The fight that was suggested between the peak P4P best LHW
king Roy Jones Jr against over the hill former HW champion
James Buster Douglas.
The fight has been set for late 1997.
Roy Jones Jr comes in at 185lbs. Solid, but fit looking.
James Buster Douglas comes in at 232lbs. In focused and
good shape considering his up and down post championship
career.
How do you guys see it playing out.
Youth, speed, talent pitted against
size, power and experience...
It has been set for 12 rounds.
Douglas (232lbs) vs Jones (185lbs) 12 rounds.
It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
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BroughtonRulesRefuge
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 2770
- Joined: 16 Dec 2008, 06:55
Re: It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
- Like it played out, Roy got cold feet and backed out of a signed contract.Robinson wrote:How do you guys see it playing out.
Buster was Mr. Jiggles in his comeback, but he was focused, in good CV shape, and taking care of business, so Roy had 2nd thoughts. Roy was not mentally prepared to take the risk.
Re: It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
It would have been interesting. Had it happened...
The Jones step up to HW against Ruiz was brave and bold
for modern era. But...Ruiz.
Douglas for all his faults prime and post prime had some
ok skills and power. He was nothing great in 1997 but he
was still a risk for a little man.
The Jones step up to HW against Ruiz was brave and bold
for modern era. But...Ruiz.
Douglas for all his faults prime and post prime had some
ok skills and power. He was nothing great in 1997 but he
was still a risk for a little man.
Re: It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
Depends on what Douglas showed up.
If Douglas was in shape motivated and ready to go he would have stood a good chance considering the weight advantage.
Obviously getting Douglas in shape would have played a role,but his mental status is issue.
Douglas v Mike Tyson
James provided arguably the biggest upset in the sport ever.
Tyson's conditioning and focus played a significant part,still who would have thought Douglas could pull it together prior to the fight against even a sub par Tyson or after the knockdown he suffered in the eighth round.
Douglas v Evander Holyfield.
After Douglas got knocked down he touched his face and almost bailed on the spot.
Douglas v Tucker
Even as far back as 1987 James was doing very well against Tony Tucker,then fell to pieces all of a sudden.
So having Douglas in shape was obviously important.
But when you take into account there was roughly 3 pounds between the Tucker and Tyson fights along with wins against McCall and Berbick in between it's hard not to bring the Douglas mindset into the discussion.
When James Buster Douglas name comes up of course it reminds everyone of the fight in Tokyo,for me it also makes me think of how unpredictable he could be and mostly for the wrong reasons.
Don't get me wrong Douglas was a decent boxer,but he had a tendency to either switch off or appear to give up in some of his more significant bouts.
Even though Jones Jr was incredible around that time, it's hard to ignore what happened against Montell Griffin in the first fight back in 97.
Sure Jones was about to get on top prior to the disqualification,still there is little doubt Griffin was giving him quite the fight up until the stoppage.
For Roy Jones that was a major bump in the road for him considering just how well he was performing.
He cleared up any doubt in the rematch though.
In terms of actual skill Jones was almost flawless in 97,speed,power and timing to name just a few of his gifts were firing on all cylinders.
He was unstoppable.
You wait years to see that kind of thing as a boxing fan,it was almost perfection.
But we are talking a 185 Jones going up against a 232 Douglas in 97.
That's almost 50 pounds in weight.
Taking into account the styles,I like Jones.
How can you argue against the kind of heat Jones was laying down ?
That said I couldn't see Jones stopping Douglas.
If anyone was doing the stopping it would be Douglas on Jones.
The referee would be important.
After all there was some discussion in regard to the Ruiz v Jones fight,and how Ruiz was not allowed to infight as much as he normally would have been against other opponents.
After all if it comes down to an infight between a 185 and 232 fighter and they are allowed to just wail away at one another,almost every time out of the gate the 185 is going to get seriously hurt.
At the end of the day I would have gone along with Jones by decision.
It would be by no means a certainty, and not a prediction I would be comfortable with.
