Boxing evolved a lot ... could Roy Jones Jr. be a champion ( 160-175) in this era?

[iwillbebackin3weeks]

Or would GGGs power be too much?

could he own all those belts again?

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

rjj embarrasses any fighter from 175 and down besides maybe hagler

 

[defjaam]

No, he would struggle with the likes of Rocky Fielding, let alone Canelo or Golovkin.

Yes he had wins over Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, but those guys were journeymen compared to the elite level today.

 

[heavyarms21]

Prime Roy gives anyone in any era issues , ridiculous reflexes and handspeed that generated enough meaningful power.

 

[svmVR2097]

No, he would struggle with the likes of Rocky Fielding, let alone Canelo or Golovkin.

Yes he had wins over Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, but those guys were journeymen compared to the elite level today.

Stevenson until his last fight was elite level today at 175 and flat out ducked B Hop. Jones would’ve done fine. B Hop would’ve beat Canelo rather easily too in my opinion

 

[Absolut]

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[Mr2urbo]

Roy can fit into any genre because of his freakish physical attributes, speed, power and reflexes of a cat and just enough fight iq

The only ones that come to mind to give Roy problems are Ward and a 2001 Hopkins but he still beats them.

 

[Bronzehawkattack]

No, he would struggle with the likes of Rocky Fielding, let alone Canelo or Golovkin.

Yes he had wins over Bernard Hopkins and James Toney, but those guys were journeymen compared to the elite level today.

Nice b8 m8, I r8 it an 8/8.

 

[stuff jones]

I think he'd struggle a lot. It's hard to imagine how a guy with all time great speed, power and reflexes would cope with today's competition.

 

[UnicornNinjas]

I don't see a lot of guys giving him trouble in today's landscape; Golovkin and Canelo could potentially make good fights but IMO both are too small and stylistically they don't have what it takes to get past the physical advantages he has over pretty much every middleweight ever; everybody else at 160 (even Jacobs) gets spanked.

SMW isn't particularly stacked at the moment but I think the super 6 era would've given us some fun matchups. Him versus prime Ward and Dirrell would've been interesting as they're both fast guys with good ring IQ (ATG caliber in Ward's case), I imagine they'd have something for him and I could even see Ward taking a couple fights off of him in a 10 fight series.

LHW is in an interesting spot right now, lots of good talent at the top but they're all eastern bloc fighters and I think the soviet school is not equipped to deal with Jones's skillset. I can't imagine Bivol, Beterbiev or Gvozdyk giving him a ton of trouble. 2013-2016 Kovalev is a much taller order considering his punch, his length (he's got shorter reach overall but seemingly longer arms than the others) and his movement (fencer like, similar to Jones), but I think his gas tank and inability to fight on the inside will be his undoing. Of the four though he has the by far the best chance of chinning Roy when he's pulling straight back, his power jab/left cross is also pretty sneaky and I think it could catch Jones off guard since he works it well into combinations where he's pursuing guys.

 

[Absolut]

The question is could Roy beat bivol, beterbiev, Andrade or plant????

 

[Hagler]

He respects the hands of Billy Joe Sanders.

 

[stuff jones]

Slick Billy would make RJJ quit on his stool.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

How has boxing evolved since RJJs peak?

 

[KyleNakMuay]

In before Calzaghe loss gets mentioned

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

Roy can fit into any genre because of his freakish physical attributes, speed, power and reflexes of a cat and just enough fight iq

The only ones that come to mind to give Roy problems are Ward and a 2001 Hopkins but he still beats them.

yeah ward comes to mind as well but i think roy wins on points with activity & flashy but ineffective flurries

 

[Prefect]

Why is it hard for people to comprehend how good he was? He was without anything that resembled a peer for almost the entirety of his career. He clowned Toney and BHop. His chin wasn't bad until he went up to heavy and came back down.

 

[stuff jones]

Next thread for the TS: "Would Sugar Ray Leonard stand a chance against today's next level WWs?"

 

[ssx]

There isn’t a fighter in history 175 and under that would beat RJJ at his best.

 

[Athenry04]

Forest Griffin thinks he do just fine in any era.