Who was the better "Fighter of the Decade": Manny Pacquiao(00s) or Roy Jones(90s)?

Why does every thread I go into reek of your appalling lack of boxing knowledge and now notorious stupidity???

Another day, another ownage of this ****ing idiot... :smoke



Benn lost his title to Sugarboy Malinga in March 1996 (FYI Jones had dominated and stopped Malinga years earlier). Eubank lost his title to Steve Collins in March 1995. Jones only moved up to supermiddleweight in November 1994 when he fought a far bigger name and more highly rated fighter, James Toney.

So really he could probably never have fought Eubank. There was 5 months between Jones-Toney and Eubank-Collins. For all we know, Eubank-Collins could have been arranged prior to November, thus meaning the fight could never have happened. Even if the fight wasn't planned until a while after the Jones-Toney fight, is it really right to criticize Jones for not taking a unification fight in his very 1st defence at a new weight? Is it really right to criticize Jones when we don't know how much money Eubank, as an established star in Britain, would have been looking for to leave his comfort zone in the UK or to consider losing in the UK against Jones (p4p#1 or 2 immediately after the Toney fight)? Jones was not huge box office back then remember. He was a rising star, but not a superstar with a huge following of fans in 1994, so he didn't have massive funds behind him.

To mention Benn is similarly short-sighted. It was well-known at the time that a superfight between Jones Jr and Gerald McClellan was under discussion. McClellan challenged Benn to win his title and make a Jones-McClellan fight a huge unification bout at 168. Was McClellan thought to be a more dangerous fighter than Benn at the time? Undoubtedly he was. Therefore, Jones was waiting to secure a more dangerous fight than Benn. The Benn v McClellan fight was in February 1995 - 4 months after Jones v Toney. Jones was already involved in a bigger, better fight than Benn, and by the time he had beaten Toney, McClellan-Benn was scheduled.

Benn didn't read the script, but that was hardly Roy's fault. Do you think Benn wanted a fight with Roy Jones right after the McClellan fight? Of course he didn't. And then he lost to Malinga. So that fight wasn't viable either. There was a brief window where it could've happened (Feb 95-Mar 96), and Benn didn't leave the UK in that time, nor did he show any interest in fighting the world p4p#1.

Collins first won the supermiddle title in March 1995 by beating Eubank, then he fought Eubank again, then he settled for two routine hometown defences in Ireland, then he fought Benn twice, and by this time Jones had moved up to light-heavyweight. Does this sound like a guy who was dying to come over to the USA and fight peak Roy Jones? Apparently he called out Jones, but nothing happened. An empty gesture?? Steve Collins fought abroad earlier in his career - and lost to Mike McCallum, Reggie Johnson (both beaten by Jones) and Sumbu Kalambay. He only actually won a world title when he started fighting in Ireland/UK. Do you think he wanted to go over and fight the world's best fighter right after winning a world title when he could make money fighting past-prime Eubank and Benn? I severely doubt it. Jones moved up to light-heavyweight in Nov 1996. Therefore, he had an 18-month window to fight Collins, and Collins filled this by fighting Eubank and Benn twice each for big money at home. Again, is it fair that Jones is criticized for not fighting him when you actually examine the situation? I say no.

Julian Jackson? KO'd by McClellan in '93, the same time Jones was fighting Hopkins, KO'd by McClellan in '94, the same year Jones was fighting Toney, KO'd by Quincy Taylor in '95, and Jones moved up to lhw the following year.

Michael Nunn? KO'd by Toney in '91, and by the time Jones was a world champion he was dropping decisions to Steve Little (21-13-2) and Frankie Liles.

And I think we all know Hopkins and Calzaghe didn't want a piece of him. Calzaghe said so in a Daily Mirror interview in 1999, and neither Jones nor Hopkins forced the fight with each other.


People do have a genuine case when they criticize Jones for not fighting Dariusz Michalczewski however, but the criticisms for not fighting the others are invalid IMO.

Oh, and you're still the shittiest poster on this forum with your pissy little worthless posts infested with emoticons. :good

 

Who and what exactly did Roy dominate? What is it you are referring to?

Jones became p4p#1 in '96, was there for 2 years, was supplanted by Oscar in '98, then was moved back to p4p#1 in '99, then the decade in question ended, so he was the official recognized kingpin for about 3 years out of 10.

In that time, Roy beat some really good fighters at 160, 168 and 175, and some **** ones too, but he never cleaned out a division of all of its best fighters or all of its major title holders.

Can you even argue with any of this? I can't see it myself.

 

Great input for the thread. Thanks for your contribution to the debate, do come again. :dead

 

Anyone fancy explaining to this guy that 2000-2003 doesn't factor into this discussion? Anything that occurred after 31 Dec 1999 is completely and utterly irrelevant to the Fighter Of The Decade award for the 1990s.