BoxRec

He had recorded 65 win, with 47 KO's!

Which was his best and/or defining win?

What was his best KO win?

Some names that he has fought include:

Bernard Hopkins
James Toney
Vinny Pazienza
Mike McCallum
Montell Griffin
Virgil Hill
Lou Del Valle
Clinton Woods
John Ruiz
Antonio Tarver
Felix Trinidad
Jeff Lacy
-----------------
Another question..

Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?

From the list above, this would include the likes of:

Enzo Maccarinelli
Denis Lebedev
Danny Green
Joe Calzaghe
Glen Johnson

John Ruiz..........and he must not have liked John much...he rarely let John hug him.

I think that was the big win for him...for the HW championship...it sets him apart from some very good peers.

But I think gaining the weight was the beginning of the end for him as well.

BoxBuzz wrote:John Ruiz..........and he must not have liked John much...he rarely let John hug him.

I think that was the big win for him...for the HW championship...it sets him apart from some very good peers.

But I think gaining the weight was the beginning of the end for him as well.

I'd argue James Toney was his best win, who was good enough himself to go up and thump around John Ruiz, along with some other brutes, but I see your logic. Face to face Ruiz was probably his most dangerous opponent.

Must be said, for all the talk of greatness, Jones's collection of scalps is fairly meagre. Most of the names on that list drew groans at time of announcement (Paziena!). Reggie Johnson, who is mysteriously omitted, is better than almost all of them.

It really would have helped RJJ's image to travel to Germany and bash Darius M., but Jones never bothered to exert himself and he now lives with his decisions.

Tarver

Antonio Tarver (first fight)

Best wins were Toney, Hopkins, Tarver. Ruiz was career fulfilment and the end of the peak years.

It got to be his win against James "Lights Out" Toney in 1994. He jumped to super middleweight to take Toney's crown. After that fight, Super Roy did not fight a dangerous opponent in his resume.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

He had recorded 65 win, with 47 KO's!

Which was his best and/or defining win?

What was his best KO win?

Some names that he has fought include:

Bernard Hopkins
James Toney
Vinny Pazienza
Mike McCallum
Montell Griffin
Virgil Hill
Lou Del Valle
Clinton Woods
John Ruiz
Antonio Tarver
Felix Trinidad
Jeff Lacy
-----------------
Another question..

Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?

From the list above, this would include the likes of:

Enzo Maccarinelli
Denis Lebedev
Danny Green
Joe Calzaghe
Glen Johnson

Regarding his best win, I think you could make a case for: Toney, Ruiz or Tarver.

Personally, I think it was Tarver due to the circumstances going into the fight.


His best KO is: Pazienza, Griffin or Hill.

His knockout against Pazienza was a thing of beauty. A 6 punch combination whilst walking forward, that included 3 uppercuts.

He knocked Griffin out with a lead left uppercut.

He was the only person who ever knocked Hill out in almost 60 fights. It was a great body shot.


His best/toughest opponents in terms of ability or the stylistic match up they presented: Hopkins, Toney, Tarver and Calzaghe.

Tuan_Jim,

I'd argue James Toney was his best win, who was good enough himself to go up and thump around John Ruiz, along with some other brutes, but I see your logic. Face to face Ruiz was probably his most dangerous opponent.

Must be said, for all the talk of greatness, Jones's collection of scalps is fairly meagre. Most of the names on that list drew groans at time of announcement (Paziena!). Reggie Johnson, who is mysteriously omitted, is better than almost all of them.

It really would have helped RJJ's image to travel to Germany and bash Darius M., but Jones never bothered to exert himself and he now lives with his decisions.

I don't think Roy should be criticised for not wanting to face Dariusz in Germany. Also, for all his yapping, Dariusz never truly wanted the fight.

elmersalsa wrote:It got to be his win against James "Lights Out" Toney in 1994. He jumped to super middleweight to take Toney's crown. After that fight, Super Roy did not fight a dangerous opponent in his resume.

Saying that Roy didn't fight a dangerous opponent after Toney is a gross exaggeration.

Ruiz and Tarver were dangerous opponents, and then he fought guys like Calzaghe and Lebedev etc way beyond his prime.

It's tempting to put Ruiz down as his best win and in some ways it was. But beating Hopkins and Toney easily are extremely hard to go past in terms of achievement (and no, Hopkins was NOT inexperienced at the time. Infact he'd had more fights than Jones if I remember correctly)

Hopkins was definitely pre-prime, so was Roy. A couple of hot prospects on an undercard. Roy was far more experienced. The olympic program provides a lot more than the prison program.

loudon wrote:

elmersalsa wrote:It got to be his win against James "Lights Out" Toney in 1994. He jumped to super middleweight to take Toney's crown. After that fight, Super Roy did not fight a dangerous opponent in his resume.

