i think it's fair to say that jones was the all-time hardest boxer to hit in his prime. i can't recall him getting hit flush even once until the tarver fight.

the only argument against jones is his level of competition (of which, he had little control, especially since he didn't duck anyone) in comparison to pep and whitaker. His toughest opponents (hopkins, tooney, ruiz) were either defensive specialists or, to say the least, not known for their offensive exploits. nonetheless, he went a looong time w/o being floored, staggered, stunned, of even hit flush. and he faced some tough guys who went right after him, like bryant brannon.

now pep (who i've never really seen) and whitaker were tough to hit, to say the least, but they were defensive specialists. what makes jones special is that he was hard to hit while going forward, while going for the KO (i never understood the grumblings about jones playing it safe--his KO ratio speaks for itself). one could argue his opponents were too scared to hit him but the fact remains one has to leave oneself open (for at least a split second) when one is throwing a punch. jones was simply the most physically gifted ( in terms of speed and power) fighter to ever enter the ring. he was hard to hit, and hit hard.