Tell me that THIS is not the MOST TALENTED fighter that has ever lived

[zhubin]

Just cant have him up there with the true 21st century greats (lewis, pacquiao, mayweather) because of the fact he got found out a few too many times in the prime of his career.

On his day he truly is up there as one of the most talented boxers to have ever fought. The schooling he gave toney that night will always live long in my memory.

But getting knocked out by tarve and johnson just diminished the accomplishments of the man. He was in his mid 30s and was hardly looking like a shot fighter when those KO`s came.

Seeing him take the battering calzaghe gave him was a very sad sight for everyone who has had the joy of bringing roy jones jr into their lives!!

Whoa there... Jones was weight depleted and 33 years old when he finally lost. To say he was in his prime is crazy considering 33 is old for a guy who spent his career relying on his speed and reflexes.

Roy was 35 when he lost actually. 15 years into his career. At that point I don't think his heart was in boxing anymore. After the Ruiz fight, he said he wanted to fight one more megafight against Mike Tyson at HW then retire.

Roy fucked himself over when he chose to gain all that bulk and then struggle to burn 20lbs of muscle off to fight Tarver, especially at his age. Look what happened to Chris Byrd when he burned off a simliar amount of weight at a simliar age to go down to 175. He was slow, weak, and his once great chin was gone and he got knocked down repeatedly and finally KO'd by a no-name LHW with like 8 KOs in 18 fights. He was never the same after that, physically or mentally.

Its hard for regular people to understand because if you or I lose 20lbs, thats awesome. We feel great because we could afford to lose 20lbs. But when you're 200lbs of chisled, ripped muscle, losing 20lbs is going to hurt you physically, especially at an older age.

Look at PBF today compared to what he looked like when he was fight at 130. He's packed on a LOT of bulk. Imagine what would happen if he tried to shave himself back down to 130. He wouldn't look like the guy who dominated Marquez a few weeks ago I gaurentee you.

I agree. Some people really overlook the damage Roy did to himself coming back down in weight to fight Tarver. It certainly cannot be used as an excuse for all of his recent performances...but it had a negative effect at the least ideal time of his career (he wasn't a young buck who could just shrug off losing that much muscle and recover quickly). I also think it's a huge injustice to his enormous talent to say Roy Jones was just a great athlete. He certainly was that...but he was a smart fighter. Sure, he wasn't as technically brilliant like Whitaker or Mayweather...but he had great skills. He was never this raw, wild fighter. He was deadly accurate with his powerful and fast punches. And he wasn't a guy who just walked in a ring looking to knock his opponents head off with one punch. He was patient. He could toy with a fighter...blast them when he wanted too...or simply dance and take his time. Look at his fight with Toney. James was a more "skilled" fighter than Roy. He had a better defense than Roy, etc. etc.....yet Roy toyed with him (and please don't use the "Toney was weight drained" excuse). All i am saying is that Roy has not ended his career the way he should have...and maybe some of that is his fault. But at his prime...i still do not see any fighter that could have handled him.