Is Roy Jones Jr a legend?
July 3rd, 2009
By Adam Fillingham: Calling all British fans! Have you heard of that fighter that Americans call a legend, Roy Jones Jr? Well I cant take anything away from the man, he is a great fighter but did he fight the best fighters like American fans seem to bang on about, when talking about British boxers. In my opinion no. Lets just match your legend Roy Jones to our legend Joe Calzaghe.
From here Calzaghe did what he had to do. He defeated all of his mandatories with ease. So did Jones Jr taking out James Toney along the way but jones Jr lost. He stupidly got himself DQ for hitting Griffin while he was on the ground. Also the fight was very close on the scorecards in the 7th round.
At the time of Jones’s loss he could have fought anyone but he took on a less able Griffin who still took him close on the scorecards. He was obviously less able as Jones took him out in the first round of thier rematch. Calzaghe didn’t have this luxury as nobody with a big name would fight him so he had to take on his no.1 mandatories.
After this Jones took on a lot of Champions in the light heavyweights. He covered up the fact that non of these fighters were all that good with all the belts he was defending at the time.
After finding this too easy and not taking on the likes of Joe Calzaghe or Hopkins again he moved up to the flawed Heavyweight scene and beat up the worst champion at the time( who was also having family problems I will add) and beat John Ruiz to a pulp to win the WBA world Heavyweight title.
Then while Calzaghe was contently winning the ‘lesser able’ fighters from europe and going about his buisness in a quiet way Jones Jr was getting his head kicked in by an overrated Antonio Tarver and a fighter with a really bad record in Glen Johnson. Now neither have fantastic power and yet both knocked him out.
Jones came back from this with three wins over not great opposition to fight an lso past his best Joe Calzaghe. Roy Jones was ripped to shreads by the BRIT and will stand as one of the greatest USA Vs UK fights in history.
My final point will be that how Americans like Scott Gilfoid bang on that fighters should travel to get the best fights like joe calzaghe should have but Roy Jones never once fought out of the USA.
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Everybody’s a critic, which is fine-unless it comes from a biased perspective. And no one (including me) is ever actually neutral on an opinionated topic. Still, I will say this-the fact that you have to ask the ? “is he a legend” makes him a legend. No offense but-would you ask “Is Glen Johnson (who is a heck of a throwback)” or “Is Antonio Tarver (who in the amatuer rankings could be)a legend.” More than likely “NO” – not even a honorable mention in a poole of 200. I remember (not too long ago) when people couldn’t dream of Roy Jones losing to another human being, as well as, the entire decade between 1994 and 2004 where he was “universally” recognized as the best in the world-period. Even then people where trying to push him off the edge, still-it took Roy Jones himself to jump. And when he did (which was for us-not himself) everybody wrote him off in 1/16 of the time it took for him to get to the very same spot he fell from, which happened to be a place that only 3% of the fighters before him ever had the opportunity to see. To borrow one of his lines “We must’ve forgot” because nobody seems to remember who he once was.
I consider myself one of Jones’ biggest fans and have been b4 he was robbed in the 88 Olympics. It was such a robbery that he was still voted MVP of boxing. That said it all!
I have seen fast boxers but I thought he was so fast that he was super fast. His body was always very sculptured. So to me he was not Roy Jones but rather Super Roy.
I have seen Sugar Ray Robinson whom I considered the best boxer I have ever seen, but I felt Super Roy would replace him as the best ever. When he beat Ruiz for the Heavyweight Title I felt he was on his way, although I did not see him staying in that class. I wanted him to drop to cruiser not back to L-heavy cuz he had outgrown the class.
Super Roy had too much pride. It was important to him to keep all of his titles and each mandatory defence was kept. He felt you had to respect the guy’s right to fight as No 1 contender.
He also felt he had to shut up Tarver & foolishly went back down. He eked out a win in a cery rough fight he had to fight mainly on the ropes cuz he had no legs nor strength. He showed his intense will and hunger to win in that fight.
But he tortured his body to do it again and got a brutal KO. Come on, never in a million yrs could Tarver land a glove on Super Roy. Too much speed and power. He could KO guys with one shot as he was moving backward. This called for great reflexes to avoid the punch, perfect timing to counter and great strength. In other words super human ability. He had that in abundance.
