Roy Jones - Breaker of Chins

Also:

Woods - stopped in 6, went 12 with Tarver and 36 with Glen Johnson (winning 1 and drawing 1- debatably)

Montel Griffin - in 1 - went 12 with Tarver and 24 with Toney (beating him twice)

Tony Thornton - stopped in 3 but went 12 with Toney and Eubank

 

Some record he has against good chins no doubt, Latif's post is right, that doesnt take anything away from Roy though

 

When someone hits you with power, so fast, it's almost like that someone is cheating. That, or like someone has really done something to them that seems like it is past their own comprehension. Like someone just took something over the top. Sometimes they look as though they were thinking," That's not called for. We were just boxing." Or,"if you're going to play that way...."

 

He was a phenom in his prime pure and simple.

Yet people still try to deny that he was that good,denigrating his opposition and using his later fights with Tarver and Johnson as a means of downplaying his historical standing.

A fair few all time greats wouldn't look that good either if they were judged on fights they had when they were over 35,or if their resume was put under the microscope that Jones' is.

That blend of insane speed,power and unorthodoxy is why some normally durable fighters simply couldn't cope with Roy.

 

Roy Jones best was at 160-168lb. In fact he may be a top 5 h2h 160lber in history.

 

:good

 

Roy Jones had, dare I say it, crushing power at the lighter weights. Maybe 'crushing' is not the right word - his hands were like missiles that exploded on opponent's chins.

The first fight of his I ever saw was against Jorge Vaca, a toughie who had given Lloyd Honeyghan rough moments. Yet, Jones toyed with him and smashed him to defeat inside a round. I knew then that we were dealing with an exceptional talent.

His knockout of Antoine Byrd is one that doesn't get mentioned much, but it was a great display of power punching, and Byrd was also a tough customer.

Malinga...I saw most of his fights and I can tell you he was a tough guy. Hard to nail cleanly, and even when you did get through, he had a really good chin that absorbed plenty a hard punch. Jones knocking him out shocked me somewhat.

Let's not forget his ko over Virgill Hill as well. Hill was another tough, tough man and to see him starched by a body shot was pretty impressive.
Jones even momentarily wobbled Ruiz in the 4th round of their fight.

 

when i think of boxing perfection think of roy jones jr and ray robinson....in that order...

 

His power at 160/168 is one of the best in history, and he had tremendous speed to go with it. The fact that Toney and Hopkins went the distance with him is very impressive and it shouldn't be a surprise that neither of them has ever been stopped before or after, even when still fighting when far past their best, right now.


By the way, i just took a look at Jones' record, and his pro debut was an 8 rounder. His opponent has a losing record, but his second opponent was 9-2 and his third was 16-1. Another impressive stats on his record.

 

Roy Jones and Mike Tyson both have what I like to call the goddamn factor.

I really don't know of any other examples of this. I don't know of any other fighters to possess that combination of speed and power.

 

Another good display of his mix of power and speed were the Hall and Reggie Johnson fights.

No one before or since has dominated Johnson like that, and Roy looked like he had him ready to go more than once.

The Hall fight should have lasted two rounds, Roy toyed with him and had his number from the first exchange. Hall's durability was showcased in the two Michalczewski fights, who many thought was a much bigger hitter than Roy. He was at least the physically bigger man.

 

Very good points. Jones annihilated these guys who had pushed other top fighters all the way. The lesson here? Jones wasn't just a top fighter, he was a very special fighter.

 

Conversely castro was one of the few who took roy the distance at middle....
Oh,and i think tommy hearns also had the 'wow' factor in terms of speed and power....

 

Castro was stopped something like twice in 144 fights, and Jones fought him relatively early in his career, that he didn't have the nous to stop a granite old warrior is no reflection on his power. There were a few journeymen that lasted 10 or 12 with Hearns in the first half of his career. Hearns probably had more concussive single punch power than Jones, but Jones combined speed and power better IMO.