But....If Foseter is SO great at LHW... How does he lose so BADLY at HW, in the era before they reached a Critical Mass of size? I mean not just to the ATGs. Other LHWs have done much much BETTER moving up. If he had so much skill & power, why was he not more competitive?
Of course LC. but the disparity in his success rate is so great, especially not even fighting HHWs...Who else did SO well against such competition for a long time at LHW, but so poorly against HWs?
Bob also got hit too much at LHW because he could get away with it facing the light hitting men in the division in his era. He wasn't particularly good defensively; he didn't have to be. It came back to bite him against men his own size or bigger. Foster got a lot of mileage off of freakish physical advantages. I think he's more vulnerable at 175 against punchers than his record at the weight would indicate....not that it wouldn't be game over for Roy if Foster landed. It would be. Even with my bearish stance on Foster compared to most, I have to call it a toss up with a very realistic chance he knocks out Roy because of the workrate, power, and size. Due to Roy's reflexes and Bob's defense, a Jones knockout is also much more plausible than it's being portrayed as.
I think Foster's jab would pose huge problems for Roy and nullify whatever advantages he might have in athleticism. That jab also sets up fosters power, which can come from either hand on the inside or outside. I dont see Roy being able to evade that kind of fire power for too long. Foster was just too well schooled and had too much fire power.
Most likely outcome. Roy doesn't take the fight. If he did, Foster via stoppage, though I actually think Jones if he landed his best first could upset. Fans tend to underestimate Jones' speed, accuracy and power, and focus a bit too much on his chin. I don't think Foster's chin was good either.
This fight sees Foster on the deck at least once, but he wins the fight via attrition. Foster by Decision.
Roy would dominate and was probably physically stronger. Foster was missing something which is why he had no success at heavy. Roy also has a much better resume.
So he was stopped against Frazier, Ali, and Terrell. He was a substitute for Zora Folley in the Doug Jones fight. Are you saying you think Frazier, Ali ,and Terrell couldn't, or better yet wouldn't KO Jones? I'd bet the farm on all of them stopping Jones Jr, all with one shot KO's, out like he was against Glen Johnson, but at any time in his career, so as to avoid the " past it " excuses.
The problem is that Bob faced no punchers at 175. Therefore, we don't really know the cutoff of what it would take to knock him out or what his punch resistance really was at the weight. We know it was terrible when he moved up, and we know the smaller guys he fought could land and not hurt him. There's an ocean of difference between the two, but Roy hits hard enough to fall into the "could hurt Foster" category for me. Jones, for his part, had more success at heavyweight in one fight than Foster had his entire career. And I'd pick Ruiz to beat Foster. A mature Jones hits too hard for Foster to walk through if he lands clean IMO, but Roy would certainly need to get to him first if he was going to win. Otherwise, I would be inclined to agree with Klompton's attrition scenario where Foster knocks him out.