Did Roy Jones Jr. Tarnish his legacy by continuing to fight on after Tarver 1?

[gilgamesh]

Did Roy Jones' legacy and reputation take a hit as a result of the Up and Down career he had after the 1st Tarver fight or did it stay the same?

To be clear. I'm not asking if it affected whether or not we think of him as a great fighter. I'm saying did it effect how great of a fighter we think he was?

[Cent0089]

IMO yes, after 3rd Tarver fight. 3 losses in a row, 2 of them being by KO should definitely make you retire. He looked awful after that fights and took lot of brutal losses, some of them from very average guys. Kot some half decent wins against Lacy nad Glazewski, but it was not worth it. So yes his legacy is IMO pretty tarnished because fighting after 2005. Took probably brain damage too

[Nile4000]

Oh, yeah, he did. Personally, i feel he never should have jumped up to heavy in the first place, unless he was fighting Lennox Lewis in the first place.

[bwu]

Nile4000 hit the nail on the head. I think that drastic weight fluctuation took way more of a toll than any of us ever realized.

I'm not and never have been a big Jones fan. Nothing against the man, he just wasn't my guy. That being said, his greatness is undisputable.

However, he did tarnish his legacy, because his later fights showed what happened when the incredible speed and reflexes diminished. He wasn't used to boxing conventionally. When his astounding gifts were gone, he couldn't sustain his greatness with fundamentals.

I find Naseem Hamed and Muhammad Ali to be in the same boat. Both of them were blessed with almost supernatural hand and foot speed. When that wasn't enough, Hamed faltered. In contrast, Ali found another way to fight (the rope-a-dope) which showed us all tough he was, but at a terrible price.

Jones should've wrapped it up after Ruiz, but then we would probably be talking about how he ended his career far too soon.

[goose 5]

I'd say yes, he did.

[elmersalsa]

I think that Roy Jones Jr missed the chance to be top 20, top 15 or top 10.

[gilgamesh]

I think that Roy Jones Jr missed the chance to be top 20, top 15 or top 10.

Or to be widely considered the Greatest Light Heavyweight of all time.

[overhand_right]

He should've hung around at heavy. There was nowhere left to go in the lower divisions. The Holyfield and Tyson fights seemed hard to make but a Byrd win would've been nice, perhaps a Toney rematch.

Lewis it turned out was on his last legs and wisely chose to hang them up after the Klitschko scare so that's one problem out the way (personally I think Jones of the Ruiz fight would box rings around the wobbly Lewis we saw versus Klit).

Instead Jones weakened himself and left us with the indelible image of him KOd over and over and over again.

PS. He slurs badly when he speaks now.

[gilgamesh]

He should've hung around at heavy. There was nowhere left to go in the lower divisions. The Holyfield and Tyson fights seemed hard to make but a Byrd win would've been nice, perhaps a Toney rematch.

Lewis it turned out was on his last legs and wisely chose to hang them up after the Klitschko scare so that's one problem out the way (personally I think Jones of the Ruiz fight would box rings around the wobbly Lewis we saw versus Klit).

Instead Jones weakened himself and left us with the indelible image of him KOd over and over and over again.

PS. He slurs badly when he speaks now.

The worst thing is. I assume he fought on for money mainly. He could've made in 3 or 4 Heavyweight fights what he made in all those Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight fights post prime combined. Probably even more actually.

[784118]

Did Roy Jones' legacy and reputation take a hit as a result of the Up and Down career he had after the 1st Tarver fight or did it stay the same?

To be clear. I'm not asking if it affected whether or not we think of him as a great fighter. I'm saying did it effect how great of a fighter we think he was?

Roy Jones Jr. tarnished his legacy, in my opinion, through his failed drug test following the Richard Hall fight by testing 5x the legal limit and by continuing to fight well past his prime.

I also believe he avoided some of the best fighters at light heavyweight during his peak years. That is an important consideration when evaluating his place in boxing history.

Jones was a pound-for-pound great in the ring, but he was also a pound-for-pound businessman when it came to managing his career. He understood how to use his extraordinary talent, his drawing power, and his relationships with boxing's power brokers to secure favorable matchups. Those power brokers were often willing to play ball with him.

The result was a remarkable career, but one that leaves legitimate questions about the opponents he chose not to face and how much those decisions should affect his legacy.

He has two bad Ko losses on his resume. But he also had the best speed and skill in the game in his prime.

[elmersalsa]

Did Roy Jones' legacy and reputation take a hit as a result of the Up and Down career he had after the 1st Tarver fight or did it stay the same?

To be clear. I'm not asking if it affected whether or not we think of him as a great fighter. I'm saying did it effect how great of a fighter we think he was?

Roy Jones Jr. tarnished his legacy, in my opinion, through his failed drug test following the Richard Hall fight by testing 5x the legal limit and by continuing to fight well past his prime.

I also believe he avoided some of the best fighters at light heavyweight during his peak years. That is an important consideration when evaluating his place in boxing history.

Jones was a pound-for-pound great in the ring, but he was also a pound-for-pound businessman when it came to managing his career. He understood how to use his extraordinary talent, his drawing power, and his relationships with boxing's power brokers to secure favorable matchups. Those power brokers were often willing to play ball with him.

The result was a remarkable career, but one that leaves legitimate questions about the opponents he chose not to face and how much those decisions should affect his legacy.

He has two bad Ko losses on his resume. But he also had the best speed and skill in the game in his prime.

Properly well said. This is a great post.

Roy Jones, Jr was a businessman, too like you stated above. There were plenty of great fights at 168 and 175lbs that he didn't choose for some reason. If he would have had those fights and prevailed, we could have been talking about a top ten or top 5 all-time boxer in history. But, he didn't. Still, he was a great boxer no matter what. His win over James "Lights Out" Toney confirmed it.