Quote Originally Posted by p4pking View Post
Also worth saying Roy Jones started boxing seriously as a child. Hopkins didn't(could be wrong here) until he was 20 something and in prison. Not saying Roy wasn't a good deal more physically gifted either, but lots of that had to come from having spent his entire life training. At the time they fought, he had clearly worked much harder, nobody is that much of a natural in a boxing ring.
Roy did everything wrong, and that was his greatest strength. He was all instinct and ridiculous talent. It is why Roy will never be even a decent trainer-it's impossible to teach what he did.

Floyd, Whitaker, Hop, Hagler...etc., all of those guys had skill. Learned skill. They all had great jabs that they used often, fought in numerous ways/were multi-dimensional, and would use strategy in the ring.

Roy was ridiculously fast. No, his speed was ludicrous. He would break the rules and it didn't matter because his instinct, reflexes and speed were of another planet. Roy rarely used a jab, preferring to use his natural gifts to float around the ring and pot shot when openings presented themselves.

As he got older, Roy would save his legs by laying on the ropes, catching shots on his shell defense, and using his blazing speed and power to intimidate the other fighter into submission. Watch their first fight again. Roy didn't beat Hop because he was better/more skillful, he beat him due to speed and his unorthodox style...