Where does Roy Jones rank?

[CastletonSnob]

Now that his career has ended, where do you rank Roy Jones Jr. all time?

 

[Old Cat]

I can’t think of a man I’ve ever seen lace em’ up who I would pick to beat him in his prime.

Edit.. voice to text. Obviously I mean Pound for Pound.

 

[Hagler]

Top 10 p4p, IMO. Top 20 at the very least.

 

[Sunfish]

Every day there is 5 times between fights can we not start new threads about Tyson, jones, Ali, Floyd, pac or stupid shit we’ve already gone over forever. Prime for prime there are obviously people from middleweight upwards who would be a difficult evening for him.

Ignoring the bullshit since he lost to joe cal, if you can find someone who I’d favour more than half the time against him from mw or smw, I can throw names out but Hagler and hearns probably have a chance beyond that if you can land clean bombs like Jackson you’ll also be in the fight. Lhw, cruiser or hw, there are plenty of names. Real deal knocks him out and fucks your wife while he watches. Heavyweight, you know the names I’ll list and unless you have klitschko by buttseks in there you don’t know what you’re watching.

 

[Hagler]

I guess we'll disagree on this. Roy outboxes Hagler with his speed and accuracy, IMO. He KOs Hearns, I think he can move in and out to land his big shots earlier than Hearns and the guy had too much fucking pop for Tommy. Jackson doesn't lay a glove on prime Ray. He didn't get hit clean with a huge power shot for almost 15 years.

Let's not pretend the version of RJJ that clearly lost to Calzaghe was anywhere near prime Jones. He had to make his run from MW to HW before he became such an easy target.

Roy was damn near unstoppable at MW, SMW and pre-Ruiz LHW. He's widely acknowledged to be the GOAT at SMW. It's quite something.

You're harsh on him. Maybe because of the mystique, which I can understand.

 

[Old Cat]

Every day there is 5 times between fights can we not start new threads about Tyson, jones, Ali, Floyd, pac or stupid shit we’ve already gone over forever. Prime for prime there are obviously people from middleweight upwards who would be a difficult evening for him.

Ignoring the bullshit since he lost to joe cal, if you can find someone who I’d favour more than half the time against him from mw or smw, I can throw names out but Hagler and hearns probably have a chance beyond that if you can land clean bombs like Jackson you’ll also be in the fight. Lhw, cruiser or hw, there are plenty of names. Real deal knocks him out and fucks your wife while he watches. Heavyweight, you know the names I’ll list and unless you have klitschko by buttseks in there you don’t know what you’re watching.

It’s a little early to be boozed up isn’t it ?

 

[treelo]

Head to head he is right near the top of my list for his weight class(es)

He just didnt acheive enough, or certainly not enough that his talent deserved, he refused to fight outside of America when the biggest fights were not stateside for quite a few years in his prime

I personally think he would have beaten everyone around, but he just didnt prove it, which is a giant shame as he could have gone down as the very best fighter of all time

 

[ssx]

All time at his absolute peak: #1.
All time in regards to his overall career and accomplishments, outside of the top 10.

 

[Prefect]

Peerless in his prime. It is hard to quantify his place because he was emphatically better than everyone. It isn't even an opinion. He just was so good that we never even saw him pushed to his limit in his prime.

 

[Noctilux]

At his peak, he was absolutely untouchable. The greatest peak of all time.

 

[Boxer]

Let's not pretend the version of RJJ that clearly lost to Calzaghe was anywhere near prime Jones.

Yeah I feel a bit guilty for that.

That fight happened because of my big mouth and Roy was my hero.

 

[Dr. Will]

In terms of ability in the ring, he's my TBE. Although I have no reservations with prime Duran, Leonard, SRR or Ali being seen as TBE as the latter 4 proved their cases in a complete manner.

Jones Jr was half the fighter he used to be in his victory against Tarver I, post-Ruiz. He then descended further. Notably past prime-to-shot losses do not tarnish anyone's resume in my eyes. Boxing wasn't about 'greatness' or 'resume' anymore, it was the man's life choice.

