Tommy Hearns would have schooled Roy Jones Jr.

Toney was weightdrained.Hopkins was green.Castro is not that great.

plus jones looked very human against BHop and Castro.

 

I'd pick Jones to win...but with that said, I think Hearns' jab and threat of the right hand make Jones cautious...and therefore I think Hearns is a tough style style for Roy. I think Hearns wanted Roy late in his career at light heavy.

 

He claimed that for half his fights. It's a wonder he won any of them.

He had more pro fights than Roy and was older.

Maybe not that great, but still some sort of great.

Yeah, those guys can't measure up to Hearns' only wins at 160... Dewitt and Schuler.

 

Toney looked sluggishj in that fight, a shell of himself. Hopkins was nowhere near the fighter he became as an undisputed champ.Hearns is in a different league than Castro quite frankly.

Styles make fights. Hearns has a difficult style for Jones. Jones is not a brawler like Barkley or Roldan

 

Steward said they weren't at all afraid of Jones and considered strong brawler types the ones to avoid once Hearns declined.

 

Jones made Toney look sluggish because Toney had never and would never again fight a guy who got off so fast. God simply hasn't made many of that model. You could also argue that Jones was a couple years from his prime when he fought Hopkins. Castro has a much better resume at middleweight than Hearns, if we are going to be strict about keeping in the division. Victories over Johnson and KO'ing JDJ seal that deal.

As far as styles... what worries me about Hearns (and I would definitely be cheering for Hearns) is his giraffe like footwork and the time it takes him to reset when moving laterally, either on the chase or retreat. Jones is so much more agile, so much quicker and more fluid with his feet. You add that he got off his leads so quickly and didn't require any time in position in order to hit and I see a very dangerous recipe for Hearns.

Again, I love Tommy Hearns. I would be cheering for him the whole fight. But I see a lot of problems here.

 

We disagree about the strength of these 3 opponents. clearly toney looked slower and less sharper than usual, regardless of Jones.

Regardless, none of those 3 opponents give an indication how Jones would fare off against Hearns.Difference in style.I do not see Jones dealing well with Tommy's jab, how does he get past it ?

 

Virgil hill had a prettly good jab himself. Not saying it wa tommy hearns' jab but still

 

Yes...Hearns wanted him.

 

I can imagine Tommy getting knocked out cold with a highlight real single shot.

 

Good fight.

Tommy in top form would pose problems but I struggle to think of a single fighter who troubled Jones with a jab at his best. His reflexes were so good that he nonchalantly moved his head and avoided them with inches to spare with ease. The Hearns monster straight right is a definite threat though and I doubt whether Jones could shrug a direct hit from one of those.

That said Jones was a brutal puncher at 160 himself and quicker than Hearns to boot so this could be a real shoot out. Tommy though was more reckless by virtue of his seek and destroy mindset and could leave himself open to a counter rights or left hooks and Roy was brilliant at exploiting split second openings when he was good.

I lean towards Jones but a devastating Hearns KO wouldn't surprise either. As said previously a really good competitive match up.

 

In my honest opinion, the higher up in weight you go, the less chance Tommy would have had.

Tommy at his absolute peak at JMW, vs a young version at Roy at JMW, would have been the most interesting fight for me.

Tommy was past his best at SMW and LHW, and that's where Roy was at his best. I don't see how Tommy would have beaten Roy at those weights.

 

Why would he have gone all out against weak opposition? He didn't need to do that. Most of those guys were beaten after a few rounds.

He was never one to create that opening by aggressiveness? Did you not see the Griffin rematch or the Hill fight?

Credit Roy with some intelligence. He would not have sat back and tried to outbox Hearns. Those would have been silly tactics to employ.

I agree with you that he wouldn't have had a shoot out in the manner that Ray and Marvin did. But he wouldn't have sat back. He'd have tried to get Tommy out of there, due to the amount of respect that he'd have held for him.

 

You've made some good points before letting yourself down with your last sentence.

Roy also had one punch knockout power that could have taken Tommy out, and he had more variation and speed.

 

Im glad that didn't happen.

I think it was around 1997.