Roy. The man followed Roy around to his press conferences and called him out every time. After his fight against Ruiz, Tarver stood up at the press conference, telling Roy to stop ducking him and even said that he was glad that Roy put on such a great performance, that way it would mean that much more when he knocked him out. Yet, people forget that Roy was AT THE TOP of his game right before the fought Tarver. Fighters don't grow old overnight, that is a myth. You can always see a decline, and Roy never showed one until he fought Tarver. Tarver made him LOOK so much worse than people were used to seeing him look. Tarver didn't show Jones the same respect, and would punch when Roy punched... and we saw what happened. When Tarver would stand in the middle of the ring and pose with Roy, Roy looked just like he always does, blazing speed, pot shots, and having his way. As soon as Tarver brought it back to him, it was over. Johnson noticed it, and did the exact same thing. They refused to sit and be in awe of Jones' handspeed, and let him have his way.

Roy was NOT washed up when Tarver beat him. Roy Jones himself has said this.

 

Roy Jones himself said he is still the best P4P fighter in the world as well. He has said alot of things. They are not always true.

No, Jones didn't look the same. I am not going to argue this point with you as it is pure opinion. I watched Jones more closely than probably anyone on this forum. I know when he started to slow down. You don't agree, so be it. Jones had been on the decline since 01.

 

Why not he had to do what it takes to beat jones like play possum.:yep
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People say this about every fighter, and it just isn't true. The answer to the puzzle is really simple. Fighters ALWAYS look different when they lose. When you are used to seeing a fighter dominate his opposition, of course he is going to look much different in an extremely tough fight, and especially in a loss. People immediately start looking for problems, or excuses as to why that fighter looked so different. The answer is simple, his opponent made him look that way.

 

So fighters are always prime then? Of course not. Your answer doesn't account for his looking slower, tired, and nothing like the 1999 version of Jones. It IS true that fighters decline. And Jones had been for a while.

 

I never said that fighters didn't decline. I just don't think that Jones did until he was beat by Tarver. Hell, right before he fought Tarver he had just won the Heavyweight Title, and people were discussing the possibility of him beating Lennox Lewis. Everyone was laughing there asses off at me on this forum when I said that Tarver would beat him. None of them were under the impression at that time that Jones had slipped at all. He was at the height of his career after just winning the Heavyweight title. I always followed Jones, and didn't see any decline, until Tarver made him look like he declined. After being knocked out a couple times, of course he is going to look different. It changed his opponents outlook on him, and it changed his outlook on himself. That is why it is so hard for a fighter to come back from a defeat like that. It isn't as if Jones' body was beat down from being in wars or something. Outside of a very green Hopkins, and a very good win over James Toney... Roy really wasn't fighting the best guys out there, let's be honest. The best two fighters in his division (which was weak as hell)... for years the other best guys were DM and Tarver. Roy didn't fight either of them. When he finally buckled down and had his fights with Tarver, we saw the outcome.

 

Watch Roy Jones in the Round 1 of his second fight with Tarver. Looked EXACTLY the same as he always did. Roy himself used that as an excuse, saying that it was going to easy for him, and that he felt too good.atsch He honestly said that he lost because everything went to perfect for him. That his training camp went perfect, his weight was perfect, his sparring was perfect, his health was perfect... he was at his best, the first round went perfect... and that is why he lost. Did you ever see that HBO interview? We had it on here for quite some time. I was dumbfounded at his logic, but if you watch the first round, you see him doing the same things that he always did.

 

The 2 best fighters in his division were not Tarver and DM. Sure, DM was. But Tarver had a shot to get to Jones before and was beaten by Harding in the eliminator. So Jones beat him instead. It's simply not true that Tarver was always this good and Jones just didn't fight him. Jones fought every champion but DM AND nearly every top 10 contender. So I beg to differ on his not fighting the best guys out there, at least in his division.

Jones had just accomplished his greatest feat. He was not however in his prime when he did it. Watch his fight with Gonzalez and then watch his fight with Hill. If you can't see a difference then we will just have to agree to disagree.