Roy Jones: How Good Was He?

[Beanflicker]

He never should have gone back down to 175. You just don't put on that kind of muscle and drop it like that, especially at that age. Recipe for disaster.

Chris Byrd did the same thing years ago, he dropped from HW to LHW. He used to have an amazing chin that stood up well to some of the biggest HW bangers, then he fought a 175lber a 40% KO ratio and got hurt with every punch that landed. He looked so slow and fragile, it was a disaster.

After Ruiz, Jones said he wanted to set up a mega fight with Mike Tyson and retire. That's what he should have done, because Mike was so washed up Roy would have danced circles around him all night.

[AdamGB]

What about the bums he fought at LHW? Julio Cesar Gonzalez? David Telesco? Derrick Harmon? Clinton Woods?

after Jones, Woods was IBF champion for a while and holds a draw and a win over Glen Johnson.

Bum is a stretch... Sure he wasn't p4p elite by any means, but Jones was Jones was able to toy with him.

[mikeeod]

Roy was an unbelievable talent and definitely a great fighter who could've beaten anyone at or around his weight during his prime. That being said, he fought weak competition for the vast majority of his prime and will not and should not go down in history as a top 35-40 ATG. Before anyone starts trying to argue semantics and play the "well what about so and so...", let me say this: Google his record, then Google rankings for that time and count how many top challengers/threats Roy fought while in his prime. Then reach down real deep and pull out some objectivity and you will understand.