McClellan vs. Jones circa 1994?

Picking this fight has that nagging suspicion that when Gerald hits Roy he'll fly apart like leggo blocks . Roy by decision is probably the way to go but I think Roy was better at 168

 

I think GMAN blasts that Toney out in less than 6.

 

Absolutely agree! Now I wouldn’t pick McClellan not bet a dime on him even with good odds. And while I think he would be a big underdog (and I am not an RJJ fan of any sort) but he would be a very dangerous live dog. I imagine Roy takes a wide/comfortable uninspiring victory, but he would need to be focused all night long.

 

No. Roy was too quick and versatile. He'd outbox Gerald for a wide UD.

 

Jones for mine. Not sure if he would stop him.

 

Jones via safety-first points win seems the most probable outcome to me. McClellan probably has to put all his eggs in the early stoppage basket. Not easy to get past the first two or three rounds against him, but history shows that anyone who did either went the distance, decisioned him or stopped him late. I believe the only exception to that was the first Jackson fight, which at five rounds was McClellan's only stoppage win which came later than the third. Fearsome three or four rounds fighter but not quite the same after that point, so if the fight went past four rounds I'd expect Jones to be in total control.

Easy to paint this one purely as Jones' movement and boxing against McClellan's power, but don't forget that Jones was an enormous puncher at 160 (take a look at what he did to Tate with a single left hook - the same Tate who'd gone the distance taking plenty of leather against Julian Jackson, no less) and hit pretty damn hard at 168, too. Not beyond the realms of possibility that if McClellan approached the fight with the attitude that Jones couldn't hurt him, he might have been in for a rude awakening.

McClellan was an accomplished amateur and there's always been a suspicion (mentioned already by some posters here) that he neglected his pure boxing skills which were better than many believe. Steward has claimed that part of that was due to the fact that he always fought angry, in part because of his fallout with the Kronk. Even underusing his all-round skills, McClellan still possessed fantastic power, considerable hand speed and a great variety of punches matched with intensity, a good chin and a willingness to take some shots to land his own - that alone means that Jones is going to have to be very sharp and alert to make sure of the win here. McClellan a live underdog with a puncher's chance, but I've still got to back Jones. His twelve-round conditioning, defence, own proven power and ability to be effective both on the front and back foot are the reassuring factors, for me.

 

The Toney who fought Jones would stand no chance against Gerald McClellan. None at all.

 

Yes McCellan was a threat to knock Roy Jones out. Those first couple of rounds would have been MustSeeTV. Gerald was like a Middleweight George Foreman, a real terror in those early rounds.
Roy Jones was very slippery, hard to catch. You couldnt just open up with reckless abandon because he had amazing power as well.
Tough call because Gerald McCellan left us with some unanswered questions.
But clearly he was the biggest threat out there for Roy Jones Jr.

 

Of course he was a threat. He beat Roy in the amateurs which gives him an edge psychologically. He had major power and speed. Roy Jones jr takes it by 12 round ud. But if McClellan landed....

 

Gerald moved up not just because of weight, but he was in fact chasing RJJ.

As an amateur Roy would've been a 3time GG champ, but Gman stopped it from happening. Hopefully I can remember the fighter who I have spoken/ via internet! That was at the tournament Gman vs Jones. He said they both gave & took, but Gman 1. had the edge in power & landing.
2. Gman couldn't spar for a few weeks because of swelling to his jaw that Jones caused.

Jones wasn't touchable at that weight, but Gman would;ve been the one. I'll say Draw!

 

Are you thinking of the 'Iceman' John Scully?

He was there and he wrote a great piece about it.

By all accounts it was a great fight. But of course it was only 3-5 rounds.

Although Gerald would have been a huge threat, I'd had to have made Roy the favourite in 1995.

I doubt we'd have seen the fight though, even if Gerald had been healthy and he'd have beaten Benn.

Regarding the amateurs, Roy also went 2-1 with Liles, and I believe that he also dropped a decision to Tim Littles.

Here's some of excerpts of John's work:

http://www.fighthype.com/news/article18324.html

https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/104565

 

On one hand G-Man seems like he could be a dangerous match-up, on the other he gets a quite incredible amount credit in h2h scenarios for someone who only beat one quality opponent, who was smaller and ageing to boot. It takes somewhat of a leap of faith not favour Roy here.

 

Excellent analysis.

 

Thank you! Yup. Really cool dude. No one taped the war between Roy & Gerald in the ams. Iceman described it down to the most minute detail.

 

Quoting my observations from some 15 years ago...
McClellan's right was too wide, not quick enough and was telegraphed most of the time, to be a threat to Jones with his reflexes. Watch McClellan trying to land his right vs Jackson for 4.5 rounds, or watch the Benn fight. The way he turns his upper body clockwise, pulls his right back, then throws it in an arc-like way, his opponents had a lot of time to evade or duck it. When he missed his right hook (or, rather, something between a straight right and a right hook) it took him plrenty of time to reset, he was easy to be hit (with left hooks or uppercuts) in that position. His jab was rather useless, no power behind it and he left his arm outstretched for a few fractions of a second too long, again being open for a good right cross, or the opponent (both Jackson and Benn, regularly) could just ignore that jab and throw a counter the moment they see G-Man throwing it, McClellan didn't try to step back or evade or parry such counters. Watch Benn land his left hook first and close the distance before McClellan finishes throwing his right, multiple times. He wasn't very mobile, couldn't feint, couldn't press the opponent with his jab or his movement. Going backward he displayed little or no countering skills. Not very effective in clinches. If the opponent is on the ropes, McClellan just throws as many punches as he can, with no timing or precision.