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I believe that this guy could have been the greatest fighter of all time if he would have beaten the following fighters:
at 168lbs: Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Michael Nunn and Gerald McClellan
at 175lbs: Dariuz Michaelchewski
at Heavyweight: Lennox Lewis.

He waisted his time fighting policemen like Rick Frazier and school teachers. What a shame. He had a talent out of this world and he never fought the right fighters to fullfill his legacy.

Any thoughts?

elmersalsa wrote:I believe that this guy could have been the greatest fighter of all time if he would have beaten the following fighters:
at 168lbs: Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Michael Nunn and Gerald McClellan
at 175lbs: Dariuz Michaelchewski
at Heavyweight: Lennox Lewis.

He waisted his time fighting policemen like Rick Frazier and school teachers. What a shame. He had a talent out of this world and he never fought the right fighters to fullfill his legacy.

Any thoughts?

You think Jones would have beaten Lewis at heavyweight?

Jones would have been killed by Lewis. I think he had a very good chance against all the other names though.

There is no way Jones could have ever been the greatest fighter of all time (although I think he has some of the fastest hands in boxing history). He was tremendously talented, but let's not act like he had no faults. Some posters here are now too harsh on him imo, but you are definitely at the opposite end of the spectrum. His legacy will be more about his talent than what he actually did in the ring. Even now when people talk about how great he was, they don't really mention opponents, they mention his speed, reflexes, hands behind the back knockouts, etc.

BarryWashington wrote:

Idisagree wrote:

elmersalsa wrote:I believe that this guy could have been the greatest fighter of all time if he would have beaten the following fighters:
at 168lbs: Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Michael Nunn and Gerald McClellan
at 175lbs: Dariuz Michaelchewski
at Heavyweight: Lennox Lewis.

He waisted his time fighting policemen like Rick Frazier and school teachers. What a shame. He had a talent out of this world and he never fought the right fighters to fullfill his legacy.

Any thoughts?

You think Jones would have beaten Lewis at heavyweight?

The greatest fighter of all-time? Based on what exactly?

How do you see him against Ezzard Charles? Joe Louis? Sonny Liston?

I don't think he's saying RJJ would have beaten these people. He's stating that had he beaten these people at these weights he could have been one of the greatest fighter of all-time. I agree, had he beaten the people at 168-175 that are listed, he would be ranked much higher on an all-time list. Had he done all of this, I still wouldn't have made him THE greatest. A shame he didn't have big fights besides Toney during the '90's (though Griffin, Hill, Vaca & Castro are decent wins).

Yea, yea, yea, if Trinidad would have beaten Hopkins, Jones, Toney, and on and on… he would have been the greatest too. Blah, blah, blah, he did not and therefore there is no point to this thread. You could make the same case for any fighter in history for that matter. If Duran would have beaten Benitez, Hearns, Hagler, and on and on he would have been the greatest too. Should we continue?

BTW he did not say he could have been one of the greatest, his statement is "he would have the greatest fighter ever".

If Jones beat Lewis he doesn't need any of those other names on his record. Think about it. If Jones beat Lewis would anyone be here saying, yeah but he just never faced Nigel Benn. He just never faced Dariusz Michalczewski.... lol
Or any of the other opponents he did beat! Lewis is plenty fantastic and unrealistic enough of a goal as it is.