Was Roy Jones a paper champion??

You're missing the point. We are not saying jones was never seen as the best fighter in a division. We are saying he never beat the man in a lineal sense.

 

As far as I see it, it is clear that jones would have been the favourite over any active lightheavyweight at the time.

But you cannot deny that the lineal belt holder was dariusz. He was the man who beat hill, the man who unified 3 belts until politics stepped in.

Ofcourse I believe jones would have beaten dariusz, but My definition of the man is the lineal champ, ergo the guy who beat the man. That is something jones never achieved in his career. Doesn't make him a worse fighter, but it does mean I never saw him as the man.

Bailley gave a great example with hatton and floyd. Only a fool would rate hatton above floyd, yet hatton was the man at the weight.

 

i'm with you on most of your points (bailey's analogy is apt as well) but the lineage is not so firm for me at 175. frankly, i consider it up in the air as to when and by whom the lineage was established.

it's being assumed dariusz got it from hill BUT why? cause hill unified? that's not necessarily a new lineage. i tend to lean towards ring (i know bailey, it's flawed) but if i go to ring for my lineage, than i go with jones

 

it's argument with a lot of merit i understand. however, to deny that jones was "top dog" in the division regardless of lineage is preposterous

 

haters will hate. jones is a sure hall of famer.

 

Title he held:
IBF Middleweight title.
IBF Super Middleweight title
WBC Light Heavyweight title
WBA Light Heavyweight title
IBO Light Heavyweight title
WBF Light Heavyweight title
IBA Light Heavyweight title
IBF Light Heavyweight title
NBA Light Heavyweight title
The Ring Light Heavyweight title
WBA Heavyweight title

He won all those titles in the ring, so if was a paper champion, then that pretty much means that all the fighters that he won them off were paper champions, and the guys before them were paper champions too, and so on. You could argue that some of his defences were paper defenses, but he initially won each title against the best thatw as availible at the time. The only interm title he won was from McCallum, which he would lose in his first defence to an undefeated Griffin and win it back rematch. So, his WBC light heavyweight title is the only one that he initially won when it was vacant.

 

some elite level debate in this thread and then that cum guzzling tranny queen auracle steps in with this post

it comes as no surprise that this poster has a vcash total of just 51 :rofl

 

what took you so ****ing long banger?

 

you realize the majority of those were either vacant belts or do not matter at all (IBA,NBA,IBO, etc.) He literally had one belt given back to him (WBC) and the IBF and WBA belts belonged to DM he was stripped and Roy "won" them. Half those belts you listed were simply trinkets at the time Jones won them. Period.

Jones then moved up to Heavyweight and handpicked John Ruiz a guy that had not had a KO in almost 5 years leading up to the fight and oh yeah he had no skill and somehow Jay Nady was the referee for that fight and Ruiz was not allowed to use his illegal holding, grabbing, clinching, mauling, wrestling octopus style. Jones won the fight fair and square but the "fight" itself was a complete farce. It was a joke. I have seen sparring sessions better than that.

 

some good posts in here pal, makes good reading :deal

but none quite as good as me calling auracle a cum guzzling tranny queen :rofl

 

Exactly who did Jones beat to claim the legitimate 175lb title?

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGCUuApI9Og[/ame]

 

To me 175 is the Division where he has the least claim. All those trinkets he won meant nothing and he never fought the #1 guy. Like Larry Merchant told him the interview is in YouTube "why do you keep fighting these meaningless Mandatory fights for these trinket belts Roy?" And Jones just stuttered and started talking about P4P #1 and Pensacola :rofl and all that other BS.

Then Merchant told him point blank "You are bigger than these meaningless Alphabet Organizations why don't you make some legit fights?" and then then interview was over.