SRR by KO Ray could match and excel Roy in the majority of departments. He also had the much better chin. Roy was a great fighter...he just wasn't that great.
Not that great? The man is was a champion in four different weight divisions. (Could have been 5 if he made the stop at Cruiser).
Jones was quite a bit bigger than SRR. Ray used to weigh in at around 154 for his MWT bouts where as only Roy`s youth meant he wasnt dead after making the 160 limit, he wasnt a MWT as long as he would have liked due to his size & weight making difficulty. I think the MWT version of SRR that TKOd Lamotta would/could have beaten a MWT Roy Jones but any version of SRR after that would lose on pts I think. P4P... Robinson beats Jones by a decent margin IMO.
I'd actually make Jones the ever so slight fave for this one. Jones: via tight UD. No disrespect meant at all to Robbo who's the best ever at Welter, but this would be as tough a one as they come. Jones' altleticism, speed and unorthodox style would stand him in very good stead and I think he'd nick the close rounds down the stretch to just pull it off. The rematch would be even trickier. Over 15 rounds: 8-6-1
I'm not knocking Roy. He was a truly great fighter; top 20 all-time P-4-P in my book (others will have him higher or lower than me; thats their opinion and I respect that). I just don't think he was "Sugar Ray Robinson great", who I rate No.1 all-time.
That's fair enough. Robinson is obviously greater in a P4P sense, but we're talking about a matchup here and that doesn't really come into it sometimes.
True:good But I still think Ray takes it. Jones at his peak had amazing speed and reflexes. However, I don't think he would be at all comfortable with a guy like Ray, who had a legendary chin, awesome workrate, tremendous heart, radar-like accuracy (admitedly Jones is also very good in this criteria), and who wasn't exactly a slouch in the speed department. Both have the power to inflict heavy damage, but Ray's superior chin helps him out here. It wouldn't be a walkover but I believe Robinson lands often enough and hard enough on the generally elusive Jones to take him out late. Ray wouldn't like this fight at medium-to-long range, and would probably drag it into the trenches were he would have a distinct edge IMO. Ray was a master boxer himself, but there he would be fighting fire with fire; bringing the game inside (Robinson was a tremendous in-fighter as well) would be more to his advantage. Jones would not be able to dance his way for 12-15 rounds against this guy at MW.
Devil's Advocate: Why is he obviously greater in the p4p sense? Roy Jones up until 2003 was damn near flawless. He'd go about a few fights without losing a round. He campaigned from 160-HW picking up titles in each division except for cruiserweight where he elected not to campaign in. And in my opinion he would have taken the CW title from any of the champion's had he stopped over in 2000-2003. At MW Jones beats him. At 168 and up he doesnt just beat him, he beats the personality outta him. Ray Robinson was great in legacy and p4p but lets not get carried away here. Styles make fights and IMO I'd favor Jones over him in any proposed match up from 160-onwards.
