Is Roy Jones Overrated

That's an excellent post.

 

I assume Sosa was ranked at light heavy as he was NABF champ at the time.

Sosa is rated hardest puncher in the ‘Best I Faced’ interviews by Roy Jr, James Toney and Frankie Liles. That tells me the guy could crack.

 

Sosa was a tough dude, his first fight with Prince Charles Williams was brutal. To be fair this war may have taken something out of him before Jones got to him.

 

If he's overrated, I am one of the people over rating him. As said by other posters, Roy beat a lot more than toney and bhop and john Ruiz. If you just watch his fights in order and don't know the context of who some of the guys he blew tf out were I could see it seeming like his resume is light but it's not imo.

 

The win over Malinga is very underrated, I'd say. A guy that arguably got the better of Benn over two fights and gave Eubank a tough fight, but he didn't get a sniff against Jones.

 

Malinga was robbed vs Benn in their 1st fight, people often forget that fight. And only remember Malinga beating Benn when he was faded the 2nd time, but honestly Malinga had Benn's number and beat him twice fairly convincingly IMO. I think Benn even admitted in an interview that Malinga had his number. Malinga aged 40 also dethroned Robin Reid, who went on to give Calzaghe one of his hardest fights.

The fact is during Malinga's prime he gave every world class fighter a tough night, and even beat a few of them aswell. Roy Jones Jr was the only one who really beat him convincingly in his prime, and the manner in which Jones beat him makes it a stand out win IMO.

 

That is what stands out with Roy. He made world class pros look like junior sparring partners. And not just once or twice, but it as the rule rather than the exception for a decade.

 

He gets a bit too much credit for Toney win who was weight drained. But Jones is not overrated

 

He's in the running for most genetically gifted fighter to ever step foot in the ring. Overrated? No. If anything he's a bit underrated. At SMW, at his best, who in history beats him?

 

I don't think so Toney was P4P number 3, and considered number 1 man at Super Middleweight, with a record of 44-0 when Jones beat him. Toney had shown no evidence of weight issues prior to Jones fight, in a highlight reel KO over Charles Williams in a very good performance. Whatever issues Toney had regarding his training is down to him, it doesn't take away that Jones dominated a highly ranked undefeated P4P fighter.

 

Underrated. If he had stepped away after the Ruiz fight, he would be in the Top 10 ATG discussion. But he hung on too long and his greatest assets- his reflexes and speed- ebbed just enough for him to be caught. This happened at 35 years old. You don't get a guy with his style and reliant on his physical assets lasting that long.

B-Hop, Toney, McCallum, Hill, Reggie Johnson and a heavyweight Ruiz make for the basis of an excellent resume.

 

This is correct. He was 168 vs. Williams just 3 1/2 months before he fought Roy. No excuse for gaining so much weight after that fight that he would be weight-drained making the same weight less than four months later.

Not to mention he came in at 167 for Roy Jr. Why come in a pound under if you’re sweating to make weight at all? Most guys who struggle to make weight come in right on the dot, maybe have to take off a pound or half a pound after stepping on the scale heavy the first time.

This is an overplayed excuse that became part of the narrative. Roy toyed with Toney, clowned him really, so naturally James had to have an excuse.

 

I think he's rightly rated at 168, at 175 however he's overrated.

 

He was the Ring's number one pound for pound fighter for several years in a row. If only he retired after beating John Ruiz. His downfall was staggering! Many greats have fought one for too long, but some of those knockouts were brutal, him laying on the canvas with his legs twitching. Jones, Sergei Lyahovich, and Enzo Maccarinelli are all guys that I hope never to see in a boxing ring again, and i really hope that hey'll be okay later in life his these brutal knockouts that they suffered.

 

Just look at the body structure difference between the Williams and Jones fight. And Toney's punches were obviously sharper and quicker against Williams.

Jones would probably have defeated Toney anway. But again Roy defated a sluggish and weight drained version. He should get credit of course, it may still be his best win. But it looks better on paper than it is