At Heavyweight, does JJW show Roy Jones what a true heavyweight punch feels like? I see a similar shot from Joe, that put Charles down personally.
I agree Fergy. JJW was far better than Ruiz. Roy can’t run for 15 rounds, can’t sit in the pocket or at his preferred range for too long. Can see mid to late rounds stoppage for JJW. If it’s 12 rounds then Roy may be able to sneak a decision in a similar fashion to SRL’s over Hagler, but I doubt it.
That's how I see it mate. We know how sneaky Joe was with the hook, he hit harder than some give him credit for.
Walcott caught Ezz with such a punch one time in 52 rounds, right? And that in their third of four fights. So I’d say it’s far from a given that he’d figure out Roy first time around. Jersey Joe could be a splendid fighter … or an average one. He lost to Joey Maxim (and also beat him) and Joey was hardly as dynamic as Roy in Jones’ one heavyweight fight. And lost to some fighters more pedestrian than Joey. Walcott, if he ever had a prime, happened upon it at the very end of his career when he put together a few superior winning performances. In fact, when he beat Ezz for the title he was 4-5 in his last nine fights. And how he kept getting shots at the title is a mystery. So we have Jones Jr with a single heavyweight performance to evaluate (and that against someone who was probably perfectly made for him to dazzle, although Ruiz could make anyone look bad and mauled with the best of them if he was able to close distance) vs. a guy who was like a box of chocolates — you never knew with Joe what you were gonna get. Had Jersey not gotten that final shot at Ezz for the title after losing to him right before, he probably loses a couple more fights and retires and is basically forgotten.
Can't write Jersey Joe off completely, he put Charles, Louis and Marciano down at least once. And yes, maybe Joe could lose a decision or so, but I'm putting the best version of Walcott in here. If it's 15 then he's got a great chance of getting Jones.
Oh I’m not writing him off or saying he can’t win, but he did have a lot of time to study Ezz — four fights, 52 rounds — to manage just that one big shot in all of that time in the ring. So it’s not a guarantee that even the best Walcott always lands the big shot against a quality opponent. As for the ‘best Walcott,’ that’s such a narrow window: from the fight he won against Ezz (two judges had Joe comfortably ahead but a third had it even) through a competitive rematch and up until Marciano caught him (and that fight wasn’t a runaway for Joe on the cards, though he was ahead). Otherwise he’s a very up-and-down fighter.
Yes indeed. When he was good... Who would have thought, after Marciano 1, Joe goes out fast in the rematch as he did.??
Sometimes a knockout has a residual psychological affect — like ‘no way am I going through that again’ once he tasted that power ealry in the next fight.