In terms of betting on this I would have exercised caution and opted to avoid any monetary gains or losses.
If Douglas was in shape motivated and ready to go he would have stood a good chance considering the weight advantage.
Obviously getting Douglas in shape would have played a role,but his mental status is issue.
Douglas v Mike Tyson
James provided arguably the biggest upset in the sport ever.
Tyson's conditioning and focus played a significant part,still who would have thought Douglas could pull it together prior to the fight against even a sub par Tyson or after the knockdown he suffered in the eighth round.
Douglas v Evander Holyfield.
After Douglas got knocked down he touched his face and almost bailed on the spot.
Douglas v Tucker
Even as far back as 1987 James was doing very well against Tony Tucker,then fell to pieces all of a sudden.
So having Douglas in shape was obviously important.
But when you take into account there was roughly 3 pounds between the Tucker and Tyson fights along with wins against McCall and Berbick in between it's hard not to bring the Douglas mindset into the discussion.
When James Buster Douglas name comes up of course it reminds everyone of the fight in Tokyo,for me it also makes me think of how unpredictable he could be and mostly for the wrong reasons.
Don't get me wrong Douglas was a decent boxer,but he had a tendency to either switch off or appear to give up in some of his more significant bouts.
Even though Jones Jr was incredible around that time, it's hard to ignore what happened against Montell Griffin in the first fight back in 97.
Sure Jones was about to get on top prior to the disqualification,still there is little doubt Griffin was giving him quite the fight up until the stoppage.
For Roy Jones that was a major bump in the road for him considering just how well he was performing.
He cleared up any doubt in the rematch though.
In terms of actual skill Jones was almost flawless in 97,speed,power and timing to name just a few of his gifts were firing on all cylinders.
He was unstoppable.
You wait years to see that kind of thing as a boxing fan,it was almost perfection.
But we are talking a 185 Jones going up against a 232 Douglas in 97.
That's almost 50 pounds in weight.
Taking into account the styles,I like Jones.
How can you argue against the kind of heat Jones was laying down ?
That said I couldn't see Jones stopping Douglas.
If anyone was doing the stopping it would be Douglas on Jones.
The referee would be important.
After all there was some discussion in regard to the Ruiz v Jones fight,and how Ruiz was not allowed to infight as much as he normally would have been against other opponents.
After all if it comes down to an infight between a 185 and 232 fighter and they are allowed to just wail away at one another,almost every time out of the gate the 185 is going to get seriously hurt.
At the end of the day I would have gone along with Jones by decision.
It would be by no means a certainty, and not a prediction I would be comfortable with.
In terms of betting on this I would have exercised caution and opted to avoid any monetary gains or losses.
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BroughtonRulesRefuge
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 2770
- Joined: 16 Dec 2008, 06:55
Re: It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
- Dude, the Douglas that showed up backed Roy out the door and into his fleetfoot express.Evander wrote:Depends on what Douglas showed up.
Moreover, you must have a faulty memory of Tucker/Douglas. It was a very tight and technical fight until the last two rounds when Tucker starts to turn up the heat. Buster had nothing to be ashamed of, he just got caught and battered late in spite of giving his all.
The Douglas that backed Roy out of the fight was the diabetic Douglas coming back from 400+ lbs on his death bed. He was no longer the physical phenom of Tucker and Tyson, but he honed his skills even sharper and was quite competitive. Had he beaten Savarse he was in for a title shot.
Ruiz was a much smarter choice for Roy even if Ruiz probably could've beat Buster at that point. It was a styles thing.
Re: It could have happened- Jones Jr vs Douglas 1997
Thanks for that Evander. A good read mate.
I really enjoyed the Douglas McCall and Tucker fights. I know both
bouts get bagged as being 'boring' on this and other boards.
Broughton...wasnt the fight suggested as far back as 1996 ?
I really enjoyed the Douglas McCall and Tucker fights. I know both
bouts get bagged as being 'boring' on this and other boards.
Broughton...wasnt the fight suggested as far back as 1996 ?