Thread: RJJ needs to learn how to clinch...

Since he uses almost no lateral movement anymore, he should clinch when guys come into him, while he's on the ropes. Covering up and trying to counter is going to put him in the same state as Ali, and the bigger punchers will knock him, Roy, out. I know these guys don't hit as hard as the heavyweights that Ali fought, but I am worried that Roy will do damage to himself, and I am surprised he doesn't clinch more off the ropes. Hopkins and Floyd do it to great effect, and people may say its cheap, but its the easiest way to stop somebody from throwing punches. If he clinched whenever it got in close, I can't think of a single guy except maybe Chad Dawson who is anywhere near his speed up at LHW, and I doubt any of the other guys except Bernard's sneaky right hand could consistently reach Roy in the middle of the ring.

Roy's time as a top tier fighter is over....he can be competitive vs Calzaghe but he's not going to win unless he suddenly finds his speed and power again.


Joe Calzaghe should fight: Pavlik, Dawson, Glenn Johnson, or even Carl Froch....Roy is just a pay day at this point in time...and Floyd Mayweather Jr had better take notice of what happened to Roy because it will happen to him soon enough

my good people calzaghe wouldn't fight roy jones if he was anywhere near his prime. i remember quite clearly 4 years ago roy said he'd go to wales and fight calzaghe....... joe said at the time that roy is to old, been knockedout a few times, is no longer a credibal name and no one would want to watch the fight

NOW.....THAT ROYS EVEN OLDER, HAS EVEN LESS OF HIS ONCE GREAT SKILLS.... AND THE LAST TIME I CHECKED STILL HAD THOSE KO LOSE'S ON HIS RECORD, HIS LEGS HAVE EVEN LESS STAMINA...........GOOD OLD JOE WANTS TO FIGHT HIM, AT 35 ROY WAS STILL TO MUCH OF A RISK FOR JOE, NOW HE'LL BE 40 WHEN THEY GET IN THE RING HE'S THERE FOR THE TAKING

joe twice pulled out of fighting glen johnson, giving injury as a excuse, when johnson said he wants some money up front to cover wasted time and make sure joe turns up, joe and warren canceled the fight out right

Joe's no different than any other top level fighter. If you're on the top you're always going to be accused of ducking somebody, no matter how strong or weak the division is.

Call me crazy, but I think Roy has a better chance than BHOP. Clinching or not, Roy has just as good timing, better handspeed, and more power than BHOP. Of course, Roy will get hit with more punches than BHOP, but he should have a little more output. Hopefully. I just hope it's a better (cleaner, more punching and less wrestling) fight, because lastnight's fight was ugly.

RJJ is only not elite IMO against pressure fighters. I think he could hold his own against other boxers. He is still obviously fast, if you haven't seen his fight with Trinidad then you should. Also he has adapted to adjust to his reflexes.

Also Mayweather IMO won't have what happened to Roy. He won't move up to middleweight and ruin his body, and he works out harder than Roy ever did. I think Floyd has maintained a very healthy lifestyle over the past 4-5 years, and he is more versatile than Roy. Roy always needed those virtuoso performances where he absolutely dominated his opponents with speed, angles, timing, and power. Floyd is more like Bernard in that he is more thoughtful in the ring, he systematically wears his opponents down, and he is much more conservative than ROy, and is a lot better at adjusting. Roy had a hell of a time adjusting to the one guy who gave him problems in Griffin, while Mayweather adjusted just fine against people like Zab Judah who came out strong, but MAyweather made adjustments and controlled the fight from there on in. Roy after he came back down from heavyweight reminded me a lot of Zab Judah, Him vs Glen Johnson kind of looked like Zab against Cotto in that Jones was getting hit on the ropes, but wasn't changing up his style to try to change what was happening, but Mayweather changes his defense all the time, he gave Hatton at least 10 different looks defensively, lateral movement in the first round, he used his shoulder, elbows, clinching, all to throw Hatton off, I just hope Roy learns these tricks.

