Roy Jones: Was he the best ever?

I just answered another poster when he brought up a similar point on Jones. My rankings fluctuate a lotJones has been as high as #23. He could be higher in a week upoen considering all of this, especially the fact that he was arguably the most dominant fighter over his prime. It's just hard to place him above so many fighters who have obviously better resumes. But I take everything into account in my rankings, including dominance and in-ring performance, so Jones does have a case to be higher.

 

I dont think we have ever seen a fighter who you can term UNBEATABLE for a good decade. Jones dominated his competition for a solid decade, his reign was never in dispute. I can't recall that ever. Only now that age has caught up with him we contemplate 50/50 matches.

For me he is the best fighter I have ever seen, both live and video. But do his achievements warrant him being called the greatest????? That I am not so sure about.

ITS A STATEMENT OF HIS BRILLIANCE THAT WE EVEN ASK THE QUESTION " WAS HE THE GREATEST".....he alone had provoked that question from the fans.

Well miss him when hes gone. Another thing that gets undervalued from Roy was that I never saw him trash talk or talk down an opponent like Floyd Mayweather does. He never needed to mentally break them down.

 

Wasn't aiming that at you just peoples perceptions in general of jones, i agree with the fact his resume does let him down i still think all things consider though its enough to make top 20

 

He may have had the most talent, athleticism and potential of any fighter in the history of the sport. Yes. His resume? Not the best, but still very underrated. To watch him in his prime truely was a gift. Not to mention he is one of the only fighters today that can say he has decisive victories over two future hall of famers and all time greats in their prime.

 

If he'd retired after beating John Ruiz we could've made a case for him.

Top 100 - definitely. Top 50 - probably. Top 25 - possibly. Top 10 - at a stretch. Best of all time - no way.

 

Not very high.

What is with the demand for Jack Johnson? He's on the lower end of my top 10 HW's of all time.

 

My list isn't based on overcoming adversity, it's based on what you achieved as a boxer. A great Heavyweight no doubt, but he doesn't even make my top 5 as a HW(though he has at one point), and HW's are rarely high up in my P4P rankings.

 

hold on, your basing your atg lists off of boxing achievements?!

 

No.

 

Oh no! Sweet Crack is at it again.

Floyd is stronger thus the higher knockout rate. Equal in speed and skills and a better defensive fighter. Obvious by Floyds far better punch stats.

Roger Mayweather was rocking the **** out of Sweet Crack, what do you think Floyd Mayweather would do to him lol!

 

Talent-wise, Roy has to be top5 of all time... what he was capable of and did in the ring is stunning...

But ranking boxers has nothing to do with talent - it's achievements first then talent maybe. It’s like: amateur achievements, biggest pro wins (vs. names, divisions, titles (lineal, The Ring, undisputed), way of losses, domination in a weight class, domination against competition, top contenders defeated, top contenders avoided, place in division history, memorable fights and finishes, influence to the sport and other sports, overall skill level, charisma, fame.



Roy has to be top 20, he beat HOF Hopkins in the MW division (although Hopkins wasn't a big name back then), HOF Toney in the SMW division (undefeated, big name then), undefeated Griffin in LHW, HOF Hill a few pounds over the LHW limit, Ruiz to get one HW title (but not the lineal championship) very close victory over Tarver in LHW, HOF but inactive Tito Trinidad a few pounds over the SMW division limit.

He had only one title fight in the MW division and didn't really dominate in SMW (but he was no1.) Other champs were Frank Liles, Nigel Benn, there was Eubank and Collins as well and he didn’t fought any of them.

He really dominated in the LHW division but he NEVER BECAME the undisputed/lineal champ, as it was Dariusz Michalczewski, who was dominating at 175 as well... huge opportunity missed there because Jones never become World LHW Champ, never put his hands on the lineal title (Michalczewski got that one against Hill when he unified 3 titles out of 4). Of course Jones had only one title fight in the HW division.

Roy missed also the Tito fight back then (there were talks), the Hopkins rematch, the Calzaghe fight, but the Michalczewski fight is the biggest deficit of his career because in HIS division, he wasn't THE man...

Of course he was an Olympic silver medalist in Seoul and he should’ve been the gold medalist as he was better than Park. Also he was The Ring fighter of the year (1994), P4P#1 for years, Fighter of the Decade by BWAA and The Ring champ at LHW (however without holding the lineal title).



The first loss, the Griffin DQ wasn't a loss that came from the hands of another fighter, and he KO’d Griffin in the 1st in the 2nd fight. The first real loss came only after he returned from the HW division and his body suffered from the legal (and/or illegal) substances he was taking to keep his speed and reflexes 20 pounds north... Of course after the Hall fight, we HAVE TO talk about Jones and the steroid case... So after the close Tarver victory two KO losses and a PTS loss came but Roy was 35+ back then and he fought a great fight against the inactive Tito. That’s Roy’s career so far…



The skill level alone makes him HOF and an ATG. Stunning speed and reflexes, very quick, accurate punches, memorable KOs and very dominating performances, Superman-like moves, all the playing in the ring proving that he’s on an unhuman level… He was a great No1 to the sport and quite charismatic despite he wasn’t a fan friendly fighter like Oscar or Pacquiao now. He was a man of his own, trash talk, mind games, playing the basketball instead of training, chicken farm etc. - he was a very colorful person inside and outside of the ring, there’s no other boxer like him in history. Also recognized not only as THE NO1 PRO BOXER for years, but as the best athlete for years by many... His influence to the sport was huge. He caught the attention of the average sport fan to watch boxing and he did things in the ring nobody had ever done before. His became iconic and even if he wasn’t your hard-working hard-earning self-made man or a Gatti-like brawler but a very awkward and seemingly selfish guy, a lot of youngsters started watching our sport and/or started boxing because of him. He was the Ali of the 90s and he did more to the sport than Tyson IMO.





Best ever? NAH… Top 5 in skill level maybe.


Place at the ATGs? Looking back at his achievements, wins, losses, defeated and avoided fighters and the HUGE influence on the sport, I’d say he’s definitely a top 20, but I don’t think he’s a top10 as he never was a lineal AND undisputed champ at any division. But did things no one had ever done before.

Peace!

 

Yes, IMO Roy Jones JR is the most talented fighter to EVER step into the ring. Based on head 2 head ability, NOT RESUME.

 

SRL did have a lot more balls than RJJ and fought the best at his weight in their prime. You can't say the same for Roy.

 

It's frustrating that Roy never fought the best fighters at his time, because I was a fan in his earlier years before he starting ducking lesser fighters.

I would have liked him to fight a long boxer like Michael Nunn, but that fight never happened. Guys like Benn Eubank, Liles and the like. It would have been good to see Roy fight these guys. It would have told us a lot more about Roy than we know, because these guys with contrasting styles would have given Roy a good fight.