Joe Calzaghe, Toney, Hopkins and those guys were very good fighters. Super Roy was extraordinary! That’s a huge difference. Super Roy had that special something that left you amazed! Did he just really do that? You still framed or looked at in in slo mo to see what he did. Amazing!
wellsini well in dat way joe is a hipocrit why didnt he fight froch
i sgree with boxing fan jc beating a old eubanks but joe has fought who was put in front of im as much i cnt really say the much bout roy for all the stick joe gets for not fight dawson who isnt as gd as all the yanks think why dnt ya grill dawson instead of joe and why in the hell wud joe want a rematch with b-hop the fight was f#@kin boring the only excitment in the fight was joe goin dwn in the 1st.
back to roy jones y in the hell didnt he want to fight steve collins who destroyed benn and eubanks who i think r the best british boxers ever. but no matter what ppl say sumone is gna disagree
roy jones jnr is a boxing legend .i think he had not been cut in calzaghe fight he would not have been beaten and would of definetly beaten joe ca;zaghe.
1 of hes big mistakes in hes career was going heavy
roy jones if he hadnt of been disqualified wat would his record have been b4 he lost 4 real, roy jones is a legend calzaghe is not if ther wer t b a rematch it would b differant to the last time they met
I have been a Calzaghe fan for years, recognizing his skill, conditioning and heart. He always had a very solid chin and decent power. I think he got a bad rap as everyone does if he does not go to the US. Conversely, when major US fighters do not travel it is not mentioned.
Leonard, Hopkins, Holyfield & Super Roy, to name a few never went to an opponent’s home to fight so they always had home advantage. Note Leonard lost to Duran in neutral Montreal. Calzaghe made big $ at home, as champ if you wanted his title you had to come and get it. Ok, I’ve given Joe his props. Now to Super Roy.
Super Roy is the greatest fighter I have seen in the past 50-60 years. He had the two fastes hands I have seen bar none. Howard Davis, Leonard, Ali, Whittaker, Meldrick Taylor & Floyd all have fast hands. Roy had super fast hands and he also had power. None of those guys could easily KO a guy with a single punch. None of these guys could KO a guy as they were retreating from a punch. Only the great Robinson used to regularly do that.
It takes a super fast and powerful boxer to do that. So Robinson was No 1 all time and Super Roy was a close second. Does anyone remember the ease he beat Ruiz for the heavy title and how he beat the great Hopkins and Toney? Super Roy beat guys so easily it looked ridiculous. Then the same guys would be in life and death matches against each other.
There is no way that Calzaghe could have beaten Super Roy. Not even in his own backyard, with his own family as referee, judges and ring doctor.If Calzaghe was dreaming of beating Super Roy, he would pinch himself and wake up. It could never happen. Roy was that invincible! His downfall was losing muscle and strength and coming back down to edge Tarver.
Talk about drained! Apart from a few flurries, he looked like he had been exposed to kryptonite for weeks but still eked out Tarver. But kryptonite alone can’t kill a super boxer, it also requires a touch of ego and Super Roy supplied that. He strained his body a 2nd time.
Do you think that Johnson or Tarver could last more than five rds combined against a focussed, angry and primed Super Roy? He needs to stop straining his body and fight at 185-190. There he can reinvent himself like Ali and used his smarts, combined with new strength. He still has speed but not consistent speed but at 190 he still will have his power and he could hold up against the grinding style of a Johnson.
Against T-dad he looked pathetic at 170. He still needs to fight Hopkins again to show he owns him but if he does at anything under 180, Hopkins will maul and brawl & outthink him in a UD.
Look I think Hopkins is great but he always had many problems against speed and movement.That is why IMO he lost easily against Calzaghe. All he did was feint, clutch and grab and throw single shots, many of them forearms. It was the most boring fight in years. Calzaghe made the fight. e B-hop just tried to steal rds. Puhleeeeeezzzzzze, do not match him with Dawkins. I would rather see paint dry. Maybe a fight with Toney would be ok because Toney, Hopkins and Super Roy were three of the better 160-168 lb fighters of the late 80′s and 90′s.
ITS ON! VITALI VS HAYE 13 SEPTEMBER!
AGAIN IN A STADIUM! IN GERMANY!
