prime rjj v prime calzaghe should not even be discussed in the same breath

Roy Jones UD, but Calzaghe would give him a hell of a fight, and Jones was limited to his athleticism. The older Jones got, the greater the chance Calzaghe wins despite being the same age.

 

"Prime" Roy Jones was not unbeatable. His lack of opposition he was willing to fight in his Prime is very telling. The very network he fought on coined the term "Reluctant Roy". He was called that for a reason.

 

There is no winning for Calzaghe. Whoever he beat he wasn't given credit for.

. When he beat Eubank, it was because Eubank was shot.

. When he demolished Lacy (who pre-fight was the next Tyson) it was because Lacy was a bum.

. When he beat Kessler, it was because Kessler was untried and unproven at world level, despite being a world champion.

. When he beat Hopkins, it was because Hopkins was past it, despite the fact that he followed up his loss to Calzaghe with a total schooling of Pavlik.

. Admittedly the Jones fight was a bit of a farce and largely uncompetitive, the knockdown was nonsense as it came via a forearm rather than a punch.

In his prime, many fighters wanted no part of him. Including Jones himself, who said he never needed a fight with Calzaghe as he was an aggressive southpaw and too much of a risk. He beat everyone put in front of him, most times handily.

Had he continued and beaten the likes of Dawson, Froch and Pavlik, the fighters many were calling for him to fight, it would have been because they weren't world class and he should have beaten them anyway. For the record I reckon he would have outpointed all of the above with relative ease, especially Froch and Pavlik, who I think he would have dominated.

 

edit

 

But Rico, what if he didn't have a "glass jaw"? Would you like him then?:tong

 

The reason I do not like Roy Jones is he robbed us the fans of some very good fights in his Prime while he handpicked off duty police officer, sanitation workers, and bartenders to fight.

Roy has a ton of talent but in my opinion he was reluctant to actually prove it in the ring against good opposition.

 

Don't be so naiive. Calzaghe's 'slaps' as you call them, were as a result of his chronic hand injuries. In his prime he was not a slapper, he was a spiteful puncher with a stinging left hand, a phenomenal work rate and granite chin.

It's ridiculous to say that Jones would win easily.

 

true but calzaghe opposition wasnt exactly spectacular either. both were great fighters in their prime but you gotta favor jones as he was the more talented of the two. wud be a good fight

 

This for me is the ONLY legitimate complaint against Roy. I don't think he worked hard enough for the fights that would have made him the best ever. I bitched about kessler the other day for not making the fights; everyone blamed him management but it's up to the fighter to make things happen. The same can be said of Roy: there are three fights he SHOULD have made happen. DM, Gerald McClellan (i know they were friends) and Benn. There are others like the Hopkins rematch but these three could have defined him. Not making them has hurt him in the long run.

 

I agree about calzaghe but I blame that more on Warren that Joe. We all know how Warren likes to protect his fighters.

If they were to fight yes Jones would have to be the favorite. I just think it would be an interesting fight and who knows who would have won?

 

I often hate on Roy but if he were to have fought everyone he could have he could have even if he lost one or two of them he still would have been ranked higher than he is now which is still pretty high.

I have never hated on Jones skill or talent just his reluctance to make competitive fights happen.