Roy was Ring champ mate, not Dariusz, that is one of my main gripes with the much vaunted Ring belts. I did a column on it once, most of the 'name' fighters Roy defended against were fighters Michalczewski had already beaten, Michalcewski was champ before him (I think, writing from memory) and by my reckoning had every right to be called No 1 even though I believe Jones would have beaten him pretty easily.MachoMan09 wrote:
We don't know what the outcome of a fight between Dariusz Michalczewski and Roy Jones Jr would've been. What we do know, however, is that all Roy's titles at Light Heavyweight were won for him in back room deals between sanctioning bodies, television networks, and lawyers. Roy was the perfect example of a Paper Champion at Light Heavyweight. Michalczewski was the lineal champ (WBA, IBF, Ring Magazine, WBO) and Graciano Rochigiani was the other legitimate claimant made.
I agree with what you say re TV and Ring wanting an American champion for marketability purposes, but despite Jones only having won his first 175lbs belt in a vacant title fight, he bagged the lot and repeatedly defended vs the mandatory contenders he was presented with and so I don't think he can be described as paper. He did what we all would expect champions to do and fought them rather than vacate belts for whatever reason, normally political.
The only thing he didn't do as far as I'm concerned is the one thing he should have, fought Michalczewski, which pisses me off as much as it does anyone else. But then Michalczewski was as guilty of refusing to travel as Jones was, so it wasn't all one way at all. It was a case of THEY didn't want the fight as much as anything else.
.. what has Bellew demonstrated since that makes you feel he has improved?
