RJJ Vastly Underrated Competition?

It's more a case of Jones' conquests not being fully appreciated because of how he strolled through his career - that frustrates fans, Ted Spoon knows.

If Jones struggled against Toney, then we would focus on the tough nature of the fight rather than Toney's weight situation.

 

He had good competition, however, you have to consider McCallum was 40 years old, and had been slowing down for a long time. The Toney win was great though

 

Some good stuff.

 

quality post i am a big rjj fan for me one of the best ever imo . I am not sure why some fighters dont get the props they deserve untill they have retired for many years. I think rjj made it look to easy just to good for his own good i guess:thumbsup

 

There is a tendency to play down Jonses acomplishments because he took a few soft touches but there is some real gold dust in there.

John Ruiz
The last former middleweight champion to hold any sort of clain to the heavyweight title was Bob Fitzsimmons in the 1800s. whatever you think of Ruiz the historical importance of this should not be under rated.

James Toney
A pound for pound great across multiple weight divisions totaly dominated.

How many times through history has a great fighter been so completely outclassed?

Not many.

In adition to this the value of a fighters best wins can continue to gain interest long after he retires as his former victims increase their own acomplishments.

Clinton Woods has already picked up a belt and might beat other top fighters. Bernard Hopkins is not out of the picture yet and neither is Tarver. If these three fight in whatever combination it is going to increase sombodys standing.

 

Personally, I think fighters like Eric Harding, Monetell Griffin, Clinton Woods, and, to a lesser extant, Julio Gonzalez and Derrick Harmon would have been good quality contenders in just about any era. RJJ's era at LH wasn't great, but Powerpuncher's right...it's better than some people seem to think.

 

Jones blew it and blew it big...

The man had as much talent as Robinson and squandered 50-60% of it. I am sure my premature greying comes from all the stress I got from friends as I desperatly tried to defend Jones and tell everyone that would listen that in the end Jones would come to Britain + Europe and fight the names we all wanted him to, because he was that good, he did not need to worry about what the judges thought...

I should not of bothered, I still cannot believe that a man with all that talent had a prime year that consisted of beating Byrd, Pazienza and Thornton; when Benn and Eubank in 1995 were begging for a match; matches Jones at his best could of had and won on the same night, he was potentially that good.

 

He beat a top 5 160, a top 5 168, he is top 10 at 175 and he jumped 190 to become a titlist at heavyweight.

What else needs to be said.

 

Vastly overrated fighter.

 

Stan Harrington beat the generally considered finest fighter ever, then beat him again to prove it was not a fluke...

But that does not mean Hartrington was the best fighter ever, far from it.

Jones was that good, the bar was raised for him, and he did not clear it; and what is even worse, he did not even try! That is why Jones will probably never get any benefit of doubt, when he gets rated. He fought good opposition for an excellent fighter, but Jones was meant to be more than excellent, he was meant to be an all-time top three great, and indeed he could of been if he had tried.

 

The bar set for Jones was to be the best ever - he failed. However he ended up one of the best and a great fighter.

Jones beat a top 5 160 and never lost at the weight.
He beat a top 5 168 and never lost at the weight.
He did everything I said at 175 and heavy and never really lost.

Then suddenly when he hit 36 or so after having boxed since he was 8 or something he loses and his record begins to look like Robinson, Charles, Leonard etc However it appears the bar is set differently.

Jones was meant to be the best ever, he failed. He simply never had that drive. You need to yearn for it. You need to crave that recognition - Jones didn't. This doesn't mean he won't get his rightful ranking as a great fighter.