Roy Jones Jr v Joe Louis

[witherspoon]

Joe Louis was a 200lb fighter in his prime, if I'm not mistaken, RJJ was 200 when he beat Ruiz.
Is Jones' handspeed enough of an advantage to beat Louis?
I can see Jones bombarding Louis with right hand leads, Louis holding his own right hand too low to be able to counter effectively. I dont recall ever seeing RJJ display the kind of footwork that Conn used to stay just out of range of Louis' power though. Also I would guess that Conn had similar, if not superior handspeed to RJJ. Not easy to judge.
I say Louis walks him down and stops him in 7 to 10 rounds, behind on points and slightly fuc@ked up facially.

[dempseyfire]

Joe Louis was a 200lb fighter in his prime, if I'm not mistaken, RJJ was 200 when he beat Ruiz.
Is Jones' handspeed enough of an advantage to beat Louis?
I can see Jones bombarding Louis with right hand leads, Louis holding his own right hand too low to be able to counter effectively. .

Louis was lightening quick with his counters; he would definitely not be too slow to catch Jones Jr.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Louis by KO in 2 or 3 rounds. Roy wouldn't have fought him for Fort Knox.

[Jaywheel]

Roy wouldn't have fought him for Fort Knox.

This.

[scallum]

Could Roy had fought a stinker and just moved and jabbed all nite vs Joe ?

[scallum]

Conn had Louis on Wobbly legs and if he had chosen to box he would've won the fight in my humble opinion

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Could Roy had fought a stinker and just moved and jabbed all nite vs Joe ?

No

[witherspoon]

It was watching the Conn fight that got me thinking this thread in the first place.
Yes, Conn did stun Louis and was on the way to winning, if he kept his cool.
But Conn's footwork was exceptional that night. It looks very simple, because he used the minimal amount of movement to stay out of Louis' range but always darting in to land his own punches with force.
It would probably be more accurate to say that he stayed out of Louis' 'effective' range, because he certainly had no qualms about being hit, just did enough to keep Louis from landing those clean combinations that put guys to sleep.
I don't think that footwork was RJJ's strongest point, and even if it was there's no way he uses the same tactics. Either he gets KO'd failing to get out of the way or punished if he tries to stink the place out.

[Syntax Error]

Could Roy had fought a stinker and just moved and jabbed all nite vs Joe ?

RJJ didn't do jabbing, so I doubt he could have adopted such a tactic.

It's an interesting hypothetical from the OP & one I've never considered before.

I don't think RJJ had the footwork that would have been necessary & he probably would not have been physically strong enough to fend off the stronger Louis.

I can envisage Roy peppering Louis for while with his phenomenal handspeed & single shots that he loved, but I see Joe eventually finding his range & stopping RJJ before the end of the 5th round.

[scallum]

Could Roy had fought a stinker and just moved and jabbed all nite vs Joe ?

RJJ didn't do jabbing, so I doubt he could have adopted such a tactic.

It's an interesting hypothetical from the OP & one I've never considered before.

I don't think RJJ had the footwork that would have been necessary & he probably would not have been physically strong enough to fend off the stronger Louis.

I can envisage Roy peppering Louis for while with his phenomenal handspeed & single shots that he loved, but I see Joe eventually finding his range & stopping RJJ before the end of the 5th round.

I find it weird that guys like Roy didn't jab more. I think if did choose to jab he wouldve had a great one

[Syntax Error]

Could Roy had fought a stinker and just moved and jabbed all nite vs Joe ?

RJJ didn't do jabbing, so I doubt he could have adopted such a tactic.

It's an interesting hypothetical from the OP & one I've never considered before.

I don't think RJJ had the footwork that would have been necessary & he probably would not have been physically strong enough to fend off the stronger Louis.

I can envisage Roy peppering Louis for while with his phenomenal handspeed & single shots that he loved, but I see Joe eventually finding his range & stopping RJJ before the end of the 5th round.

I find it weird that guys like Roy didn't jab more. I think if did choose to jab he wouldve had a great one

I agree.

