What If.....RJJ had stayed at HW in 2003...

the thing is he did not even make history. Roy won a Heavyweight paper belt. Lennox Lewis was THE Heavyweight champion. If Roy wanted to make history he would have had to fight and beat Lennox. Instead he handpicked John Ruiz. That is not the same thing that Fitzsimmons did.

 

He wanted to fight Holy but it fell through and Holy fought Toney instead. This fight would have done a lot for Jones and he probably would have won it. He also wanted to fight Sanders but the WBO would have stripped Sanders of the title and Roy only wanted the fight if it was for the belt.

Jones should not have gone down, except maybe to cruiser.

 

Jones would have got Koed eventually. He should have quit after the Ruiz fight. Now he is a human punching bag. Sad to see.

 

The Heavyweight Scene at the Time:

WBC Champion - Lennox Lewis
Size: 6'5", 250lbs
2003 Form: KO'd Tyson in 8 in '02, only fight of '03 was a win on cuts v Vitali Klitschko when behind on points.

WBO Champion - Wladimir Klitschko
Size: 6'6", 240-45lbs
2003 Form: Stopped in 2 rounds by Corrie Sanders, stopped two journeymen as part of a comeback, then stopped again at start of '04, this time by Lamon Brewster

IBF Champion - Chris Byrd
Size: 6', 215lbs
2003 Form: Beat Holyfield on points in '02, won 1 fight in '03, drew with Golota in '04

Vitali Klitschko
Size: 6'7", 250lbs
2003 Form: Stopped Larry Donald in '02, impressed in a defeat to Lewis in '03, then stopped Kirk Johnson and Corrie Sanders

James Toney
Size: 5'10", 220lbs
2003 Form: Beat Jirov to become cruiserweight champion, added 20lbs and moved up to heavyweight, stopped Holyfield

Mike Tyson
Size: 5'10", 230lbs
2003 Form: Stopped by Lewis in '02, stopped Clifford Etienne in 1 in '03, stopped by Danny Williams in '04

Evander Holyfield
Size: 6'2", 220lbs
2003 Form: Lost to Byrd, Toney, then Donald '02-'04

Hasim Rahman
Size: 6'2", 250lbs
2003 Form: Drew with David Tua, lost to John Ruiz

Corrie Sanders
Size: 6'4", 230lbs
2003 Form: Stopped Wladimir in 2, beaten by Vitali in 8

Lamon Brewster
Size: 6'2", 230lbs
2003 Form: Beating journeymen, then stopped by Wlad in '04

David Tua
Size: 5'10", 250lbs
2003 Form: KO'd Moorer in 1 in '02, drew with Rahman in '03

Andrew Golota
Size: 6'4", 240lbs
2003 Form: Beating journeymen, then drew with Byrd and lost to Ruiz and Brewster in '04


How Jones would have fared IMO:

I think Lewis and Vitali Klitschko would 100% definitely have beaten the RJJ that beat Ruiz.

I think Wladimir Klitschko, Corrie Sanders and David Tua would probably have beaten that RJJ. (The Wlad of right now would definitely beat the '03 RJJ, but the Wlad of '03 was a glass-jawed nervous wreck with no jab and no defence. As I said, size and strength mean he would probably have beaten RJJ anyway though). Sanders also had size on his side, and Tua probably would have gotten to Jones with his leaping attacks at one point. Tua was strong enough to hurt Jones at any time, in clinches, any punch would've stung RJJ. I think Tua could've got the job done.


I would fancy RJJ to do what he did to Ruiz to the 2003 version of all of the rest:

Tyson, Holyfield, Toney, Rahman, Brewster, Golota.

Tyson was shot and would be outboxed for every second of every round, same with Holyfield.

As much as I love Toney, the heavyweight version would have even less chance of beating Jones than the supermiddleweight version - Jones's speed and mobility mean this is an unwinnable fight for JT.

Much like the Ruiz fight, Jones would be quick, careful and incisive, and widely outpoint Rahman, Brewster and Golota. The Golota who fought Bowe would have beaten Jones '03 on size and strength, but Golota by '03 was a shadow of that guy. Jones would've boxed rings round Rahman and Brewster all night long. They would've had a puncher's chance sure, but I wouldn't fancy either of them to land a good shot.



In conclusion, YES, he could've had a good career - but IMO it would've involved a bit of strategic "cherry-picking", as the superheavyweights were simply too big, and David Tua would be a bad stylistic match.

If RJJ had beat Tyson, Holyfield, Golota and Rahman, he would've been hailed as a top 10 p4p of all-time for sure IMO. And I honestly think he could have.

:good

 

He could have beaten some contenders like everyone else has said. But the fact remains that he could not have beaten anyone that would have really stirred up the boxing world. The Klitschko brothers and Lewis would have destroyed him.

 

If Roy stays at heavy, a hypothetical career through today....

....beats Byrd in a close fight
....beats a shot Tyson
....beats a shot Holyfield
....beats a fat James Toney
....gets his ass kicked by Rahman
....beats Maskaev
....gets his ass kicked by Peter
....tries moving down to cruiserweight, gets his ass kicked by David Haye

 

Yes, I think he should have stayed there. I watched the Ruiz fight again only last week, and it really is something how easily RJJ beats him. Ruiz went 1-1-1 with Holyfield in the year or two leading up to the Jones fight, and he beat Hasim Rahman and Andrew Golota not long after I'm pretty sure. He was no patsy. On the basis of how easily Jones outboxed him, he could definitely have had some success at hw if he indulging in some thoroughly justified cherrypicking - there's absolutely no shame in a 5'10" middleweight avoiding guys like Lewis and Klitschko.

I'm glad he didn't rematch Toney at cruiser as I'm a big JT fan and Jones would have won a landslide UD again, he was just far too fast for the 2003 Toney.

RJJ going back down to lhw must surely rank as the WORST decision ever made in the history of boxing.

 

I think Roy should of stayed at HW for 2 or 3 defences of the WBA crown, then actually took his time coming back down in weight, regain the LHW titles (as he did) by whooping Tarver (which a pre-2003 Jones would have done), then retired with 52-1 or 53-1.

I wish he thought about his decision before doing it

 

If Roy's Chin could not handle punches from Glen Johnson he was not going to take a punch from any Heavyweight not named Ruiz or Byrd.

Roy would have had his Glass Jaw shattered at Heavyweight.

 

At that point, Wlad was not very good defensively....if Roy can avoid him for a few rounds and keep landing hard shots he probably could've K.O'd him. However, there is a big coulda woulda shoulda.

Lennox probably would've destroyed him, bar Jones putting on a boxing masterclass. I actually think Roy was tough and hard to K.O until AFTER his brief tenure at HW.

Chris Byrd was the IBF champ at the time and the most feasibly fight for Roy. Vitali was an obvious no-go, too big, too strong, hard to hurt.

IMO, Roy should've retired after the Ruiz win. He would be looked upon far favourably in peoples eyes (after the initial Roy ducked Lewis/Vitali/Byrd/Rahman etc etc had died down)

 

The same Klitschko that had been K.O'd by Ross Purrity?!?!?! Not the same Wlad we know now.