MW Tournament Best Of Each Decade: MONZON 1971, HAGLER 1983, JONES 1993, HOPKINS 2001

In a one-off round robin, I would have my money on Jones. I agree with the above assertions that Jones would be best the shorter the fight. Over 12 rounds he will be at his best, whereas over 15 he would be more susceptible to losing a decision. In his prime I don't believe his chin was a liability. In fact, all of the people discussed here have real chins. Still, even at a 15 round pace I would pick Jones to win this tournament.

I would have picked Hopkins to beat Jone in a rematch any time after their first match because I believe Jones CAN be figured out, but only by an extremely intelligent fighter. Jones has the movement and overall ability to give anyone trouble, but if you are persistent enough to stick to him, he can be beaten.

Hopkins vs. Hagler.

To be clear, my overall pick in this is Roy Jones.

...I need to restart computer immediately, but will be back to go over the rest.

 

wow...that was like day and night between this fight and the Hearns fight. I completely RETRACT my statements about his style being a wild brawler. But I honestly feel that Jones would still control Hagler with the jab. Although Hagler has GREAT head movement, it seemed to me that Hagler was kept at a distance when the jab was around. He unleashed his power after throwing a flinging jab and a hook to either the head or downstairs. The guy in this vid however hardly threw anything. I think he was scared shitless of Hagler's power.

I still feel Jones would win...but DEFINITELY not comfortably...it's either Jones decision or Hagler late KO...

 

will do :good

And from what I've seen...damn...helluva boxer puncher. Murderous power and typically had people scared shitless. He was pretty intimidating.

I shall watch a majority of these fights if they have em...most of these fights sadly get deleted rather quickly or have only the last rounds or just sorta skimming of the fights...I HATE that...but i'll try to watch them all...as well as some Monzon fights

 

In terms of greatness as Middleweights, I rank them:

Monzon
Hagler
Hopkins
Jones


In terms of greatness as Boxers, I rank them:

Jones
Hopkins
Monzon
Hagler


Interms of natural boxing ability:

Jones
Hopkins
Hagler
Monzon



Head-to-head:

Jones
Monzon
Hagler
Hopkins

Sweetpea raises the point regarding 12 rounds or 15. This could be significant, but at prime, I don’t believe that Hopkins or Jones would be much handicapped by the extra three rounds as they were both superbly conditioned individuals. However, it would make sense to go with 12 rounds as that would eliminate any perceived advantages anyone might hold.

(Ray Leonard insisted on 12 rounds at a time when 15 was the norm for title fights. I guess he didn’t trust his conditioning vis a vis the older Hagler).

A more significant question IMO, would be same day weigh-in or previous day weigh-in?

The difference here is approximately a weight class.

If it’s previous day, Monzon and Hagler will be at some disadvantage as they will be fighting at the SMW level of their era, something they avoided in their careers.I f it’s to be same day weigh-in, we will see a lighter Jones and Hopkins in the Ring than we saw during most of their careers.




While I rank Jones number one out of the four in terms of natural boxing ability, he would rank number four out of four for his mastery of the fundamentals of the sport in a conventional sense. However, I feel that latter weakness in fundamentals is more than out-weighed by the former strength in natural athleticism and ability.

IMO, Jones speed would be too much for all of the others.

If we included a hypothetical fifth member to this little group, it might well be James Toney. Jones virtually shut him out, and he had a clear decisive victory over Hopkins.

So, head to head, I would favour him over the other three.


The next three head-to-heads are more difficult to pick. I believe Monzon would edge the other two and Hagler would have a slight edge over Hopkins.

In the Ring, on a given night, anything can happen, so these picks are based on best versions of the fighters, focused and bringing their best game.

 

Roy Jones for me

 

Yup same day weigh-in would favor Hagler and Monzon immensely.

 

Good to hear that you have the maturity to switch up your views when presented with new information.

