if RJJ retired after ruiz or the first tarver fight?

Toney was prime HOF.

I rank Jones in the top 35 all time.

 

If Jones had retired after beating Ruiz then a whole lot of people would be complaining about him cherry picking for years and not taking on the real challenges out there (accusations that were partly justified for the couple years before he faced John Ruiz).

Even worse had he retired after that close fight with Tarver, people would say he has not enough balls for a rematch.

These same people now say that Roy was a fraud and that he got exposed after being knocked out when he was past his best.

This really was a no-win situation for Roy. But I respect him more now for facing great opposition when he was past his best, even if he lost and got knocked out, than if he had just retired. Shows that the man has heart.

At the end of the day, Roy Jones record speaks for itself. He's beaten great opposition in his day (and made it look easy), and he faced a who is who from MW up to LHW. Of course I would have liked to see him face DM, but you know the deal... that was just as much DM not wanting the fight than Roy.