Heavyweight Roy Jones, how far could he have gone.

Looking back at Jones at heavyweight and his previous fight against Woods, he doesnt have quite the same physical attributes he did a few years before

I think he could have unified and beat Byrd, beat an old Holyfield (Toney did after all), Tyson I'm just not sure he could keep Tyson off him, if he does keep him off for 5 rounds he wins a UD. Vitali/Wlad batter him at range

 

He would lose to Lewis, Vitali, Sanders, Tua, Wlad and Tyson. Lewis, Vitali, Wlad and Tua would batter him badly, Sanders and Tyson would catch him early and Jones does nt have the chin to stand up to their punches. Ruiz was already beaten by him, Toney too but at smw. At hw I would expect this to be a closer and more competative fight with the same result than their smw meeting. With Oquendo I´m not really familiar so I won´t comment on that one. A fight against Byrd would be a 50/50 type fight.

 

Yeah, I also thought something similar after re-reading my post and realizing that this was '03 and not '97 but I was too lazy to change it. Still, I think Tua would catch him at some time and end it similar to a possible Tyson or Sanders match up. I just can´t see Jones standing up to a hw puncher or avoiding one for 12 rounds. Especially not a 34/25 year old Jones.

 

Tua was just coming off loses to Rahman and Byrd. I'd fancy Jones to do what Byrd did but if he lands lights out. If I was his manager I'd try to get Tua the fight when I knew Tua was heavily overweight so hes fighting a 250lb fat slow Tua

 

Out of that list, the only fighters I'd pick him over are Oquendo, Ruiz, Toney, and Byrd.

Oquendo is too passive, and Jones could continually beat him to the punch. Ruiz he defeated. I'd expect the Toney fight to look very similar to the way it looked 40 lbs. below. I don't believe Byrd could successfully impose his size.

Holyfield was not listed as a contender, but I think he could take Jones. Back then, I use to argue Holyfield always looks bad against smaller opponents that move away from him. I've changed my mind here. Jones has always been too willing to let fighters pressure him to the ropes and unload. If Holyfield fought Jones the way he fought Toney and Byrd, I think he would catch Jones. Jones is not as fundamentally sound defensively as Byrd or Toney, and the ropes is no place for Jones to be against an opponent that much stronger than he is.

 

Oquendo actually has several tools to beat Roy.

Man's underrated.

 

Oi', that would have been amazing, win lose or draw on Roy's part.

Good post, by the way.

 

Jones has more skill and speed than most of the big boys and would have beaten a lot of them fighting the same way he fought Ruiz(who has been competitive since) I think he would not been able to sustain the power of either Klitscho and possibly a few others. A heavyweight punch if landed could spell finish for Jones but how many of these big overweight guys would be fast enough to land on Roy. Skill level in the Big divisions lacking, yes

 

I just picked who I thought he could take. I should have addressed the question you asked about what I would have done as his manager.

As his manager, I would have a 30% take on the income I could make him generate. If I wanted him the make the most he could, I would have steered his career immediately towards Mike Tyson. I don't think he would stand a chance against Tyson, but that is where he would make the most money.