Re: 20 years ago, Roy Jones Jr. beat John Ruiz.
Bravery will get you so far and then it will get you killed... as the saying goes. Some of the mandatories were worthy of a side eye. It becomes so hard to judge a fighter like jones Jr. over history. His early work speaks for itself and speaks of greatness, we never got to see truly displayed in its prime over the long term. That heavyweight jump was him answering questions for himself and a treat for some fans waiting to see him pull out all the stops and be challenged so we could witness what we knew was there but needed to be fired up and polished and taken off the shelf. Or even better, that super motivated, destroyer we saw in the griffin rematch that solved an awkward enigmatic fighter in 1 round left him floundering like a drunk trapped in a fun house. He should have retired after Ruiz.
The trip back down completely ruined him. Which to me only seemed natural when we weren't talking about baby fat like Chavez Jr. ...I mean age could have been a factor but it kind of of makes you wonder how fighters like Canelo, danny jacobs and fighters that were already shredded are getting away with it today to no ill effects. Its been a long circus since then of Roy trying to heal his ego and his body saying, "you guys do what you want but leave me the hell out of it..." As fans i think we get tired of thinking of how these fights would have went with the Jones Jr. we kept waiting to be taken off the shelf only to shake your head when you realize how crazy you sound to a casual gen Z fan that cant wait to see their favorite, half talent all, mouth perennial fighter that gives himself a "B" on his performance.
When I saw the title to the thread. I cringed and thought Jesus, why not just hand us all walker and a glass of warm milk. Maybe its true for every generation of boxing fan but on top of the guys we held in such high regards there are probably guys that we went in on and didnt realize we were in the presences of greatness and never new it till we have to sit through the next generations fighter and think... Even the Roy that beat the cab driver would have danced circles around this guy and cut him to ribbons... Then again, maybe that's just me...
Last edited by J_Undisputed; 03-14-2023 at 09:01 PM.
Reason: correction..
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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