THIS WILL BE THE BEATING OF HIS LIFE!
how can u say roy jones v calzaghe was the greatest uk v us ever???
it was full of showboating in the 1st half and a 1 way traffic system in the 2nd half!
even joe calzaghe him self says roy jones is a legend and also the best boxer of the 90′s…
and can u also name me 10 more boxers in the last 50 years who started at middleweight and went to heavy weight to win a title?? becuz i dont recall calzaghe doing that??!!
everyone knows (including Calzaghe) that if they both met when they were both in their prime the outcome would of been much different! therefore the true boxing fans will not rate the Calzaghe v Jones fight and definately not rate it as a classic!
im a welshman and i think roy jones is one of the best p4p fighters ever he would have held his owe with anyone at his peak robinson hagler monzon duran hearns leonard he was that good i dont think calzaghe could have beaten any of them i dont thint he beat robin read lacey was just a joke with one hand hopkins i thought just nicked it at age 42 roy was well past his best but kessler was inpressive
if roy and joe were both in there prime i onley one outcome roys faster single power punching nailing joe for a ko or tko
Is Roy Jones Jr a legend? why yes he is,a true great legend as well!!! o yeah one more thing Calzaghe aint no legend and nothin close to being one….Hes an overrated fraud
Jones should have taken two fights which would have seen his standing in the UK a lot higher. The first was he should have fought Benn why didn’t that fight go ahead and the second was Steve Collins.
Collins won a middle weight title and wanted to fight Jones it didn’t happen. Collins then stepped up to super middle weight and defeated Eubank (twice) and again looked for Jones but again that fight never happened. If he had taken either of those fights at the time his legendry status would be held in much higher regard, to travel across the water to fight the best the otherside had to offer. The super middle weight division was huge in the UK back then and Jones would have added something special to it and who knows it may have lead to Jones and Joe getting it one when both of them were in their prime.
Im british and joe calzaghe is a disgrace to boxing! an absolute disgrace!!! jones is a legend and shouldn’t be compared to calzaghe as jones is in another division of elite boxers altoghether (probably 2 or 3) jones would take on the best and was lb4lb the best, calzaghe fought Mger Mkrtchyan in his 37th fight. no disrespect to the guy but who the f#@k is that!?!! jones had the following titles about his 37th fight:
WBC light heavyweight title ~
~ IBF light heavyweight title ~
~ IBO International Boxing Organization light heavyweight title ~
~ WBA Super World light heavyweight title ~
NBA Light Heavyweight Title
Calzaghe is an absolute disgrace!!
This is a good piece. But I have to say I like both fighters alot and couldn’t choose one over another, Calzaghe did destroy Jones easily though, it’s just a shame he didn’t have the fists he had earlier in his career otherwise it would have been a brutal knockout!
WHAT THE BLOODY HELL AM I HEARING HERE, ARE THERE ANY BOXING FANS OUT HERE OR WHAT!!!!!
How can u slag of roy jones man, that guy was prob the best and most talented fighter since ali! No Question! He fought big names man, TONEY any1! FFS!
I cnt write anymore as its not in question, OF COURSE ROY JONES IS A LEGEND! If bloody JOE-SLAP-A-LOT CALZAGHE is then ROY is for sure!
no roy is not a legend he will be known for taking easy fights and being to cautious and boring!
British and American boxing fans are not idiots. Why construct such a biased and rediculous artical such as this one?
This guy is like the British (not European!)Scott Gilford. Completley biased with his own countrymen, and not really telling the truth.
Both fighters are greats, while also both having flaws in their careers too. Hopkins blatantley ducked Calzaghe and Jones wasn’t prepared to travel to the UK…. but Calzaghe should of been willing to fight in the US. That’s where the big names was at (like the ones I just mentioned) then they would of been forced to fight him by the major TV networks.
I think the Hopkins-Calzaghe fight from 2008 would of been much different compared to if they fought around 6 or 7 years ago. They were bothe different fighters back then and although the recent Hopkins isn’t as athletic as the one from years ago, I feel he is more intelligent now than he was back then, as with Calzaghe too…. so it would of been a much better fight that would of came down more to do with strengh, conditioning and workrate which I beleive would of benefited Calzaghe (lets remember he hit with power back then too) so I’d give it to Joe.
Against Roy Jones, I’d say Calzaghe would be in deep trouble early as Jones looks to pick him off taking advantage of Joe’s busy workrate…. but with Calzaghe still just about managing to fight through it to the mid rounds where Joe starts to take over and slow down Roy taking him into deep water…. somewhere he’d never been in his prime and could honestly see Calzaghe stopping him late! Just my opinion though, as Roy was so gifted but just think Calzaghe’s hunger doing him justice.
Calzaghe in my opinion was the best fighter to ever fight at Super middleweight and nobody would ever beat him at that weight that fought there that I can honestly think of…. including Jones. I have to admit that Jones career was more inpressive than Joe’s oveerall though, what with beating Toney and Hopkins so easily and also becoming a 4 weight world champion from middle onwards…. which is harder to do from that weigh than the lower divisions.
