Who could beat RJJ at 168 and 175?

How would a prime Calzaghe do ?

 

He'd get outclassed more or less at SMW.

 

Not well. In fact, quite bad.

 

Jones would be well ahead, but I don't see it going to the cards. Moore could hit Jones, and place the punch well enough to hit Roy flush, I don't see Roy taking to many shots from a puncher like Moore.

 

There is a formula out there for beating a prime Roy Jones.

He just didnt get in the ring with the right person at the right time to implement it.

 

If Moore had explosiveness in his arsenal and the handspeed to catch Roy with something big, even as much as James Toney, I'd give him a pretty good chance of landing something late. As it is, he just doesn't have the explosion to catch Roy off guard, and Roy's movement and unorthodox style would be have Moore off balance and having trouble getting set all night. He just didn't have the footwork. That's why I've always considered Archie a bit low on the head to head side when comparing him with other ATG LHW's.

And let's not act as if Roy doesn't carry the explosive power to get Archie thinking.

 

Tell me the formula for a fighter to beat the 168 pound version of Jones. And please don't tell me it's Sam Langford wading in with his hands down throwing punches from his waist.

 

When you get a fighter with reflexes like Jones, guys who try to outbox him at long range get roughly served up. It usualy happens to a few good boxers before people learn the error of it. It was like that with Young Griffo and Harry Greb.

The key to beating Jones is not to let him set up his mischeif or give him space to work it. Use a sustained body attack and leave the head alone. Keep him backed up.

When Harry Greb was finaly figured out it was by technical boxers using some of the tactics of swarmers combined with their own.

I will ignore that last sentence.

Langford would beat Jones by virtue of the fact that no government could offer Jones enough money to take the fight.

 

I don't see RJJ putting anything together to stop Moore, of course he has the firepower to make him cautious and to hurt him occasionaly. In every fight Jones had apart from the one where he blew his opponent out inside 5 or 6 rounds, he got hit flush at least once. A guy who is as skilled a puncher as Moore will land as well, and anybody with a less than stellar chin would be hurt by this punch. RJJ's chin, while not as weak as some claim, has been proven to be far from stellar. I don't see Jones commiting enough with his offense to stop Moore, and I don't see him avoiding all of Archie's well timed and placed shots throughout 15 rounds, so I see a Moore knockout. While it's not black and white, I've never seriously had many doubts about Moore stopping Jones H2H.

 

Griffin was the only fight he showed any kind of trouble in whatsoever. You can find so many fighters throughout history who show far more weaknesses in a larger quantity of fights that are rated higher than Jones. Nobody's perfect. What I want to know is which 168 pounder does it.

 

Awkward question.

I would give Tommy Loughran a good chance, mainly because I am confident that he would have found the correct strategy.

Gene Tunney had to work out how to beat Harry Greb by trial and error while Loughran saw it straight off.

And Loughran could make 168 for much of his career.

If we are working at 175 then there are many more options.