With his handspeed, he could have had a piston like jab like Tommy Hearns or Larry Holmes, but he just wanted to lead with hooks & uppercuts, probably because he could get away with it I suppose.

[dempseyfire]

Pumping out a consistent jab and not being countered is hard work. With his great physical gifts, Roy could rest more in between pot shots and limit his opportunities to be countered, even though for the wide majority of fighters leading with power shots would be MORE risky. But that's what incredible athleticism permits (along with the majority of comp being below elite status).

[scallum]

I thought Roy didnt Jab as much because it may have been a Ego thing? I think he just wanted to do it his way and he had the gifts to do it his way. If he was in against a Puncher like Louis , common sense could contain that Ego and he could possibly stick n move the entire fight. I could be wrong but I bet his father was constantly in the corner constantly yelling at him to jab more when he was younger

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Louis was one of the greatest jabbers in the history of Boxing, you don't just decide to jab him silly.

[Recycle]

My goodness jones jr koes Louis glass chin and it is glass. too fast

[BoxBuzz]

My goodness jones jr koes Louis glass chin and it is glass. too fast

Well here are a grouping of letters I never imagined would show up in the same sentence.....I just wish I understood the meaning.

Something about the speed of glass?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

My goodness jones jr koes Louis glass chin and it is glass. too fast

Well here are a grouping of letters I never imagined would show up in the same sentence.....I just wish I understood the meaning.

Something about the speed of glass?

I think he is picking 'glass chin' aka Roy Jones, Jr. to knock out Young Joe Louis, former fringe Cruiserweight contender.

[BoxBuzz]

Someone willing to bet that somehow Jones ends up standing over a KO'd Louis in a prime vs prime encounter?

Odds would be astronomical on that one. I would love to cover that bet.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Someone willing to bet that somehow Jones ends up standing over a KO'd Louis in a prime vs prime encounter?

Odds would be astronomical on that one. I would love to cover that bet.

The odds would be even less that Roy would fight him. He'd be too busy getting his ass kicked by John Henry Lewis.

[Expug]

My goodness jones jr koes Louis glass chin and it is glass. too fast

Well here are a grouping of letters I never imagined would show up in the same sentence.....I just wish I understood the meaning.

Something about the speed of glass?

I think he is picking 'glass chin' aka Roy Jones, Jr. to knock out Young Joe Louis, former fringe Cruiserweight contender.

yeah,Young Joe Louis. Also known as Eddie Taylor. I sparred with him a few times.He was tough.

Anyway,I see Louis utilizing his tremendous jab and never letting Roy get into any kind of rhythm .
He would back him up and never let him get set. he would punch right through Roys feints. Loius stops him in 7-8 rounds.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I didn't know his original name, but I remember liking his name for obvious reasons when I was young. I honestly can't remember if i ever saw him fight or if he was just a Ring magazine and Title Bout fighter.

[Expug]

Yeah, he trained in The Fuller Park gym in Chicago in the late eighties. I did as well.
He was a STRONG guy man. Punched pretty good too. For awhile he was on a little roll.
Than of course towards the end I think he took on Opponent status.
I went and saw him fight Leroy Murphy for the belt here in probably the mid eighties, I don't remember the exact year. It was at I believe The old Bismarck theatre downtown. He hung tough for awhile but Leroy stopped him late.

[vagabundo55]

Great match up. Jones evolved the style of boxing, the same can be said about Joe Louis and his combinations. As far as my opinion goes, Louis lived in a time where boxers fought monthly some weekly even, this means he gained experience against many styles among other things, these fighters learned to adjust. Roy Jones may very well have outboxed Louis if they met once, but if they met 5 times Joe Louis might just take three as far as my analysis goes, let's not forget the man knew how to beat you up in clinches.

[darren_simion]

What other physical sport aside from boxing do fans pick athletes from the 50's below to beat athletes of today?

Basketball stars from the 60's would most likely not even make it in the NBA now.
NFL guys from then would get shattered if they played today.

[Ambling Alp II]

Wow. I mean Wow. Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West etc. would not make it in the NBA today?
A good arguement might be; what sport had declined worse, boxing or basketball?