Who wins? Would RJJ have beaten Johnson pre-2004? Or did Johnson always have a style that would mean he could beat RJJ?
Jones by 117-111 or 118-110.jones declined at an alarming rate after the Ruiz fight in 2003,he was still genuinely great in 2000.Johnson lost a lot of close/dubious decisions,but he really hit his peak around 2004 with the wins over woods,jones and tarver and Harding just before that.Johnson was not yet in his prime in 2000.Jones was still at his best in 2000.Jones won every round and scored knockdowns against the late Julio Gonzalez who was terrific and Gonzalez had beaten Johnson.Jones also beat Woods alot more convincingly than Johnson and that was also at light heavyweight.Johnson was always underrated but only good enough to win a few rounds against a near prime Jones.
Jones would have toyed with Johnson at that point. Roy's rapid decline after Ruiz was shocking. I can think of very few examples where the decline was so dramatic. Johnson fought the shell of Roy Jones, nothing more.
Jones wide UD People forget how exceptional Roy was prior to moving up to HW. He barely lost a round his entire career up until then. Yes you can make arguments for him not fighting all the best opposition. But when you look at how dominant he was, it’s inconceivable that someone like Johnson even wins more than a few rounds in a lopsided UD loss.
Roy 100% In 2004, Glen capitalised on a version of Roy who’d struggled with Tarver in their first fight, and who’d just been knocked out a few months earlier in their rematch. He knew that he had a vulnerable fighter in front of him. He pressured and bullied Roy from the outset and Roy crumbled. In 2000, Roy still had that great aura around him. He still had his supreme confidence and his great gifts. IMHO, you’d have had two different versions of each fighter facing off. I was a huge fan of Glen’s. He’d fight anybody. I always had huge respect for him. But against Roy, he was in the right place at the right time. As tough as Glen was, we have to remember that he split 3 fights with a guy like Clinton Woods. They went 1-1-1 around the same time.
