Who could beat Roy Jones?

[p4pking]

Pazienza would have beaten Gerald McClellan, Joe Calzahge and Ezzard Charles on the same night! Ya'll musta forgot.

[X]

Jones was a phenomenal, freakish fighter. I think we all agree that he would give anyone problems.

His reflexes were uncanny, and that's what won him his fights. His chin was only average and he had glaring faults in his technique ..... but he got away with it because of his athleticism and reflexes. Once they started to go, he became very mortal.

People do think that the history of boxing begins and ends with the period they watched when they were young.

There have been some truly great light heavies, many of whom would probably start as a favourite against Roy. When you are talking about elite fighters, it often becomes a matter of stylistic match ups ..... ie who had the style to trouble Jones the most?

For my money, Matthew Saad Muhammad had the wrong style for Roy. He would have refused to be discouraged, he would walk through walls and he had superb stamina and heart.

Ezzard Charles was supremely accomplished, tough and adaptive. He could fight and he could box, and he cold do both at once.

Bob Foster was a other freak of nature, with numbing power. That great equaliser would make him competitive and dangerous to any light heavy who ever lived.

A young Archie Moore knew more about fighting than Roy would ever do. A consummate pro and technician, intelligent enough to vary his gameplan during a round.

[mikeeod]

I know this will cause waves/drama, but I honestly feel like the Hop of 2001-2004 had a great shot of beating Roy. Not saying it was guaranteed mind you, just saying Hop was at his best during this period, and had morphed his style to deal specifically with Roy's advantages in athleticism and size. Since Roy was so fast and powerful, a Hop win would've required an unaesthetic style/quality, and not played well with the fans, however (much like the rematch when both were well past their primes).