He’d of faced them if the money was right, or if he was close to retiring or if he didn’t have a title. Jones didn’t want to fight him then, and you can’t blame him.
eubank has stated on youtube that it would be suicide to have fought roy, which is why he stayed away from the US. it's also why a lot of euro fighters between MW and SMW avoided the US while jones and hopkins were kings. woulda, shoulda, coulda just doesn't cut it.
who were no jones or hopkins. fight on the biggest stage of all and get the biggest fights. stay away from it, and you generally don't.
SKy Sports News article, a quote from Sr talking about Roy Jones Jr: "You can't beat guys like this." Eubank Sr acknowledged that Jones Jr was better. "For me it was never about being the best," Eubank Sr said. "I was happy being one of the best. That was my truth. "Why would I want to fight Roy Jones Jr in his prime? "I was spoiled by the fact that Nigel Benn, Michael Watson and I were in a world of our own. So I didn't have to go chasing. I had no ego to fight James Toney or Roy Jones Jr." So basically, it was never about money, he knew he couldn't beat Jones at that time or the likes of Toney, he has said stuff like this before, he even said he wouldn't fight Herol Graham also. Anyway, he was happy to stay well clear of the very best and milk his title, he was happy to sit in the UK fighting the likes.. Ron Esset John Jarvis Tony Thorton Juan Carlos Gimenez Lindell Holmes Mauricio Amaral Ray Close Sam Story Dan Schommer A list of some of his defences of his WBO title, instead of getting on a plane and going to fight the very best.. he has no right to call fighters pussies, none whatsoever.
You’ve lost me. Hopkins was nowhere near as big a puncher as Benn or as big a man as Thompson. I don’t think we’re on the same wavelength.
When he was the champion, he earned the right to pick his own opponents. I don’t see what’s so difficult to understand.
you don't need to be a big puncher to be a great fighter. my point is, bigger names were available to those willing to cross the pond.
I think we’re on different pages. He risked his life against Benn and Thompson, he would’ve with Jones or anyone if he had to - he was prepared to die. He didn’t have to when he was at the top of the tree and living the life he always dreamed, so why would he?
@Bulldog24, I'll tell you the problem.. Your origin post, that quote.. ‘In my day, we fought the very best,’ he stated. ‘We fought the fights the public demanded" Well obviously not, he didn't fight the very best, he chose not to, he avoided those fights, he talks out of both sides of his mouth, he is talking absolute cobblers. If he fought the very best, he would have fought RJJ and Toney. Again, another quote.. ‘Nigel, Michael and I, what made us great was we went out of our way to fight the most dangerous men in the world, that nobody wanted to face. NO HE DIDNT, HE DIDNT FIGHT RJJ OR TONEY AND SAID HE DIDNT WANT TO, YOU EVEN JUST SAID, HE WAS CHAMPION HE COULD CHOSE AND HE CHOSE NOT TO. SO HOW DID HE "GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO FIGHT THE MOST DANGEROUS MEN IN THE WORLD" Shall we go on?
but the truth was eubank was a paper champion. he wasn't ever at the top of the tree, he was just at the top of the tree in europe. i'm not criticising that if that is what he wanted to achieve, and there's good money there without having to face a guy like roy jones, but it then becomes more than a bit rich to then state that "today's fighters are pussies", when he's stated he deliberately avoided roy.
Maybe the very best in terms of each fighters home country? Transatlantic unifying fights were impossible to make back then. And I’d class Benn and McClellan as far more dangerous punchers than James Toney. Maybe not as good technically.
Where does he call today’s fighters pussies? Eubank lived a luxury flamboyant life like nobody ever had. He was trailblazing, flying. Why give that up fighting someone like Roy Jones when you don’t have to?
