Who would have been a favourite over PRIME RJJr at 160 + 168lbs

To answer your original question, Jones peak was more about that 8lbs than a time frame IMO. He was close to peak against Toney, but I think Jones true peak was about 95-99 with his prime ending in 2001. After that it was a steady decline.

See, Hopkins to me peaked in the mid 90's as well. Just not many saw him do it. I think we tend to think boxers peak when they get a signature win...see MAB beating Hamed. MAB was prime long before then and was at the tail end of his prime against Hamed. But Hamed put him on the map in the worlds view. Hopkins beat Trinidad so late, people never saw him beat Glen Johnson who was 32-0 at the time like a rented mule years earlier.

 

That had more to do with altitude than Hopkins being immature as a fighter, and well you know it :yep

 

Yeah the Glen Johnson fight was Hopkins at his best, but even so that was what 4 or 5 years after the Jones fight? And the guys he fought and beat in the interim between the Jones and Johnson fights were totally unremarkable so it's hard to tell. Between Jones and Johnson he never fought anyone of repute, and while Johnson's rep has grown since then most of the guys he fought between then were journeyman types

 

Yep, great post.

 

And therein lies the problem. When the hell is Hopkins prime? Did he really have one? It's hard to definitively say that Hopkins wasn't close to his best against Jones, or as close as say Jones was to his peak, because it's hard to establish Hopkins peak. A year and a half after the Jones fight, he drew with Mercado....but then he destroyed him in the next fight if I remember correctly.

 

Hearns' chin wasn't good enough to take the risks he'd need to take to beat a Roy Jones at 160...and Hearns' speed was nowhere near as good above 154, but obviously he carried his power up...Roy by KO over Hearns at 160, but at 154 Hearns could've done some things to Roy, who started at 154...

 

those bringing Jones' chin into this should think about the fact that Jones was never even hurt from 168 and below...fighting bigger guys at 175 will weaken anyone's chin if caught with a good shot...

 

Hagler possibly at 160 no one in history at 168.

 

Roy was so good though that people didn't just not hit him, they didn't throw punches. His stats at these weight show that his opponents threw half as many punches per round as they did vs any other fighter. Incredible. This is a RJJ who didn't sit on the ropes without punching for long periods, and who was much more active. He was bewildering with his combinations. I saw his fight against Brannon again last night, where he hit him something like 150 times in 2 rounds and not even one shot was a jab. They were all power punches. The guy was the michael jordan of boxing.

 

Joe prime Roy was better in every facet of his game then Calzaghe. Better speed, more power, and just a much better technician. He could use angles and punches and combinations that Clazaghe could only dream of. Probably the only things JC would have over him is stamina, and at this weight RJJ was very fit and well conditioned.

 

True, although Roy never faced someone as effectively aggressive as Hagler. I think the fact that Hopkins was able to take a few rounds from Roy by virtue of aggressive movement with his feet suggests that an elite, pressure fighter with a great chin like Hagler might do Hopkins better and win seven rounds. But the odds on this fight would have to be very close, because surely Roy's speed would be a major problem for Marvin.

 

That was a very young RJJ though fighting for his first title. I guess I agree though then at 160 it would have been tough as Roy was not at 160 for long, and when he was there he was still developing as a fighter.

 

jones would be my favorite over just about anyone below 168 but there were many people who could beat him.

 

Elite pressure fighter? Good chin? You know who that sounds like?

 

He would need to be an elite pressure fighter with a great chin. Not a good one. And by pressure, we don't mean volume, those are entirely different things.