Saying that Roy didn't fight a dangerous opponent after Toney is a gross exaggeration.

Ruiz and Tarver were dangerous opponents, and then he fought guys like Calzaghe and Lebedev etc way beyond his prime.

He was fighting school teachers and policemen in the middle of his prime. A time waster.

John Ruiz ain't nothing dangerous. Neither was Antonio Tarver.

Personally I'm saying the Toney fight

What a win, love that fight

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Hopkins was definitely pre-prime, so was Roy. A couple of hot prospects on an undercard. Roy was far more experienced. The olympic program provides a lot more than the prison program.

It was Jones's 21st fight to Hopkins' 24th fight. Amateur experience counts for not very much in the pros

bollocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Hopkins was definitely pre-prime, so was Roy. A couple of hot prospects on an undercard. Roy was far more experienced. The olympic program provides a lot more than the prison program.

It was Jones's 21st fight to Hopkins' 24th fight. Amateur experience counts for not very much in the pros

Lol

elmersalsa,

He was fighting school teachers and policemen in the middle of his prime. A time waster.

John Ruiz ain't nothing dangerous. Neither was Antonio Tarver.

You are being silly.


A time waster?

Yes, he fought some weak mandatories and some lower level guys as keep busy fights. But if you want to be objective, you have to note the following:

1. Every fighter does that at some point.

2. After unifying against Reggie Johnson, he had mandatory obligations from 3 different organisations.

3. Despite his claims, Dariusz M had no intentions of fighting Roy in the U.S. and Bernard Hopkins turned down $6m for a C-W in 2002, demanding $10m instead.


Regarding John Ruiz, of course he was dangerous. He may have been ugly and awful to watch, but he was a tough, 230 plus pound HW. Roy was a 34 year old LHW who'd had almost 50 fights. His peak was when he was at SMW. Any top 10 rated HW is a dangerous opponent to a LHW, no matter how gifted he is.


Regarding Antonio Tarver, he was very dangerous. He was a rangy southpaw, with good skills, and who was extremely motivated. He was also much fresher than Roy, having fought just over 20 times going into the fight. Again, Roy had fought almost 50 fights, and he had to burn muscle in just a few months just to make the weight. He was absolutely exhausted in the 2nd of half of the fight.

Toney and Ruiz are his top 2. Hopkins and Tarver interchangeable at 3 and 4. Maybe Hill at 5?

bollocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Hopkins was definitely pre-prime, so was Roy. A couple of hot prospects on an undercard. Roy was far more experienced. The olympic program provides a lot more than the prison program.

It was Jones's 21st fight to Hopkins' 24th fight. Amateur experience counts for not very much in the pros

What a ridiculous statement.

Toney for me.

He made Toney, who is a bona fide ATG with one of the best skillset's in boxing history look like a rank amateur who had never fought before.

I've heard folk say that Toney was weight drained, but I'm not having it.

He was the champion & he knew what he was doing fighting at 168 & if the weight really was that much of a problem, he shouldn't have taken the fight.

Besides, he lost his very next fight to Montell Griffin at 175; was he weight drained for that too?

Syntax Error wrote:Toney for me.

He made Toney, who is a bona fide ATG with one of the best skillset's in boxing history look like a rank amateur who had never fought before.

I've heard folk say that Toney was weight drained, but I'm not having it.

He was the champion & he knew what he was doing fighting at 168 & if the weight really was that much of a problem, he shouldn't have taken the fight.

Besides, he lost his very next fight to Montell Griffin at 175; was he weight drained for that too?

There's no doubt that James was weight drained. It was incredibly unprofessional. But in my honest opinion, we'd have seen pretty much the same result regardless. I think it was just a bad match up for him stylistically.

James Toney sure.

Has to be Toney. Toney was at his best and he beat him convincingly. After that, probably moving up and beating Ruiz. Hopkins had not reached his best when Jones beat him.

Tuan_Jim wrote:

bollocks wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Hopkins was definitely pre-prime, so was Roy. A couple of hot prospects on an undercard. Roy was far more experienced. The olympic program provides a lot more than the prison program.

It was Jones's 21st fight to Hopkins' 24th fight. Amateur experience counts for not very much in the pros

What a ridiculous statement.

Why is is ridiculous? They're different kettles of fish altogether. Marvin Hagler had very little amateur experience yet achieved everything as a pro. Mark Breland was the most feted US amateur ever, yet was a bust as a pro

I only went with Ruiz because of what was on the line at that event......I think you do have to go with Toney or Hopkins if you are considering the best fighter he ever beat. Hard for me to make that call....I'm ever so inclined to give Toney that nod.....