Roy Jones Jr - why did he do it?

[Kilburn]

Why did he drag himself back down to light-heavyweight to fight a guy nobody could care less about at the time? I'm feeling really pissed off that he's messed up like he has. He had the ability at heavyweight to beat every guy out there including the Klits & Toney. The only serious danger to Jones IMO would have been Corrie Sanders because of his lethal combination of handspeed and rangy power. I suppose the workrate of Gomez would have posed a threat of sorts but he's hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

I think Jones has buried himself and it totally needn't have happened.

[knockout artist]

I see what you are saying. It was madness for JOnes to come down from 193 with only 6% body fat. He must have lost pure muscle. I wouldnt be surprised if he has serious side effects later in life.

IMO Jones toughest fight a Heavy is Tyson.

I reckon Tyson could afford to walk through him and Knock him out.

[bennie]

Why did he drag himself back down to light-heavyweight to fight a guy nobody could care less about at the time? I'm feeling really pissed off that he's messed up like he has. He had the ability at heavyweight to beat every guy out there including the Klits & Toney. The only serious danger to Jones IMO would have been Corrie Sanders because of his lethal combination of handspeed and rangy power. I suppose the workrate of Gomez would have posed a threat of sorts but he's hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

I think Jones has buried himself and it totally needn't have happened.

Yes, I've just mentioned on the greatest of all time thread, that several of us would have chosen Roy Jones Junior a few weeks ago. Not now.
Good point raised, Kilburn. Because, no doubt about it, many fighters delude themselves as to their natural fighting weight. A fighter will turn pro at middleweight, say, in his early 20's, enjoy success at the weight, start to struggle to get down to the limit as the years tick by, so begins fighting at super-middleweight. But in his head, he's still a middleweight.
It's like putting a pet dog to sleep. They don't want to let go!
How many times do you read a fighter dispute a division he's rated in by the BN, for example? Yet Bob Mee has all their weights to hand, and some of these fighters haven't boxed in the division they claim they should be ranked in for years and years. And Roy Jones should never have dropped back down to light-heavy after the momentous win over Ruiz. When I saw him on the scales for the first Tarver fight, I was shocked. Really shocked. He looked like a dead man. Stu Jones - and others - mentioned he looked "skeletoid" leading up to the disastrous rematch.
Now I read he intends to carry on in the light-heavyweight division.
The man is deluding himself like so many others.

[Kilburn]

IMO Jones toughest fight a Heavy is Tyson.

I reckon Tyson could afford to walk through him and Knock him out.

I find it very hard to take the 2004 version of Tyson seriously as a fighter. I think he's absolutely finished.

[DIRT SUGAR]

Amazes me how people just can't seem to move on from Tyson and expect him to just come back and blow everyone away. He's seriously damaged goods but people still think it's a case of him getting down to around 220 pounds and he'll be right as rain. Makes me giggle.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Jones should have campaigned at cruiserweight.

Having said that I thought he looked good right up until the knockout, I think that you cannot say he's dead at the weight just because Tarver lands probably the best shot of his career and knocks him silly. Jones won the first round easily, and was nailing tarver with hurtful body shots which were bringing his arms down. The trouble was, Jones went all out to Nail Tarver in the 2nd round, and left himself wide open for a counter, which is not his normal style.

I would have to say that Tarver outthought Jones, he made Jones come looking for him, and made him pay the price.

That shot would have felled a mule.

He's had enough time for the muscle he built to naturally atrophy as long as he doesn't do much strength training, which he probably won't have done.

I don't think Jones is done yet, however, Tarver may just have his number, he is big, hits hard, and is very fast when he lets rip, not as agile as Jones, but I think his handspeed is every bit as good.

[J]

Amazes me how people just can't seem to move on from Tyson and expect him to just come back and blow everyone away. He's seriously damaged goods but people still think it's a case of him getting down to around 220 pounds and he'll be right as rain. Makes me giggle.

yip finis,

[Southpaw Stylist]

I agree too Dirt Sugar.

I just can't understand why people are so hooked on him.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Because Tyson was one of the most powerful and enduring myth's ever created, the way he was packaged by Cayton and company, and the nature of his early career, has most people believing that there is something in him which can never be extinguished.