But....Jones was never known for his jab, it was the one punch he didn't use consistently because his physical abilities allowed him to control the fight without it. Aside from the Pazienza fight against a much smaller, less skilled opponent, he never really showed a strong jab. In fact he was being countered quite often against Montell Griffin in their first fight and hardly landing it at all when he did try to make some use of it.

Hagler on the other hand had one of the best southpaw jabs of all time, and a fantastic reach to go with it. Being a naturally right-handed fighter who could switch between southpaw and unorthodox, his right jab was also one of the most powerful ever. Not to mention it's possible Roy always had some difficulties with southpaws. I don't think Roy would attempt to use his jab so much as his straight right to counter Marvin's jab, mixed in with a lot of movement. I think Hagler would attempt more of a pressuring style once he'd felt out Roy in the first few rounds (likely dropping a few early ones due to Roy's speed and unorthodoxy) and attempt to make things uncomfortable for Jones. It's anyone's guess as to how it plays out from there.

 

Jones greater than Monzon or Hagler? :roflatsch

Jones better head to head than Monzon or Hagler? :roflatsch

Do you know your Boxing History?

How old are you?

Jones was never in a dog fight like Hagler was. Both Monzon and Hagler would chew Glass Jaw Roy up and spit him out. They are on another level of toughness than Jones ever was.

 

Hagler vs Monzon would be the most interesting fight for me. I think Monzon takes it in the end. He has a few physical advantages over Hagler and no real weaknesses. I think Monzon's height could really bother Hagler, and Carlos' chin safeguarded him against any surges of brilliance from Marvin.

I do feel however that Monzon would have to scrape this victory from before the gates of hell, though. Hagler could get real mean once a fight didn't go the way he wanted. Later rounds could get scrappy.

I don't regard Roy Jones as a middleweight. Hard to compare eras, since cutting weight drains stamina and Monzon/Hagler fought 15 rounders....but I'll say that Jones has a shot against Monzon even over 15. I think Carlos would have problems timing his jab.

Ask me to stake my life on the actual match-up, though, and I would still take Monzon, as I know he holds up in a 15-round war at middleweight. A drained Jones might not react as well when under pressure for 15 rounds.

------------------

For Fun:

Monzon > Hagler
Monzon > Jones
Monzon > Hopkins
Hagler > Jones
Hopkins > Hagler
Jones > Hopkins

 

1) Jones's jab was largely non-existent, I don't see what problems Monzon would have in that regard, though he'd have problems in other areas (speed, angles, unorthodoxy, etc.)

2) Cutting weight does drain stamina, if you're doing so past your limit. Jones on the other hand wasn't doing that, and was clearly suited well enough to MW (he started off at 154) to dismiss any problems regarding strength or stamina. His performance clearly showed this as well. The way I see it, if he's having problems in the later rounds with Monzon (which he likely would), it's less due to himself and more due to Monzon.

 

The resident Jones-hater crawls onto the thread.

And to eveyone's surprise, has a go at Jones.

What a shock !


You're as predictable as RedRooster on SRL and FightingWeight on the Klits.



Any chance of you making a New Year's resolution ?

 

:nono Hagler > Hopkins

 

12 Rounds: Jones Jr.
15 Rounds: Jones Jr.

Jones Jr. and his speed would present problems to everyone as we know both Hopkins all ready lost to him and Hagler had trouble with great handspeed as we saw in the Leonard fight.

I personally believe that three extra rounds would be harder on Jones but I see him surviving the late rallies of Hagler and Monzon to take a decision. With Hopkins he would just beat him more convincingly.

 

If you read my previous post you will see I gave Jones some credit. There is no way in hell he would beat Hagler or Monzon. None. Jones would get chewed up and spit out by both of them.

 

I'd take Hopkins to edge Hagler in a close fight.

But I feel that both would lose to Monzon and Jones.

In 15 rounds I think I would lean towards Monzon to get a late stoppage while down on points against Jones.