BoxRec

Now that his career has ended, where do you rank Roy Jones Jr. all time?

Top 50 ?

Very high

littlepug wrote: ↑09 Feb 2018, 17:00Top 50 ?

Maybe top 100 actually

his talent rates higher then his career

Somewhere between 30 and 50 in the All Time Top 50. If his resume matched his ability he'd be even higher.

he had a top 10 potential, but based on his resume i rank him in top 30 (i was thinking about top 50 but i think he deserves a credit for being a champ from MW to HW (except CW) it's a big achievement, jumping in weight in higher divisions is way harder)

Thinking in terms of my lifetime (40 years), No. 2, behind Mayweather.

So does this count when you add up his titles?
vacant World Boxing Union (German Version) Cruiserweight Title against a guy ranked in the mid 200s

what makes fighters go on this long surely he has enough money to be able to just put his feet up.

squiggy wrote: ↑09 Feb 2018, 17:48 Thinking in terms of my lifetime (40 years), No. 2, behind Mayweather.

I've been following the sport adamantly since 2001 (and I've seen Roy's best performances from the 90's as well through fight film collecting or just Youtube)

I'd rank Roy 4th or 5th in my lifetime.

Floyd is definitely #1, Pac is #2, B-Hop #3, then Roy is probably at 4.

Prime for Prime Roy's a better talent than B-Hop, but B-Hop had a better career, and that's what defines a fighter more to me. Having all the talent in the world, and doing less with it makes you less of a fighter IMO.

Though Roy is obviously an ATG by any measure.

During the time I have watched the sport [Almost 35 years] Roy Jones Jr is the best boxer I've ever seen.

I've been a fan for nearly 50 years.
Roy is top 10 in my life. Floyd is number 1 in my life.

All time?
No idea.
Since I started watching in the mid 70's I would say top #25
He had two career peaks, mid 90's at super middle, and 2000-2001 at light heavy. It's such an unusual career it's hard to categorise. There were time when he just didn't fight guys he needed to, to be top dog at a weight. And there were times he just seemed unbeatable.

Career-wise, maybe top 100. Probably not. In his prime though, he was a top 20 athletic attraction IMO. The window wasn't open for long and it shut hard but he had a span of time there where he was as impressive as i've seen in 40 years of watching boxing anyway. Can't speak for before that because tape doesn't do any justice to these older fighters.

RJJ is definitely top 100. He had an incredible career and was a precocious talent.

Grant wrote: ↑09 Feb 2018, 17:50 So does this count when you add up his titles?
vacant World Boxing Union (German Version) Cruiserweight Title against a guy ranked in the mid 200s

what makes fighters go on this long surely he has enough money to be able to just put his feet up.

No of course it doesnt count and he loves to box

Of course he carried on fighting way too long but that should not detract from the quality of the man's victories over high level opposition during his prime. Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Boy Malinga, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Mike McCallum, Virgil Hill, Otis Grant and Clinton Woods - world champions in their own right all comprehensively beaten by RJJ. Moving up to heavyweight and winning a version of the world title was the proverbial cherry on the cake. Just a pity he didn't fight Calzaghe until his early forties. Had that fight happened around the turn of the century I reckon it would have gone down as one of the greatest ever.

Top 10 ATG

I'm 34 and have been an avid fan of the sport since I was old enough to remember. At his peak he's probably the best I've seen in my lifetime.

Stuarty wrote: ↑12 Feb 2018, 11:19I'm 34 and have been an avid fan of the sport since I was old enough to remember. At his peak he's probably the best I've seen in my lifetime.

I agree, Stu. I'm 31 and he's definitely the most complete and talented boxer that I've ever seen in our time.

Mayweather was incredible defensively at his peak, but his offense was looking compared to the other Greats of our era.
And Pacquaio was incredible offensively, his constant movement and attacking against Cotto and Margarito.

But if you are looking at a boxer who is well-rounded and could do it all (or as near to it as you can get) then I would say RJJ.