Jones might be the only fighter who was faster p4p than Ali, at least when it comes to reflexes and handspeed. And very few in history has dominated as good fighters as Hopkins and Toney as he has. But still, when I watch these fights he doesn't really excite me. Why? The easy answer would be that his amazing speed non-withstanding his perfomances aren't as complete as for example Whitaker's beautiful schooling of Chavez. But the same crtiscism could perhaps, and have been, levelled at Ali. But I still enjoy his most masterful perfomances as much as ever. So what did Ali have (the intangibles excepted) that Jones didn't? Why doesn't he strike me as one-dimensional as Jones? Am I just blinded by my admiration for Ali, or does anyone else feel the same?
Roy has no sense of humour. Ali was a spectacular everyman, due in part to his times, Jones is weird, man.
.............You may very well consider these intangibles, but intangibles are what make the true greats. Simply put, Ali's opposition made him what he was. He proved his worth against nearly two generations of truly good fighters, and never hesitated to give rematches. He also wasn't willing to hide behind contrcatual conditions as Jones was. Ali seemed to revel in the challenge of a tough fight. Jones ran from it.
Yes, but I'm talking about the actual petfomances here. For some reason Ali's schooling of opponents seem more interesting to me than Jones's. I think I know why, but I want to hear what you have to say.
His superb movement in the ring, dancing, avoiding punches. Or simply put it like "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" The Predator
What did RJJ lack that Ali had? Balls. RJJ had genuine knockout power at 168 though, Ali didn't have that.
That's the correct answer when concerning why Ali ranks higher. Prime Ali is generally more exciting to me than Jones, but that is more due to the fact that it's Ali. I don't know exactly what it is that he has over basically every other fighter ever, maybe it's charisma, or his sense of humor and personality, or what we know of him looking back, that he's the ultimate icon, the most famous athlete in sporting history and arguably the most famous human being walking the planet right now. I can't really say why I find his prime performances more exciting. There's no one reason. It's Muhammad Ali, the guy was special in more ways than one.
.........Ali eventually won over even some hard-line fuddy-duddies with his grit. You had to respect the fact that he shied away from absolutely no challenge. He met and beat every tough hombre there was to fight in his time, and the bigger the stage and the greater the stakes, the tougher he became. Jones was not a warrior in any sense of the word. He was a canny businessman who picked and chose the best fights from a coldly clinical business sense. Tough to root for a guy like that.
It would be obviously a solid resume. Like salsanchez already pointed out, Ali took the toughest challenges when Jones Jr ducked them all. Also, the difference in skills. Roy Jones would avoid punches by backing off at a high speed when Ali would slip and move his head. Sometimes, without even moving his lower body !