Even though he was probably a little bit past his prime by the time he moved up to heavyweight, he looked great against Ruiz. His original plan was to capture Ruiz' heavyweight title, move back down to defend the light heavyweight crown against Tarver, and then move up again the heavyweight to defend the title, but we all know what happened instead. Jones is unlikely to have fought any of the super-heavyweights, but how do you think Jones would have done against some of the smaller heavyweight greats? If he were transported in a magical time machine and fought these guys: Jim Jeffries Jack Johnson Jack Dempsey Gene Tunney Max Schmelling Ezzard Charles Joe Louis Rocky Marciano Floyd Patterson Would Roy Jones have been a heavyweight great had he been a boxer prior to 1960?
Not only does Jones lose to all of the above heavyweights, he loses to all of the great light-heavyweights. Hell, even Qawi would make hamburger helper out of Jones. Jones is a great at middle and supermiddleweight but no higher.