Road Warrior VS Jones : how much did he have left ?

Smart fight by Johnson. Roy just loved non-aggressive types that would stand around in ring center playing the feints game. Johnson applied constant pressure and forced the pace and real estate of the bout

 

Jones was done but not quite but getting there .almost .!

 

All true, but I just don't see a few years younger RJ getting stopped by Johnson .

 

Jones did not have much left at this point. Quite frankly, it was painful to see him lose by KO to a fighter he would have shut out or stopped with ease just a few years earlier. Kind of like Tyson vs Williams or McBride.

 

Bingo. Jones would have toyed with the guy earlier career.

 

Roy was gained 20lbs to fight Ruiz, then had to lose it at 35 to make light heavy again. I think that weight loss practically ended Roy's prime though I tend to think he was already on the downslope vs Ruiz.

 

He faded fast mostly as said thru weight gains and losses. Lets not forget he had a lot of career behind him by this point. He was at the stage where he should have been declined. Yes it happened fast but it's hardly the first time. He was also a fighter heavily dependant on reflexes vs fundamentals.

The guy suddenly couldn't take a shot. He looked pretty ordinary against Tarver in their first bout and probably fought too soon after the rematch too. Actually he should have retired. Noway Tarver and Johnson spark an earlier Jones.

 

I noticed Roy laying on the ropes alot more well before he had lost. He wasnt doing it out of boredom like in the past. He was an aging fighter resting his legs.

 

Prior to the loss to Tarver, Jones had been fighting pro for 14+ years and 50 fights. He'd been winning world titles for just over a decade. He'd been in about 23 title fights. He'd just lost one fight, via DQ. A check vs other great names via such criteria shows this to be a fantastic run. Many were getting whupped by this stage or over the hill. Some greats may not have even reached these stages.

 

Yes it was just so extreme. One minute nobody can touch him {seemingly} and he didnt lose many rounds to getting carted off. I do think in retrospect he dug deep and showed some character and toughness in his win over Tarver. Roy was busted up a bit but he got the job done.

 

For sure on all counts.

 

He looked awful. Of course he was still very fast, a slowed down RJJ was still fast, but his legs looked gone, he didn’t seem to be punching with snap, and also seemed not mentally into it. The weird thing about the knockout was that it appeared that Roy saw the punch coming, turned away as if to roll with it a bit, and still got knocked unconscious. Temple shots are terrible, but usually mess up fighters’ equilibrium as opposed to knocking a guy unconscious.

RJJ looked better a year later against Tarver. In fact, he looked pretty good physically, that was more of a mental thing, Roy was gun shy and afraid of getting KO’d. It looked like a winnable fight for Roy as Tarver looked pretty bad himself, particularly with his stamina as he looked exhausted after he badly hurt Roy in the 11th despite it being a slow paced bout. After looking so vulnerable, I thought Hopkins had a much better chance at being him than the oddsmakers odd.