Skill-wise: Roy Jones Jr. vs Floyd Mayweather Jr.

CodeBreaker

CodeBreaker

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Disregard resume. Skill for skill. Who was the better boxer?
 
prime for prime, skill for skill, floyd checks more boxes. roy in his prime is untouchable though
 
Floyd definitely had a more complete skillset. That doesn't necessarily mean that Floyd would be the tougher guy to beat in his prime, though.
 
CodeBreaker said:
which boxes do you mean?
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He means that Floyd’s boxing skills are fundamentally flawles. Roy was the more naturally talented and was a freak one in a billion athlete, but raw talent isn’t the same honed skill. Roy relied far more on his reflexes and natural athleticism than boxing skill.
 
Mayweather skill-wise but Roy only showed as much skill as he needed to to put on a show
 
Imo, although both are technical boxers, Floyd was clearly more technical and smarter boxer while Roy has the speed+power combination that allows him to either outbox you, or end you with a vicious KO. Which is why Floyd is better defensively, and Roy is much better offensively.
 
CodeBreaker said:
Disregard resume. Skill for skill. Who was the better boxer?
Click to expand...
Roy is not that skilled... Floyd is very skilled...
Jones was just born with god like speed and strength relatively for a guy his size.

It showed with time too as when roy's natural born talent started fading away with age and couldnt get away with a lot of shit that got him KO'ed.
Floyd on the other hand stayed undefeated as an old man.
 
CodeBreaker said:
which boxes do you mean?
Click to expand...
floyd is far better at using his hands to pick off opponent’s punches, doesn’t go off balance much when he moves his head, has a wider arsenal of deadly punches as opposed to RJJ’s left hook and straight right.
 
KAZSoliloquy said:
floyd is far better at using his hands to pick off opponent’s punches, doesn’t go off balance much when he moves his head, has a wider arsenal of deadly punches as opposed to RJJ’s left hook and straight right.
Click to expand...
I’m not hating here just to be clear but Floyd having deadly punches? He also only has that lead straight right and check hook. Jabs his way to victory. RJJ having faster hand speed often throws more combinations than Floyd.
 
CodeBreaker said:
I’m not hating here just to be clear but Floyd having deadly punches? He also only has that lead straight right and check hook. Jabs his way to victory. RJJ having faster hand speed often throws more combinations than Floyd.
Click to expand...
floyd’s jab to the body might be his best punch. it’s the reason all those other punches land. has a great right hook around the guard as well
 
Floyd had way more boxing skill. Roy got away with a lot because of his insane reflexes and physical talent.

Look at both fighters after they reached 35. When Roy's physical gifts started to leave him, he really didn't have much answer.

That being said all respect to Roy, Larry Merchant said it best when he compared Roy to a jazz musician with boxing gloves, able to improvise expertly no matter what key or tempo.
 
IGotAHugePeckah said:
Floyd had way more boxing skill. Roy got away with a lot because of his insane reflexes and physical talent.

Look at both fighters after they reached 35. When Roy's physical gifts started to leave him, he really didn't have much answer.

That being said all respect to Roy, Larry Merchant said it best when he compared Roy to a jazz musician with boxing gloves, able to improvise expertly no matter what key or tempo.
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i hate saying roy “got away with a lot” because he knew exactly what he was doing. and saying he got away with something implies that he was at a huge risk in his fights. he simply wasn’t. guys literally couldn’t touch him from like 1993-2001 and he knew that.
 
KAZSoliloquy said:
i hate saying roy “got away with a lot” because he knew exactly what he was doing. and saying he got away with something implies that he was at a huge risk in his fights. he simply wasn’t. guys literally couldn’t touch him from like 1993-2001 and he knew that.
Click to expand...

I think you're misinterpreting what people mean when they say that. Of course he knew what he was doing - he chose to do it. Roy knew what he was capable of physically and he used those gifts to their fullest potential.

But by using those gifts, he got away with a lot of boxing no-no's that would be death for 99% of boxers, and that eventually got him laid flat several times as his physical gifts started to dull. Pulling straight back from punches, relying on his reflexes (same as Ali before him), ect

It was great stuff and I'm not disrespecting him at all for it, I'm a huge RJJ fan, but it's not what you would call sound boxing skill.
 
IGotAHugePeckah said:
I think you're misinterpreting what people mean when they say that. Of course he knew what he was doing - he chose to do it. Roy knew what he was capable of physically and he used those gifts to their fullest potential.

But by using those gifts, he got away with a lot of boxing no-no's that would be death for 99% of boxers, and that eventually got him laid flat several times as his physical gifts started to dull. Pulling straight back from punches, relying on his reflexes (same as Ali before him), ect

It was great stuff and I'm not disrespecting him at all for it, I'm a huge RJJ fan, but it's not what you would call sound boxing skill.
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i would absolutely call it sound boxing skill, just incredibly unorthodox. nothing you would see in a boxing textbook. his left hook and straight right hand were damn near perfect and his head movement was as effective as that of any fighter whose ever existed.

i just don’t like that people almost insult his ability because no one else could do what he does. i think that’s more a feather in his cap than anything else.
 
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