Peak for peak, who was better -- Roy Jones Jr or Floyd Mayweather?

I hear you, but Roy's style was the antidote to a defensive genius - as shown when he made a mockery out of Toney.

 

Floyd has had more longevity, but, peak for peak he was nowhere near Jones. To be fair, almost nobody in history was.

 

Floyd has had more longevity? RJJ beat Castro in 91-92 and Tito/Lacy in the 2010s, FMJ came on the scene in the early 2000s and retired for a few years until the 2010s..

 

Lost to Castillo, arguably Maidana & drew with with Oscar quite clearly.. lost the first 4-5 rounds against Zab as badly as Toney lost them against RJJ..

Roy was better

 

Mayweather has established lineage in three weight classes.

Jones has established lineage in none.

If you take that as a starting point, you start to think Mayweather more and more.

 

Mayweather. He isn't packing glass in his jaw, and was better on defense.

 

At their respective peaks, it is Roy all day long. While sound defensively, he took guys out of their fight plans via his offense. I will always argue that offense takes precedence over defense in the sport, and that the latter- at its best- is a precursor to the former.

 

Jones without a doubt.

Floyd has better defense for sure.

Roy is far more athletic.

Roy is 100 times harder puncher than Floyd ever was, and Floyd at 147-154 can't crack an egg with his feather fists.

More technically sound - Floyd

Better athlete, more unbeatable in his prime - Roy Jones jr

 

Floyd Mayweather in my opinion, though Jones was more impressive to watch.

 

The main problem with Floyd is that he is genuinely featherfisted at 147-154 lbs though he was decent puncher at lighter weights.

Whily Roy who started at 154 was hard hitter even at 175.

 

which is what made him more fun to watch, but not necessarily "better." Mayweather is one of the most skilled and tactical boxers of all time, which doesn't always make for fans jumping out of their seats.

 

For me if both men were the same size and at their respective best I would bet on Floyd winning.

 

Once Roy lost his speed and reflexes, he became average.

Floyd has more basic skills so he could do well even in his 40's (maybe not as long as Hopkins, but still).

 

Agreed. he has the potential as being someone with extended longevity.. While Both he and Pac were past their best, they were still two of the best p4p in the world and floyd won that fight convincingly at age 38.. I can see him sticking around and being effective until about 41 or 42, though I highly doubt he has more than a few fights left.