Which 2003 HWs would have beat RJJ?

Breakfast Bar

Breakfast Bar

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When RJJ beat John Ruiz he was seen as invincible in many people's eyes and I remember people even talking about him fighting Lennox Lewis.

In retrospect, do you think it was a fortuitous choice to take on Ruiz (who was a top HW at the time) rather than someone else? How do you think he would have fared against the other top HWs of the time--Lewis, the Klitschkos, Sanders, Byrd, Tua, Rahman...
 
Breakfast Bar said:
When RJJ beat John Ruiz he was seen as invincible in many people's eyes and I remember people even talking about him fighting Lennox Lewis.

In retrospect, do you think it was a fortuitous choice to take on Ruiz (who was a top HW at the time) rather than someone else? How do you think he would have fared against the other top HWs of the time--Lewis, the Klitschkos, Sanders, Byrd, Tua, Rahman...
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he beats rahman, chunky tua, and byrd by decision. he gets ktfo'd by the rest.
 
tua could have hit roy's gloves. roy's gloves would have hit his head and roy would've been out.
 
we need to see shannon briggs vs rjj imo. maybe henry akinwande circa 2003
 
Ruiz was the perfect opponent which is why he was picked. He's slow with minimal power and wins by basically clinching and grabbing and Roy was just to fast for him to get ahold of.
I think the Klitschko's murder him along with Lewis.
I would have loved to see him fight Chris Byrd. That fight would be amazing display of the art of boxing.
 
AstrelONE said:
he beats rahman, chunky tua, and byrd by decision. he gets ktfo'd by the rest.
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I think Byrd beats Roy. Byrd's defense would take Jones diving punches out of the game and force him to use a more traditional strategy. Add to that his heavyweight chin and I think he would give Jones all kinds of problems.

Jones beats a lot of heavyweights because he's fast enough to float in and out..do damage and get to safety.
 
Breakfast Bar said:
There are a lot of openings for jokes here, but seriously I think Byrd laid the gameplan for avoiding his power with speed.
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Byrd had a HW chin. Jones didn't... Tua destroys him first time he hits him to the noggin.
 
cory737 said:
Ruiz was the perfect opponent which is why he was picked. He's slow with minimal power and wins by basically clinching and grabbing and Roy was just to fast for him to get ahold of.
I think the Klitschko's murder him along with Lewis.
I would have loved to see him fight Chris Byrd. That fight would be amazing display of the art of boxing.
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If Ruiz did the usual he would've won the fight but for some silly reason he lost weight to try to gain speed. He should've known that RJ would be too fast anyway. 240 lbs of Ruiz leaning on RJ all night could have taken its toll.
 
I think Jones would've had mixed results but not nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.
 
Yeah, me too, but I guess once Jones reached the top, he basically did what he wanted to do and fought who he wanted to fight. He probably thought more like a promoter than a fighter over the second half of his career.

I think if he planned on being selective with opponents, he should've just retired after Ruiz and not tried to move back down in weight. Any normal boxing fan would've applauded a fighter for his effort at 35, moving down to face a top opponent, but because of this reputation, much of the public thought the Tarver and Johnson fights were the true limit of his ability when he's not being selective. Now Roy has been forced to fight long past his peak, in an effort to vindicate himself and not getting very far IMO.
 
I think that Jones suspect chin has been exposed now that he's slowed down. If he were to face any heavy weights that are power punchers with an effective jab he would spend the entire fight in survival mode; if he survived at all.

I think he would actually perform well against Tua. Granted, if Tua ever connected RJ would be in a coma for about 3 weeks, but still. Tua is not good at controlling the ring, he's a bully. He over powers his opponents but usually spends his time chasing. His remarkable power and granite chin are terrifying. That's why Lennox ducked him for years. He waited til Tua was fat and retired before facing him. RJ would have to do the same.
 
i've never heard someone say that lennox ducked the tua man before.
 
AtomicPope said:
I think that Jones suspect chin has been exposed now that he's slowed down. If he were to face any heavy weights that are power punchers with an effective jab he would spend the entire fight in survival mode; if he survived at all.

I think he would actually perform well against Tua. Granted, if Tua ever connected RJ would be in a coma for about 3 weeks, but still. Tua is not good at controlling the ring, he's a bully. He over powers his opponents but usually spends his time chasing. His remarkable power and granite chin are terrifying. That's why Lennox ducked him for years. He waited til Tua was fat and retired before facing him. RJ would have to do the same.
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Jones doesn't have the height nor the reach advantage to avoid Tua's haymakers... Jones would win any round that he wasn't hurt in, but he'd have to play matador the entire night, and make zero mistakes. He couldn't exchange at all, and he'd have to move in and out of range to be effective. I could see him doing this for a few rounds, but an entire 10-12 rounds? No freaking way. Tua had problems with guys who were taller and more athletic, with good to great chins. Jones' chin was largely untested at HW. I don't see this even being a contest really. It's interesting as long as Jones doesn't get hit. As soon as he gets tagged, his whole world changes. Oh, and by the way, I ALWAYS thought this about a HW Roy Jones. I could tell he wasn't as rugged as James Toney at HW. I didn't need to see him pummeled by Tarver and Johnson to formulate my opinion on him, his chin, and his chances against the other HWs
 
prontostar said:
i've never heard someone say that lennox ducked the tua man before.
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You never heard it because it simply wasn't true. He was 37-1 going into the Lewis fight, and it was his 3rd fight in 2000... He was only like 27 or 28 when he fought Lewis, so the guy who wrote the following was wayyyy off base.


Originally Posted by AtomicPope
"Lennox ducked him for years. He waited til Tua was fat and retired before facing him."

That's some fine revisionist insight there, buddy.... But it couldn't be further from the truth.
 
sushijin said:
You never heard it because it simply wasn't true. He was 37-1 going into the Lewis fight, and it was his 3rd fight in 2000... He was only like 27 or 28 when he fought Lewis, so the guy who wrote the following was wayyyy off base.


Originally Posted by AtomicPope
"Lennox ducked him for years. He waited til Tua was fat and retired before facing him."

That's some fine revisionist insight there, buddy.... But it couldn't be further from the truth.
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I agreed before you posted that one. Ducking someone is not fighting him in his prime. I actually thought the Tua Man would land a bomb to win...oh well.

You can make a case of Lewis ducking Byrd and Ruiz though.
 
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