Should his boxing fundementals have saved Roy Jones from all those KO's?

he didnt really have solid fundamentals.

He relied too much on his athleticism so he never really had to resort to fundamentals. When he did they werent there and timberrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

 

Roy had decent boxing skills, after losing to Tarver he became completely gunshy and fought scared which led to him being KO'd by Johnson, truth be told Roy just stuck around too long, being a skilled technician helps in your day but once you reach a certin age it really doesn't matter, Roy should've quit about 5 years ago.

 

Roy doesn't use a lot of fundamentals, or he would fight more like Hopkins.

Roy's success was based on his amazing reflexes and athleticism.

That's why he can stick his chin out and dance in the ring.

 

Nope Roy is completely shot, fundamentals don't help you take punches, I recall reading an article before his last fight of going to a chiroprator to reverse his balance issues, and if you have watched his fights for the past 5 years if he moves around too much, he starts to squints , as if he has a hand eye coordination/ double vision problems, adding to the balance issues, it forces him to lay on the ropes, just so there is no movement, so he could sneak a couple pot shots in, using as little movement from him or his opponent as possible.

Hopefully Roy hangs them up, he still has the hand speed and power, but he has admitted health issues out the ring, there is no need to see a legend that we all loved, bury his career to ****.................Here's the article if you want:

http://www.wtae.com/sports/26819931/detail.html

 

I expected you to say KOs against Tarver and Johnson but when I read Green and Lebedev I hate to be offensive but you're an idiot. Against Green and Lebedev RJJ was beyond shot. RJJ has been past it since late 2003 and you mention that he should use his "boxing skills" to avoid KOs to bums like Lebedev and Green EIGHT YEARS later?

I'll completely ignore that you mentioned Green and Lebedev. The reason why he couldn't use his boxing skills to avoid KOs against the likes of Johnsons and Tarver is because RJJ clearly relied fully on his reflexes, that's what he relied on 100%. When that was gone, he was gone with it.

 

He is fighting way out of his league for his age.

 

jones's lack of fundamentals were clearly exposed by calzaghe. he knew that joe had become completely feather fisted due to hand problems and really fancied his chances skill wise knowing that a ko shot wouldn't be coming the other way.

the gap in class was huge. calzaghe 'lacy'ied' roy jones in his own back yard.

 

I don't believe the myth that Jones had no fundamentals. He controlled distance, knew how to slip the the outside, knew how to pivot into punches with correct form, and knew the angles that worked to his advantage. He was technically savvy.

The problem is, his style depended on his awkwardness and he spent his entire career being able to fight the way he's always fought. For him to change and suddenly rely on a completely different method of technical boxing would be hard for anyone; his athletic style makes it harder. It doesn't mean he's dumb or relied entirely on athleticism; his style was just so unorthodox that switching to a completely different style is so difficult, especially when your reflexes are shot to ****.

Not only was he so physically hampered after Ruiz- he's been fighting elite competition when he shouldn't be. Danny Green aside, Glen Johnson is a great fighter, as is Hopkins, as was Tarver, as was Calzaghe; and Ledbedev was a ranked cruiser-weight who Jones would have comfortably out-pointed with pure boxing skill and some leftover hand/foot-speed, had the referee not missed that knockdown and Jones not eaten that monster hook at the end. While it was a sad ending, I was a bit surprised he was able to do that much throughout; it speaks for his boxing skills.

I wish Jones would retire already. But it's clear that his skills were always there, and only the rare combination of preserving your body and ad******g your skills gradually to your age can have longevity succeed. Jones was a changed man overnight, and suddenly his entire mindset on the game had to change to adjust. It just couldn't be done.

 

Absolutely. If you're going to box hands down and chin out then you've got to have outstanding speed and reflexes or an outstanding chin. When the speed was gone RJJ didn't have anything resembling a chin to back him up, unlike Ali.

 

If he had them, sure. Jones was never that type of "fundamental fighter" and would have had to reinvent himself to do it.

The guy dominated for 10+ years... I think people just need to realize his time was done. Father Time has defeated many many fighters. Roy Jones Jr. certainly will not be Father Time's last victim.

 

**** yeah obviously. Roy's defense (the weakest least effective shell in the history of the sport) and willingness to allow himself to be backed into the ropes are unforgivable. You'd think they might have started trying to do something about that past a certain point. Roy's ego is such that he could never work with any real boxing people. Just yes men. He paid the price for that. Dearly.