I had to start a thread on this and get some discussion going regarding this matchup. To me I usually watch this fight (specifically what has become known as "the shot") and when Roy Jones clowns Glenn Kelly by putting his hands behind his back and then knocks him down with the next punch my first reaction was "Holly ****! I can't believe what I just saw". Today when I still watch that clip I can't help but wonder what was Roy thinking when he decided to do that . When he first did it I thought it was arrogant, brash, balsy, and as rediculous as one of those And1 Mixtapes you were used to seeing on ESPN2.Kelly although not a worldbeater by any means, at the time he was undefeated ( 28-0 (16 KOs) ), so he wasnt a complete jobber so i thought it was a little reckless on Roy's part. When I watch this now I think "Damn Roy Jones was a sick man " and it just displays the gap in talent between Jones and a C/C+ level fighter. in his prime roy could just toy with guys like this and put on a show. I believe if you could sum Jones up in one highlight clip this would be it. What was your reaction when you first saw this clip and how does it compare to your reaction now ? Here is the link which if it doesnt work my apologees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97KoGnbjVGA&feature=related
Roy's probably head to head the greatest fighter in history, pound for pound. Ya, the fact that he could pull this sort of thing off just goes to show it. I love to watch Roy's fights because of the ease which he brought to it. He'd just move so effortlessly around the ring, popping shots on his opponents when he felt like it.
Did you ever get the sense that Roy was giving 100% effort the entire time ? I didn't he looked like he was half focused and still clowning people.
If Roy didn't need to give 100%, he wouldn't. Against Hopkins he had to fight like a dog to win. It was a close fight as it turned out, despite Roy being possibly injured to some degree. In cases where he had to fight, he would.
Roy Jones was amazing...damn shame those KOs from Johnson and Tarver make him look less than he was...he should have retired after belting Ruiz. Either that, or he should have just stayed at HW awhile. He could have KOed Tua and about 90% of that division then. Imagine if he had stayed and defended a few times? We'd be talking about him being a legend on the level of Robinson or Ali. But it's Jones' fault, he screwed the pooch. Now, he's a shadow of himself, even with the recent wins.
And like Mayweather does now, he belittled his own greatness by not fighting the best often enough...another reason he'll never be remember like Ali or Robinson.
Its hard to say what Roy should have done with his career, if you ask me, I think he wasnt too focused on boxing at the time I mean he was creating albums, starring in the matrix, and playing semi pro basketball too. I think boxing is a sport where you can't spend too much time away from it and I think it all caught up to him along with old age.
Roy played with Kelly all night long. He stated in the post-fight interview with Larry Merchant (I think) that Glen didn't want to commit, so thus by putting his hands down behind his back, it gave Roy an opening. But it was just Roy showing off really. Great stuff tho!
When I was skim reading over this page and I saw the words 'Roy Jones' and 'Kelly' in the same sentence I thought his deluded fans really had lost their ****ing marbles And yes, RJJ was a freak
Trying to pick off the Kelly Pavlik nutthuggery ? tisk tisk :-( the Pavlik hate train continues. If Pavlik were European you would love him
Nope, I don't like the crude nature of his style Same reason I don't like Ricky Hatton, European or not
This was also Jones on the decline, which is the best part of it IMO. If you ever look at the yearly Ring Magazine rankings from 2000 to 2003 at LHW, you will see that Jones had fought at least 6 of the fighters ranked by Ring at some point at LHW in his career. I only point this out to say that Jones fought all the best at LHW but one guy, and he still gets crap for it.
RJJ could produce a good highlight reel of none stop clowning. Quality contenders and champs got humilated. Ruiz, X, Kelly, Hall etc all got clowned.
I wouldn't say it was a close fight (I had Hopkins only winning 2 or 3 rounds) but it was a difficult fight for Jones nonetheless because of how awkward Hopkins made things. Hopkins was never quite competitive but he was always keeping Jones out of his comfort zone, which was very unusual back then. Unlike in the Montell fight, Jones kept his composure; had Jones not done that, Hopkins could have gotten Jones into definite danger. 75% of beating Hopkins is keeping a cool head, which is easier said that done against such a boxer.