In terms of greatness, Top 50.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

at his prime, one of the best I've ever seen.

like Superhuman $hit I've never seen before.

HE was a hero of mine since the 88 Olympics.

he's a once a lifetime athlete....like Ronda rousey. (trollface.gif)

 

[Marc A]

Now that his career has ended, where do you rank Roy Jones Jr. all time?

A freak of nature unbelievable talent and can rap

 

[King Ghidorah]

He was an amazing athlete. I personally didn't appreciate him during his prime. My dad was a big detractor of his and was always insistent that Roy was overrated because he fought nothing but "bums". I was conditioned to believe the same thing, because that all I would ever hear. As I got older I saw the greatness in him due to his unbelievable talent. I have never seen anyone with he type of speed, accuracy, and reflexes of Roy. Not sure where I would rank him all time. Hard to believe he wouldn't be a problem for a lot of the all time greats in his division.

 

[Dr. Will]

He was an amazing athlete. I personally didn't appreciate him during his prime. My dad was a big detractor of his and was always insistent that Roy was overrated because he fought nothing but "bums". I was conditioned to believe the same thing, because that all I would ever hear. As I got older I saw the greatness in him due to his unbelievable talent. I have never seen anyone with he type of speed, accuracy, and reflexes of Roy. Not sure where I would rank him all time. Hard to believe he wouldn't be a problem for a lot of the all time greats in his division.

I think papa Ghidorah had a point. Roy did thankfully beat Hopkins, Toney, Johnson, Castro, old Hill and get that belt against Ruiz. I don't rate any other victory of his very much at all.
Roy Jones also didn't fight the very best in his prime other than Toney.
Sensational fighter even against the best fighters he fought, but he created a highlight reel for himself against C+ to B- level fighters.

 

[Breakfast Bar]

He beat James Toney and Hopkins eight years before his,prime. Obvious #1 p4p all time.

 

[listrahtes]

I think papa Ghidorah had a point. Roy did thankfully beat Hopkins, Toney, Johnson, Castro, old Hill and get that belt against Ruiz. I don't rate any other victory of his very much at all.
Roy Jones also didn't fight the very best in his prime other than Toney.
Sensational fighter even against the best fighters he fought, but he created a highlight reel for himself against C+ to B- level fighters.

Thats kind of my take on RJJ. He was a once in a lifetime fighter in his prime but he seriously lacks high quality opponents for that time frame compared to other all time greats.

And I wouldnt be so sure about Hagler being defeated by him. Could be but I see that fight at least 50/50 and tend to Hagler. Thats not a shot against RJJ. I admire what RJJ does nowadays. Putting in the time to help young boxers, organising boxing galas...etc.

 

[borntoloseNOT]

Very highly, he is like Prime Tyson, but with more longevity. Spanked Toney, crushed Hill's ribs in 4, made child's play out of seasoned pros, blanked McCallum on 3 cards, took a heavyweight's belt from him. His resume hurts him a little bit, but his highlight reel sets the record straight. Guess you can't put him as high on paper as he deserves, but he wouldn't stop fighting.

 

[wilddeuces]

Every day there is 5 times between fights can we not start new threads about Tyson, jones, Ali, Floyd, pac or stupid shit we’ve already gone over forever. Prime for prime there are obviously people from middleweight upwards who would be a difficult evening for him.

Ignoring the bullshit since he lost to joe cal, if you can find someone who I’d favour more than half the time against him from mw or smw, I can throw names out but Hagler and hearns probably have a chance beyond that if you can land clean bombs like Jackson you’ll also be in the fight. Lhw, cruiser or hw, there are plenty of names. Real deal knocks him out and fucks your wife while he watches. Heavyweight, you know the names I’ll list and unless you have klitschko by buttseks in there you don’t know what you’re watching.

So, after Jones is knocked out and the wife in question is being ploughed, is Roy watching, or is Holyfield watching himself? Are both in the same room? I'm a little murky on the "he" part. Also, if you don't have a wife, can you substitute some form of house pet?

Edit to answer OP: Roy beat Toney and Hopkins when they were in their physical primes. He did it pretty cleanly. That's pretty damn impressive. He's easily in top 10.