Who was more eroded? Jones from the Calzaghe fight or Tyson from the Lewis fight?

Tyson IMO. Certainly he was further removed from his prime in terms of time.

And to me, the main thing that had gone with Jones is his footwork. That had knock on effects on many of his other attributes of course, but Tyson had lost virtually everything that he once was.

 

Jones IMO.

But very good question.

 

Added to the time factor, there is also the inactivity and lifestyle of Tyson.

It's difficult to make a compelling argument Tyson was in better condition than Roy Jones. For two athletic geniuses that makes me think Tyson was a lot worse.

 

It's a pretty tough call, because I think the version of Lewis that fought Tyson was closer to his prime than the version of Calzaghe that fought RJJ.

Calzaghe humiliated RJJ, beat him from pillar to post except for the one knock down.
Lewis bombed Tyson out, but some of the rounds were closer than anticipated.

I think more so, think of it this way

If Tyson was in his prime for that versionn of Lewis, would he have won? I say no. I don't see Tyson winning against Lewis because of the reach disadvantage and how good Lewis was against smaller men.

Where as, if Jones Jr was prime against that version of Calzaghe, who would have won?

 

Timewise yes maybe Tyson.


But in the context ofd the fights Jones.

As a HW fight Tyson(who anyway was a tremendous puncher) had a puncher's chance ampllified by Lewis's recent KO loss.

Styles make fights and Jones was never gonna trouble Calzaghe sitting on the ropes with no legs(his 08 version) and covering up.Especially against Joe's insane workrate.And Jones's puncher's chance was weaker significantly than Tyson's.
The performance itself altough Calzaghe went down in the first he was extremely dominant,showboating and making Roy miss eveytime while staying right in front of him.
Tyson after winning round 1 was dissected and chopped down but was still dangerous and even lands on Lewis right before the KO.

 

Tyson was more eroded

 

Tyson without a doubt.

 

this is a good question...i'm gonna go w/ rjj and i'll explain....

when tyson got out of prison he was broke and just mentally not stable. his skills had diminished but it was more about his desire just not being in it. i've seen interviews where tyson has said he essentially needed the money. he also commented that he used to be able to walk through punches (referring to ruddock) but that later on in his career, he just didnt have the heart to do it anymore.

rjj on the other hand i think still has his heart in the sport but just doesnt have the skills anymore that he used to. his quickness and movement has diminished (not a surprise given his age) rjj getting caught lately is more a result of him just not having the quickness he had in his youth to dodge his opponents punches and counter back...it has little to do w/ his lack of desire to mix it up unlike tyson i would argue.

 

This is a heck of a question.

 

great thread. i go with jones because there was NOTHING left of the old roy. tyson could pull his **** together for one round. he showed spurts throughout. the motivation and skills were gone, but physically he was still capable. jones was a ****ing corpse and had absolutely zero of the speed and strength of the past