Roy Jones Jr Apparently Wants to Fight Tony Bellew

Bellew isn't as heavy handed as Enzo Maccarinelli. The state that Enzo was in prior to fighting RJJ was good. He had won 2 fights by knockout earlier that year. Obviously Enzo's last performance wasn't good which caused him to retire, but going into the Roy Jones fight he was coming off wins and was very motivated.

 

I explained the reasons in the OP. Bellew isn't as big of a puncher as Enzo or Lebedev. Bellew had a great deal of difficulty stopping a complete punching bag in Haye, Haye was hobbling around the ring for 3 or 4 rounds and Bellew wasn't able to land anything on him to put an end to it. If Bellew had that much trouble stopping a complete punching bag in an injured Haye, how is he gonna stop Roy Jones? I'm not saying Roy can't be hit anymore, but I mean it's not like anyone off the street can just easily KO Jones.

The Enzo KO was odd because for the first 3 rounds Roy was having his way with Enzo, and there were some problems in his corner between rounds and he came out in the 4th round very uncomfortable and it led to the KO. Vs Lebedev he went nearly 10 rounds with Lebedev and right before the final bell he was stopped moments after he got Lebedev in trouble. I mean when you really look at it, I doubt Bellew could do what Lebedev or Enzo did. Those fights took dramatic turns where Roy was on his way to going the distance and possibly winning those fights.

 

It's interesting because styles make fights and RJJ vs Bellew could make for a fascinating clash of styles. Bellew idolized Roy so it becomes multi-layered when you are fighting a legend you grew up idolizing.

 

I think he wanted to fight Bellew before he vacated his CW belt. Now Bellew has no CW belt so I'm not sure it makes sense for Roy as his goal is a CW belt. Apparently Roy had been asking for the fight for some time but like you said Bellew wouldn't accept the fight probably because he doesn't think he should be fighting anymore, and that Bellew idolized him growing up.

Would it really be a horror show? Bellew probably wouldn’t even try to knock Roy out, it probably would end up being pretty damn entertaining. Out of all the recent cruiserweight champions, Roy may have been targeting Bellew thinking that he’s a guy that may be right for him stylistically.

I just can’t see Bellew being a guy that would go in there trying to land bombs on Roy Jones. He probably has so much respect for the guy he just wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger on Roy which is probably why he wouldn’t agree to fight him.

There’s so much more nuance to this than you or many others are describing as it relates to Roy Jones career. I’m not here edging Roy on to continue, Roy’s going to do what he wants to do, and nothing we say on here is going to stop him from fighting on if he feels he still has something left. I get the concern for Roy, I really do. But if this fight happened I don’t see the horror show that you see. Bellew would not be able to pull the trigger on Roy, because he’s got too much respect for him. Even if he was motivated, stylistically I just don’t see it as a good matchup for Bellew. Bellew’s never fought someone with the high ring IQ and physical gifts that Roy Jones had.

Bellew couldn’t even finish off a one legged David Haye who was completely exhausted. Haye lasted round after round and he couldn’t even move. I like Bellew, I really do, but think the Roy who fought Enzo (rounds 1-3 to be exact) would give him hell. Roy would befuddle Bellew the same way he frustrated Enzo early on. I don’t think Bellew really would have the killer instinct to get in there and get Roy in trouble. I see Roy outboxing Bellew and possibly winning a close but clear decision.

With Roy Jones at this point, it’s all about matchmaking. Certain fighters are very capable of knocking Roy Jones out at this point and certain fighters just aren’t. I’m not sure RJJ’s aspirations of winning a Cruiserweight Title have ended. But I think he realizes just how much harder it is the older he gets. I mean, he made easy work of Bobby Gunn a few months back but he didn’t exactly look great. Not bad, but not great either. His bout with Enzo probably should have been for a World Title. I don’t really want to see him continue, but I do think that he deserves a shot at a World Title. I Don’t want to see him get hurt, but at the same time he earned to attempt to win one last World Title, unfortunately it seems that the only person that still believes in his ability to box is himself. I’m conflicted as a Roy Jones fan, would be nice to see him go out at a World Champion but don’t want to see him get hurt either. THat’s why matchmaking is so important, and Bellew may have been the perfect guy for him to get that World Title win against, but now he doesn’t have his CW title anymore. Oh well.