Roy Jones: How Great Would The Fans Perceive Him If…

[Superheavyweight]

He wasn’t robbed of the Olympic gold medal in 1988… was never disqualified against Griffin… and had retired after the first Tarver fight coming down from heavyweight after losing 25 lbs at the age of 35.

His record would have stood like this…

Fights: 50
Wins: 50
Losses: 0
Draws: 0

Olympic Light Middleweight Gold Medallist
Val Barker Award for the Most Outstanding Boxer
Middleweight Champion
Super Middleweight Champion
Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion
Heavyweight Champion

Or are you guys just going to chin him?

[PATSYS]

No question that he will be argued to be well within top 10, many would even argue that he should be GOAT.

[MancMexican]

I don't think the disqualification against Griffin tarnishes him at all as he avenged it with a FIRST ROUND KO.

In time Jones will keep climbing the rankings. Everyone gets better with time. Plenty of ATGs fought past their primes and got beat by lesser fighters like Jones and this is forgiven a decade of two down the line. Jones is still a contemporary fighter so his post-heavyweight career performances tarnish him. Twenty years from now know one will care.

[PATSYS]

I don't think the disqualification against Griffin tarnishes him at all as he avenged it with a FIRST ROUND KO.

In time Jones will keep climbing the rankings. Everyone gets better with time. Plenty of ATGs fought past their primes and got beat by lesser fighters like Jones and this is forgiven a decade of two down the line. Jones is still a contemporary fighter so his post-heavyweight career performances tarnish him. Twenty years from now know one will care.

The thing is that it is arguable if Jones was past his prime when he first fought Tarver, or even in their rematch. Just before he fought Tarver, he had a streak of stellar-looking performance including a clear win over Ruiz for the HW belt.

[Koa]

Jones was on a slow steady decline for some time though. He went from a guy who rarely lost a round and was active for the durations of his fights to a guy who seemed to have limited gas in the tank. As he aged, it was like he had less and less gas in the tank, and fewer mpg as well. In his younger years he was all over the ring, but as he aged he would fight more and more in spots, was less mobile, would show his brilliance in spots rather than what seemed to be at all times in his younger years.

You would be lucky to catch half a round of what he did to Pazienza in an entire fight.

[simonsingh]

in 20-30 years time, people will say he was top 10 maybe top 5 all time.

[Marnoff]

Head to head he's arguably number one....

[Dorfmeister]

Roy Jones is a ATG no matter what, actually the most skillful and gifted fighter since Sugar Ray Leonard without a shadow of a doubt but he always had an awkward style which combined well with athleticism. Even though is disqualification loss to Griffin doesn't mean anything, he is 3 losses out of 3 against Tarver in my book, still knocked out almost senseless twice in 2004, and he doesn't deserve a fight with Joe Calzaghe more than Hopkins does at the present moment... I wouldn't mind to see him fight Hopkins though, and that is if he beats Trinidad which is not to be taken for granted also.

[LeedsLad]

RJJ beats anyone below 168 in history, possibly at 175 too. In a few years time he will be remembered as one of the GOAT, i know some people who rank him as #1 all-time already..

[Words]

I rank him top 5, maybe top 3 P4P All-time-great. In terms of natural talent an god-given gifts I rate him no.1. On achievements slightly lower, for all his talent he never achieved like Muhammed Ali or Sugar Ray did. But thats a pretty high standard in the first place.

I think my all-time greatest hypothetical fight is Roy Jones Jnr, at 200lbs, fighting Muhammed Ali.

[Asterion]

Top10. Many would argue that he's the GOAT.

[thewoo]

I don't think that theGriffin loss or the olymplics loss affect people's opinion about him one bit.

[brooklyn1550]

Top 10

[eze]

I already consider him in the Top 10. Just look at what hes done.

[PH|LLA]

if Jones had retired after beating Ruiz, some people would argue that he was GOAT. Top 5 easy

[RealIzm]

I think he could mend his losses if he beat Hopkins again or Calzaghe after beating Trinidad

[ChampionsForever]

Top 10, hes top 20 for me anyways regardless of what else he does in he's career, in hes prime he was damn near untouchable.

[gutto]

top 5 for me full stop best fighter of the 90s fullstop

[Weber]

To me, he is definetively one of the top 3 GOAT's. His combination of power, speed, angles and adaptability makes him one of a kind, and he is certainly better than anyone on the p4p-lists nowadays. Mayweather could not hold a candle to him.

[Smith]

He's not in my top ten, just, but who knows, in ten years time i've a feeling he will be.

[Quik]

I rate him top 15 no matter what

[eze]

Wait for Orishman to see this post and he will say it wouldn't matter Roy Jones isn't even top 100!

[Jbuz]

i know some people who rank him as #1 all-time already..

You know imbeciles.

[theunderdog]

the griffin dq did not hurt his ranking at all. it just made his story a lot better.

[thesandman]

Well, I don't think those two things have much of an impact.

the Ruiz one was a good one, but everyone knows Lewis was champ at the time.

The number of titles won, and the divisions contested are brilliant, without doubt.

There is always that hint though, that he never took on the challenges he could have.

Now if he'd fought the Eubank, Benns etc, and the DM's of the world, you've got a huge case for one of, if not the, best.

(I'm not apportioning blame here, just saying not fighting hurts him. Its almost like he never found another great to test him.)

[Jinx]

i'm a huge Roy Jones fan, and he had top 10 ATG ability, but his inability to avenge against Tarver keeps him out of the top 10 for me...he could've beat Tarver in the rubbermatch, but he just didn't fight like he really wanted to win, and a top 10 p4p ATG will never do that...Jones is a fighter that does alot better when the chips are up, but the greatest fighters find a way to win when the rain pours down...Jones still has time tho to show he can win with the cards stacked against him...

[Sister Sledge]

RJJ was very skilled, but he was also very flawed and relied on his amazing reflexes and speed a bit too much. He definately had ATG athleticism, but I really don't think he beat enough quality fighter to achieve GOAT status. His opponents were handpicked and flawed for the most part. They were made to make him look good.