To be fair, outside of a flash knock down, he never showed signs of a weak chin. I find it hard to believe that he wasn't hit clean during his 50 pro fights leading to the ko. And if that is the case, well hes greater than most give him credit for.
GG: I think he's a great fighter and I love watching him fight. But for me he's very hittable and I think Roy's speed would have been too much for him. It would have been a dangerous fight though. Ward: Another great fighter. Very technical, can be dirty at times, great up close. A very hard fight for Roy. Roy himself has said he'd have been a real handful. But it comes down to the speed again. I think it would have been a very tactical fight, with little action, but where Roy stole the majority of the rounds. Kovalev: An extremely dangerous fight for Roy as Sergey ticks a lot of boxes. He has very good skills, he's patient, he's big, strong, and of course he has great power. But as yet, I still haven't seen enough of him to have favoured him over a prime mid 20's version of Roy. He's been hyped as a Terminator but I'm going to wait and see. I've seen him get dropped in the amateurs, I've read reports where Boone dropped him, and I've seen Jean Pascal tag him clean 5/6 times with telegraphed right hands with no leverage behind them. That tells me that Roy could have found the target with his unorthodox style and otherworldly speed. People can talk about Roy's chin, but what if a prime version of Roy had caught him with something he didn't even see? There's unanswered questions for me. He's given interviews where he's been honest and said he'd be reluctant to move to CW because of the power and strength of those guys. So what if Roy caught him with something big early which would have gained his respect? How would he have reacted? Would it have made him angry, or would it have deterred him from going forward? We just don't know. As yet, I'd have to favour Roy. Roy had genuine one punch knockout power, and I know he'd have been able to have found Kov much easier than what Kov would have been able to have found him. Stevenson: He has a great left hand, a left hand that would have put Roy to sleep for sure had it landed. But for me, he's far too reliant on it and I think Roy's speed would have been far too much for him. Haye: I think Haye would have been the most dangerous fight for him. I think he'd have been more dangerous than Kovalev due to his size and speed. I think you'd have had to have favoured him, but it wouldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility that Roy could have pulled it off. I think the Ruiz version of Roy was a great HW, but if you're looking at a peak mid 90's version of Roy going up to 200 pounds, then he'd have been even better than what he was in 2003. The other thing to consider would be Haye's mindset. How would he have approached the fight? He has a lot of respect for Roy and he's copied his style. I also question how mentally strong he is. Would he have shown Roy too much respect? Would he have been hesitant? I think if he'd have been ultra aggressive and he'd have fought to his full capabilities, then again, I'd have to have favoured him. But I definitely think Roy would have had a chance, especially at CW. :good
Nobody cares what you think you spastic. You think Sven Ottke could have beaten Roy, and you can't even spell the word TABLE. :hi:
I think I'd probably give Stevenson the least chance. I respect your opinion, but it doesn't make sense to me how you'd have had Roy-Haye at 50/50, yet you can't even envisage a scenario where Roy would have beaten Kovalev. You don't even think Roy would have gotten past round 8? That baffles me. What are you basing your prediction on? A 50 year old Hopkins made it past 8. Jean Pascal made it to 8. Darnell Boone made it to 8. We're talking here about Roy at 25/26. If he'd have got caught clean, then sure. But that applies to pretty much any of them.
It is impossible to beat Kovalev with an atrocious glass chin. Roy would not beat him. He has even less of a chance vs Haye, I wouldn't be surprised if Haye murdered him in the first round.
It's more of the intangibles. Haye doesn't have the mind set of Kovalev. I could see the fight go one of two ways. 1) it becomes a boxing match where haye gets beat to the punch all night or 2) haye brings the fight to Roy and kos him. That's why I say it's 50/50. On the other hand you have Kovalev. You know what he's going to do. He won't be content to just make it a purely tactical fight. The fight WILL get brought to Roy in a methodical way. Just my opinion.