Not all british fans think like this. I’m a Brit and i think both Calzaghe and Jones are legends, both deserve their place in the hall of fame
Yes RJJ is a legend. End of
Im a massive Calzaghe fan, i think hes picked apart in a pathetic way on here by certain people, those that call him a slapper dont know what they are on about and he really was about as good as a boxer can get.
He faced as many average boxers as any other top quality boxer does, they all do, but what matters is what he does when he is fighting the big names out there. he beats them.
I actually rate Jones Jr even higher than Calzaghe, at his peak he was nothing short of phenominal combining the skills with power. He is a boxing legend.
But only the bitter can call one of them a legend and the other an overated slapper. That shows a serious lack of boxing awareness and respect.
true calzaghe is so much better than rjj. hahhaha. yanks.
Hope Gilfoid is paying attention, because this is exactly how his articles all sound. Sooner he realises that the better!
Roy Jones is a legend, winning world titles from middleweight to heavyweight is an amazing achievement. In his prime i cant see him losing to calzaghe especially in the way he did. I rate roy jones as one of the best fighters ever. Although calzaghe ended his career unbeaten, if you match up the achievments of jones and calzaghe jones outshines calzaghe by far. Remember, people say that calzaghe was the light heavy champ but was he really? he didnt actually fight for a world title at light heavy, im sorry but in my opinion the ring magazine belt isnt a world title. He didnt win the WBC, WBO, IBF or WBA belts at light heavy so i dont no why he is regarded as a two weight world champ.
Not trying to disrespect calzaghe in any way i recognise that towards the end of his career he produced some stunning performances. And has been a great asset to boxing but in the debate between him and jones i just feel jones was the bigger legend.
Slap, Slap Joe doesn’t belong in the same sentance as Jones. Yeah he beat him after he had faded to a shell of the great fighter he had been. Trevor Berbik beat Ali too once he was washed up too. So does that make Trevor the greatest? Don’t think so. I’m not just hating on british fighters either before you all come out of the woodwork, cause Lennox and Hatton are great fighters. Joe is just a good fighter that managed his career smartly. Even smarter then mayweather does.
You lot are all biased! RJJ is a legend! JC on the other hand is not! Lets go back to the article, ” JC beat ring legend CU ” . Eubank was way past his best when he fought JC. RJJ fought a real oppenent in B-Hop, who i thought beat the slapper JC! RJJ was way past his beat when he though JC, which i believe JC has done way 2 much through his carrer fighting washed up opponents!Why not fight B-Hop in an rematch, Dawson, Pavlik?? 46-0 doesn’t mean anything when you have dodged people and fought washed up fighters!
I do think that RJJ would have beaten JC in his prime but the fact is we will never no so there is no point in debating about it. And simon H i agree with everything you said there pretty much.
Good point, RJjr never fought outside the US, but in answer to the title, YES RJjr is a legend without question, although we have the ugly scene now of him carrying on way past his prime.
Don’t think fighters like Calzaghe or Lennox Lewis get enough credit for getting out at the top, rather than carrying on and tarnishing their fight careers.
The best article ive ever read on this website. you completely right that idiots like Gilfoid on about Britsh fighters not wanting to fight outside of Europe whilst Americans refuse to fight outside their own country.
Bravo, this website is finally turing around
Joe Calzaghe stayed in europe for the majority of his fights for a bloody good reason. The money for him was in europe. All his fans were in europe.
Why go to the USA to fight average fighters (seen as all the big names at the time did not want to fight him, and if they did fight him they would offer him an unfair deal financially).
Im not sure if Roy Jones Jr is a legend. Even if he did take on the weak heavyweights it was still a great achievement to move up so much and win. The man is only a few inches taller than me!
I think one fight which defines Roy Jones Jr is the fight he didnt take… Rematch with Bernard Hopkins. Thats a fight we would have all liked to see. They would have both made money, even now if they was to fight, they would make money.
I’m British but i always will prefer roy jones jr to joe calzaghe.In His prime he was 1 of the greatest fighters ever,moving up to heavy weight then back down again ruined the end of his career and now he fights for money instead of legacy but will still be remembered as 1 of boxings legends.I do like Joe Calzaghe very much but i thought the fight against B-Hop should have gone the other way and a win against the washed up roy jones wasn’t the way to end his career.He should have fought Pavlik or Froch,2 fighters currently in there prime or a fight against the next best thing in my opinion Chad Dawson.
well to be honest this isnt a news sight anymore its a opinion sight and im just giving my opinion just like scott gilfoid amongst others do
This isn’t going to end well…