Jones, Benn and King

Hi mate, sorry for the late reply.

Yes he was being guided by Fred and Stanley Levin, and they made the deal with HBO. I believe that Roy split with his Dad in 1992. Roy was looking after a friends dog, and it bit his sister. When Roy Snr found out, he shot the dog, and Roy was left to tell his friend what had happened. You've probably heard that before? That was the final nail in the coffin of their relationship, and they didn't speak properly until years later.

Fred has also said that he offered Roy Snr title fights for Roy, and Roy was never told about them, and he didn't find out until years later. That's what I was referring too, when I said Roy Snr had held him back. When Jackson was at the top, and Toney was fighting Nunn, Roy was fighting nobodies (apart from Castro) in small venues in Pensacola. So a fight with those guys in 91, 92 wasn't really viable. By the time that Roy was on HBO making a name for himself against Malinga, and winning the vacant title against Hop, he was struggling to make 160, and he'd missed the boat. That's why I think it's unfair when people say he ducked those guys.

If Roy Snr hadn't have held him back, he'd probably have progressed a lot faster and he could have fought the likes of Nunn, and probably Toney a lot earlier. I agree that Frankie definitely would have given him a run for his money, but I honestly don't think Nunn would have done when he was Roy's mandatory, although like you say, he should have given him the opportunity.

I think a fight with Jirov would have been a good fight, and I think Jirov would have tested him. But it wouldn't have been a big fight back then. If Roy was going to put on weight, it was to fight at heavy and nowhere else. I think he should have tested the water at cruiser against Jirov, and then moved up to heavy earlier than he did, or at least fight someone like Jirov on the way back to 175. But like I said in my previous post, he never gave the cruiser division a seconds thought back then. The division was poor, like the SMW division was at the same time.

Thanks for your reply, you're a fantastic poster, and a credit to this forum!

Regards, Loudon.