Roy Jones takes a Q and A '96

well yeah. and collins would have had a better shot than most. collins had balls...eubanks and benn were no slouches. but they weren't roy at that time and **** it, take some money and retire

 

I have a hard time buying this.

Collins was taking 'risky' fights for $100k, and losing, I don't see why he would pass on a Jones fight for a cool million, risk or no risk.

 

Same here. Collins retired because he realized he wasn't going to get a shot.

He started to make a comeback (before collapsing in sparring and retiring again on doctors advice) in 99 because Jones said he'd give him 3 million for a fight. Collins said he would have fought Tyson for 3 million. Doesn't sound like a guy who would have turned down 7 figures in 96.

 

I take nothing away from Roy, but he sold a lot of wolf tickets and only truly showed bravery late in his career after his skills eroded. Guys like Liles, Collins and Benn all pursued a fight with reluctant Roy and it never happened. You are truly a nuthugger if you think Roy was ducked. He was pursued just like PBF is pursued, because everyone thought he was the best.

 

RJJ was a physical freak, but besides a fat, drained Tony, he fought a lot of ordinary or over-the-hill opposition.

 

i hear that but tell me who he ducked? calling him reluctant roy doesn''t mean he actually feared or avoided anyone. just means he has a shitty nickname. tell me ONE fighter who he should've, could've, WHATEVER fought and didn't?

 

Collins was tough. Roy would of destroyed Collins.

 

No, and you can't show me evidence that he did. All you have is Roy selling wolf tickets.

 

You soulnd like a troll. I don't have to say the names because everyone knows who they are. I can't deny the mans talents, but he was not a risk-taker in his youth.

 

look omgz!!11 benn wanted jones!!!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgcl9qLqX5I[/ame]

 

He dominated and stopped Mallinga who beat BEnn, got jobbed against BEnn and arguably beat Eubank

 

In September of '95 Jones dispatched Tony Thornton with somethig like 25 unanswered punches, Jones made a suitably bizarre dedication:

"This is for everyone in the chicken business!"

But he also had a bit to say about Nigel Benn.

"You go tell Don King i'll take that fight [Benn] anytime! Nigel Benn is a great warrior and that's why I want to fight him!"


The problem was that Benn was with King. King wanted Jones to sign a "winning options" clause. Though Jones was happy to work with King for the right amount of dollar, he, and perhaps to an even greater degree, Stanley Levin (something to do with Roy's management team - don't know his exact role, he seems to be mostly labelled as a "advisor"?) did not want any part of Don long term, and you absolutley cannot blame them for that. Furthermore, King was determined that a fight this big should be on Showtime, Jones was connected to HBO.

Later, Jones was inerviewed by Claude Abrahams for Boxing News:

"I hear about King offring $25m for me and Benn. Instead, he can come up with $10m apiece and we can fight [without giving up long-term control]. I want a three fight package!"

Jones's "three fight package" wasn't a long-term deal for King, but rather an idea whereby he would come to England but not alone.

"My bros must go with me. I must have some cover if I go to another country. Bruno-[Alfred] Cole would be a good fight. Let's make it a great night. I've seen Hamed. He's a pretty good fighter but [Derek] Gainer watched the fight against Robinson, he says he can beat him. Derrick don't turn no-one down. Bruno can punch but Cole has more skill. That will balance it out into a good fight. Me and Benn - enough said. I like Benn and that's why I want to fight him. It's a sportsman's challenge. But they can't speak for themselves. They can't make their own decisions without King. They can't make their own decisions. We can. They don't have the power. They are denying the public some great fights. I really like the big challanges. When I fought Toney it was a project. Benn is a project because he is a warrior and it will be a test for me. I really believe Benn wants to fight me. I respect him."

Several things strike me about this. Firstly, I believe Roy was up for this. That strikes me. Do you? Or just bombast? Secondly, he really seems bored with the Sosas of this world. I think it screams of the page that he wants to be challenged. Thirdly, Jones shows real give. He doesn't make problems. Read between the lines. He's talking about coming to the UK AND taking a pay cut in this passage. I don't think you can hold it against him that he didn't want to sell his soul to the devil.

Of course it never came off. After the Sosa fight Jones said: "Boxing isnt a challenge for me no more. The only challenge is Benn and he don't return my phone calls." You can see the boredom.


Benn, for his part, was probably not the problem. After the Nardiello fight talking to Ian Darke: "Roy Jones...I don't mind being second to Roy Jones. I think he's a class act. I'd really like to fight him. He'll frighten me. That's what I need - somebody to really frighten me. I'd be up for that fight like a mother...so please, God, Don King, Frank Warren HBO, if you can get that fight i'll fight him in his - no, my back yard. Roy Jones is the only one who's gonna give me that real fear. He's going to put the fear of God up me."

 

Chris Eubank: People always ask me why I never fought Roy Jones. The reason is simple, Roy Jones was never my mandatory contender and I was never his. He used to call me up over the phone and say "Eubank, stop hiding and give Roy a shot", but at that time he was not a big name and there would of been no need to fight him, it would of been abit random. When 1996 was on the scene, I wanted to fight Roy Jones in his backyard and even told HBO that I'd publicly bet $1,000,000 on knocking him out in the 1st-round. When I rang Roy Jones, he hung up on me every time. He wouldn't fight me when I was no longer champion, he didn't want to take risks you see. I can say this about a fight with Roy Jones, if he had been my mandatory I would of fought him, I am a professional. People think that I would of made a fight with him become boring and louzy, I would not have done. If you hold back against that guy, he will hurt you and stun you before you have the chance to throw your best shots at him and by then it's too late because they won't be your best shots, you will be hurt and stunned already. If you give him the chance to view and the time to get set, he will land first because his quickness and timing is that good. That's why I would of made it an all-out war with him, so that I'd have more chance of throwing my best shots at him and so there would be less chance of him landing his best shots on me. You don't want to make life easy for him, I would of stood as good a chance as anybody of beating him. Roy Jones would of came out of the fight in bad shape, but I would of came out worse off!

 

Well Collins was offered the fight and was asking for 6million. And he retired because he didnt want to defend against the young bull who was Calzaghe. HE eventually came back for the 3 million and got laid out by Howard Eastman in sparring