No one hides a "glass chin" THAT well for 50 pro fights 25+ at championship level I don't care how fast you are. He took solid shots from a lot of people until, after declining for more than 5 years he took a shot he didn't see and got knocked out, then came back too early and got his punch resistance RUINED by Johnson. Emmanuel steward said this and I believe it because if you watch the glen johnson fight when he came bAck too soon he looked like absolute **** before he got knocked out again! No legs and bad coordination etc.. And from that point on even if he'd get himself into good shape and look good the punch resistance wasn't there. But his lack of chin after tarver 2 does not represent how he would do in hypothetical match ups in his prime!
Another thing roy had been declining since 97-98 at age 28-29 he was a guy like ali who relied on his speed and athleticism. If you watch closely you can see it and people already noted the decline around 2000-2001 even though he was still winning. After his fight with julio Gonzalez max kellerman said he proved he was not the same fighter he once was despite winning all 12 rounds and dropping his opponent 3 times! Ali and SRL were not the same at 32 either!
Good Eye. He was laying on the ropes a lot more not out of boredom but to rest his legs. A tell tale sign of a declining fighter.
Roy jones looked fragile in general, small head, light bones, yes fragile chin. i imagine a fight of him with tanks lile joe frazier, tua, tyson or even marciano and he would look a poor rabbit running for his life
Fragile compared to tyson? Sure! Maybe that is because he was at his best at 160-168. Again any proof that he had a fragile chin before Tarver 2? If his punch resistance was as bad in his prime as it later became he wouldn't have made it half as far as he did. John ruiz landed flush clean right hands on him!!
Roy did go down from a fairly innocuous punch against Lou del Valle. But, that being said, he didn't appear particularly hurt. And, I disagree with the premise that Jones was always hiding a glass jaw. Sometimes fighters just lose punch resistance over time. In fact, it is probably more the rule than the exception. My boy, Smokin' Bert Cooper took shots from Ray Mercer that would knock down a house, and yet he stayed on his feet. Years later, lesser men than Mercer dropped him on a regular basis.
Well it looked to me like he was looking away and slipped on a night were the ref stopped the fight 5 times to mop up a wet canvas because jones' trainer kept dumping water all over him, but either way he didn't seem hurt at all.
Cooper could have been much better than he was, he had underrated hand speed and power and a good chin. I will never forget the right hand that foreman hit him with that seemed to "vibrate" his entire body
Mustafo Hamsho was like Bert. First fight Hagler ripped his face to shreds ( over 50 stitches ) and hammered him with ferocius punches 11 rounds no knockdowns. Rematch exact same punches Hagler tko in 3 with 2 knockdowns.
Can't say for sure, but it seems plausible to me that Jones's age coupled with coming down from HW and suffering that brutal KO by Tarver affected his punch resistance.
I'm not that sure about his chin but I doubt a fighter has been hit flush less than Jones was from 1989-03. The guy's reflexes were simply unbelievable and couple that with his fantastic movement and you have a guy, who though not a classic defensive genius, probably was elusive as anyone who ever fought. His movement diminished after 2001 but was still great but after Ruiz his legs were and remained gone. After that you had a more stationary and hittable target and that's when the losses began. Perhaps the chin was always suspect but no one could exploit that until he was over 35 which is a testament to just how hard he was to hit.
Watch some of his fights again he got hit enough in his 22 title fight wins to get found out if he had a glass chin. I mean there were ZERO signs of a suspect chin. Now he didn't proveto have a great chin either, he didn't get hit enough for that. But you can say for sure that his chin in his prime was not a weakness. Telesco hit him with mma elbows, tarver got in plenty in the first fight. ruiz got in some right hands to the head. He got KO'd by a bigger man with a shot he didn't see(if he had an ATG chin he would've taken it but getting put down from that shot doesn't mean anything besides he took plenty in the first fight), came back too early KO again and that was that. Emanuel steward said the same thing
Yeah I don't think he had a glass jaw at all. A really suspect jaw is something like David Price possesses. Jones was at the top of the heap for over a decade which wouldn't have happened if he was vulnerable like that. I was complimenting him for not having to rely on his chin anyways. His defence was so good that the occasion never arose where his chin was put to the test for well over a decade and that's a massive indication of his ability. Sure he was hit but he avoided anything really heavy and as for follow up blows, forget about it, he was long gone. A terrific fighter.
