Thread: Old Roy Jones interview

Did anyone read it?

Roy Jones Jr Interview - Quotes about the 1988 Olympics and HBO - Esquire

I selected this quote:

The night Marco Antonio Barrera got beaten by Junior Jones, I watched an HBO employee celebrate. He was yelling, "I told you! I told you! I can get anybody beat!" He didn't realize I caught him in the act. People can say whatever they want, but I saw it with my own eyes. They want your ass beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement. And excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and then tear your ass down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.

As a big Roy Jones fan, I wish he had gotten out of the game after the Ruiz fight. At the time he was talking about trying to get a Tyson fight and then retiring, so when you're talking about retirement then it's obvious his heart wasn't in the game anymore.

Roy will always have his detractors who say "oh why didn't he fight this guy or that guy" without bothering to look up the back story as to why those fights didn't happen.

Bottom line, nobody in the history of boxing from 168-175. Archie Moore would have gotten his ass handed to him.

Ironic that he now works for HBO (and does a bloody good job too).

I selected this quote -

You see what happened to Gerald McClellan? He believed the hype, went to England, and came home in a wheelchair. Now nobody wants to see Gerald. They want to ignore that. But I'm not going to ignore that. Hell with Larry Merchant and all the critics. They're not going to help me if my life gets damaged. You don't see Larry Merchant taking care of Gerald McClellan. I gotta live for me.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

As a big Roy Jones fan, I wish he had gotten out of the game after the Ruiz fight. At the time he was talking about trying to get a Tyson fight and then retiring, so when you're talking about retirement then it's obvious his heart wasn't in the game anymore.

Roy will always have his detractors who say "oh why didn't he fight this guy or that guy" without bothering to look up the back story as to why those fights didn't happen.

Bottom line, nobody in the history of boxing from 168-175. Archie Moore would have gotten his ass handed to him.

Whilst I agree Roy was an ATG he was not the greatest light heavy in history I think Foster and Spinks beat him from the modern era.

Originally Posted by Fenster

Ironic that he now works for HBO (and does a bloody good job too).

I selected this quote -

You see what happened to Gerald McClellan? He believed the hype, went to England, and came home in a wheelchair. Now nobody wants to see Gerald. They want to ignore that. But I'm not going to ignore that. Hell with Larry Merchant and all the critics. They're not going to help me if my life gets damaged. You don't see Larry Merchant taking care of Gerald McClellan. I gotta live for me.

If Roy was really concerned about his health he would have retired years ago. He must need the money.

Originally Posted by Master

Whilst I agree Roy was an ATG he was not the greatest light heavy in history I think Foster and Spinks beat him from the modern era.

Spinks would be a great fight but I don't see Foster as even being competitive.

He had a brutal punch but he wasn't quick enough of foot, hand or mind to deal with Jones.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Originally Posted by Master

Whilst I agree Roy was an ATG he was not the greatest light heavy in history I think Foster and Spinks beat him from the modern era.

Spinks would be a great fight but I don't see Foster as even being competitive.

He had a brutal punch but he wasn't quick enough of foot, hand or mind to deal with Jones.

He was tall and rangy with a monster punch. I think he would have given Roy problems.

[QUOTE=Master;1280354]

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

He was tall and rangy with a monster punch. I think he would have given Roy problems.

Takes more than being tall and punching hard to beat Roy... well prime Roy anyway.

Roy was notoriously hard to hit, especially clean on the chin. If he didn't knock Roy out, he wasn't winning that fight.

[QUOTE=Beanflicker;1280359]

Originally Posted by Master

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

He was tall and rangy with a monster punch. I think he would have given Roy problems.

Takes more than being tall and punching hard to beat Roy... well prime Roy anyway.

Roy was notoriously hard to hit, especially clean on the chin. If he didn't knock Roy out, he wasn't winning that fight.

That is the thing I think he could knock him out cold. I would not give Moorer a chance because he was raw but Foster had the class to do it.

Hmmm Moorer would have been interesting at 175 too.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Hmmm Moorer would have been interesting at 175 too.

Yes until he gassed out. The reason why he tried to finish everyone quickly was because he was dying at the weight and the opponents were B rate.

RJJ is the biggest question mark in the history of the sport. I agree with everyone who mentions who he didn't fight.

Yet, who could deny the talent of Roy? From his twitch muscles, reflex. Just gifted. It's all speculative, but I can't see anyone coming close to beating the RJJ I knew @ 160,168.

Too bad he didn't master his craft. If he had, he wouldn't be a better commentator today than he is a boxer.