Jones Jr, Hopkins, Toney. Rate these 3 as H2H fighters.

Why do you think he’d have tried walking through him?

 

The only way he can beat Roy Jones is he sells out and goes all out for the KO. In his prime GGG had an iron chin, very good power and did not fatigue. Plus he knew how to cut off the ring.

Roy Jones has never beaten a top flight pressure fighter. You could say that GGG isn't a pressure fighter. And you would be right, he no longer is and hasn't been for years now. In his prime though he was.

 

Dave Tiberi was no world beater. I don't recall Drake Thadzi pulling up trees. Montell Griffin was only good enough to pull off a win against Jones on Roy's worst night by pulling a Quintana. Futch or no Futch, Roy set that straight in the rematch. He knocked Griffin out in the first. Eddie never had a chance to exert any influence.

As for Segundo Mercado, he was not a great fighter but gave BHop all he could handle. The only way Hopkins got past Robert Allen first time round was by pulling a Quintana, a trick he used a few times to get past average challengers who were proving troublesome.

My point is, as ever, you can pick holes in any fighter's record to the point where a record almost becomes a distraction. Sometimes you have to use the eye test and for me Jones looked like he was absolutely untouchable, with the exception of Griffin1, for a long time. Toney and Hopkins were more prone to sub-par performances. My sense that Roy was a class above even these two was then borne out when he actually fought and easily beat them both,

1. Jones


2, Toney or Hopkins
3. Toney or Hopkins

 

I doubt either would have, but I'd pick GGG over McClellan. Gerald is the most overrated fighter from that era IMO.

 

Yeah, I don’t think he’d have gone all out for the KO. And Roy was just too fast. GG is slow in comparison with a small reach.

 

Yes, he's going to hit GGG, the question is what is to stop him from going Hagler mode on him and destroying him?

 

Yeah, I think Gerald fell in love with his power in the end. But he was a huge MW. Tall, big reach, huge at the weight. He was a monster. He was significantly bigger than GG with more power. I think he’d have troubled Roy more.

 

I can’t see it.

He’s never seen a fighter like Roy before.

GG has a 70” reach.

Roy had unbelievable reflexes and athleticism.

I just think he’d have been beaten to the punch had he have tried that.

He’s as strong as an ox, but just too hittable.

 

I see your point, it might depend on how much will GGG has. The only way he can produce a victory is to take 2 punches for 1. And GGG with the much sturdier chin has the advantage if he can turn it into a brawl.

 

I can't believe people are trying to argue GGG over Roy. For me, it couldn't be a more simple pick.

Prime GGG had deceptively fast feet, excellent punch selection, a granite jaw and sandbag power. He was technically brilliant, but like most Eastern European fighters, he worked from a very definable rhythm. He was very one-note, and as such quite predictable. I mean, he was so dangerous and tough it didn't really matter, but everything he did was rhythmic and methodical. Even when he stepped things up and hunted for KOs, he still remained 'one-note'. Plus, GGG worked everything off his jab.

And GGG is a tremendous jabber, no question. He liked to tee people off, measure the distance and feel things out before going in. This didn't work vs Roy, since Jones prioritised using his right hand as a range-finder, rather than his left. He snapped it over jabs, and it had frightening power.

GGG has also said himself that he doesn't mind getting hit. In the very centre of his prime, he was getting lit up by Proksa's counters (who was a completely athleticism-based fighter, albeit a southpaw). As for all this talk of GGG having a great chin (he does), but so did Malinga, Tate, Sosa, Hill etc...

I don't think Roy would stop GGG, but his lightning fast counters and cat-like reflexes send GGG into a jabbing drone and Roy dances around him all night after figuring out his rhythm and style.

 

Maybe, I can't see either winning more than a round or two. G-man was always a bit reliant on his power, he just really started to abandon everything else by the time he rematched Jackson and fought Benn.

 

I respect your opinion, but I can’t really envisage it.

He had the sturdier chin, but Roy had the size, style and speed to avoid getting hit clean.

It’s a shame we couldn’t see him against better opposition when he was in his prime.

He fought Jacobs and Canelo past prime, and now we can only speculate on how those fights would have played out had they have happened earlier. FWIW, I think they’d have still been close.

 

He did. I think he was over reliant on his power. I don’t know if it was arrogance or frustration. Maybe a lack of focus or laziness? I don’t know.

I know he should never have fought Benn though. I’ve seen 2 documentaries on that fight, and I’m certain that he wasn’t fit to fight that night.

 

Agreed. Benn would've always been a bad match up for him IMO, especially if he survived that first in a hypothetical, but G-man wasn't fit for the war he'd find himself in. Like I said in my post above, it baffles me how you could pick GGG over Roy. A pick for Gerald is equally strange to me too.

 

Great post.

I know he eventually broke Kell Brook down who had no business being in the ring with him, but if you look back at some of those combinations that Kell hit him with, and then imagine that a prime version of Roy was in there instead...

IMHO, Roy would have beaten him without too many issues.