Floyd isn't going to get out of boxing unscathed...unless he never fights Miguel Cotto.


Time is the enemy of youth and Floyd's youth is running out.


If Roy starts clinching he's going to smother his own offense which requires space and speed and clinching not only slows the fight it also saps your energy in doing so. It will be beneficial for Roy to do the crazy thing and attack the hell of out Joe in the first round because it won't be expected or well recieved and then in the following rounds move and let Joe come to him and counter him

I think there are ways to adopt some things better to your age and speed too.
Slowing down timing by interuping their movement as you move forwards is a possiblilty.
Interuption of movment, off the control of one arm so it has effects on the other arm or their balance works on the interm as you move in towards a clinch for overall saftey.
But its from and gets like a Mma bout if you cant do it fast enough or disguise it, a boxing ref will pull you up on physically moving an arm on the way in ; any way other than a disguised push after a block.
Like to go in with a push when your glove is at elbow range or fold his elbow around your wrist with your head down as you go in etc, with practiced footwork, so you head the right way and only done off set moves ,higher ground for a second or two is achieved.
Even a clinch can be used better if you can train to feel the other guys reactive movment and you flow with that then expolde out stepping into the sweet spot as he reacts .
You can retrain those things in, but at the end of the day you have to still have it all in you, either way.

Retirment and enjoying your money sounds better.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Roy's time as a top tier fighter is over....he can be competitive vs Calzaghe but he's not going to win unless he suddenly finds his speed and power again.


Joe Calzaghe should fight: Pavlik, Dawson, Glenn Johnson, or even Carl Froch....Roy is just a pay day at this point in time...and Floyd Mayweather Jr had better take notice of what happened to Roy because it will happen to him soon enough

I agree with this assessment but I think another possible way for Roy to win is not by him finding his speed again but conversley Calzaghe perhaps losing a step or 2 himself along the way. After all, he is 35 himself and often fighters seem to get old overnight. One fight they look good, the very next fight they look like sh!t and you wonder when did they start to slide.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Floyd isn't going to get out of boxing unscathed...unless he never fights Miguel Cotto.


Time is the enemy of youth and Floyd's youth is running out.


If Roy starts clinching he's going to smother his own offense which requires space and speed and clinching not only slows the fight it also saps your energy in doing so. It will be beneficial for Roy to do the crazy thing and attack the hell of out Joe in the first round because it won't be expected or well recieved and then in the following rounds move and let Joe come to him and counter him

moving a lot is far more tiring than Clinching... using a lot of lateral movement takes a lot of work, and it doesn't smother Jones' offense because the ref seperates the fighters and he gets his distance again, it is purely a defensive tactic.

Also time is only the enemy of fighters who rely purely on their athletic ability, but Mayweather style doesn't rely on his athletic ability as much as it relies on his intelligence in the ring, and his technical skill. I think that hurts him against guys like OScar who I felt Mayweather could have overwhelmed offensively if he had trusted his speed more, but he fought a technically perfect fight agianst both OScar and Hatton, and pretty much everyone else he's ever foughten, except I wish he used more lateral movement, it would save his body a lot of punishment that boxers put on him against the ropes.

Originally Posted by Unknowndonor

Call me crazy, but I think Roy has a better chance than BHOP. Clinching or not, Roy has just as good timing, better handspeed, and more power than BHOP. Of course, Roy will get hit with more punches than BHOP, but he should have a little more output. Hopefully. I just hope it's a better (cleaner, more punching and less wrestling) fight, because lastnight's fight was ugly.

i disagree..roy's body though he looks physically great his muscles look like old man muscles if you know what i mean. hell he should have stopped trinidad. Hops muscles look strong and lean like a young man..Roy's body is showing the debilitating effects of going up to heavy and back down 25 pounds of muscle gone. He still looks fast but dosen't have the power to hurt calzaghe. Unless its a blinding fast punch. Other than that, calzaghe's activity, though slapping most of the way will win a decision over roy.

But my my my wouldn't it be great for roy to beat calzaghe after the way he fell off the cliff of prime.