Who would you pick to beat Roy Jones in his prime?

moosaev said:
I'm seeing a lot of Andre Ward responses. Everyone knows I love Ward,.....prime RJJ would knock Ward the fuck out.

The only ones that would beat RJJ would be the old timers. SRR would beat him at middleweight, probably by KO. Ezzard Charles & Jimmy Bivins would beat the shit out of him at SMW or LHW.
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Wards not getting knocked out.
 
Ward isn't a potent enough offenisve fighter to regularly get to Jones. He could give him a little trouble on the inside at times (but he's not a relentless pressure fighter, so he's not going to get into that position regularly enough to do a ton of damage), and his jab would keep Jones at least a little honest from the outside, but it's hard to see Jones Jr. not just potshotting him from the outside and winning a relatively comfortable decision (Ward has the durability, defensiveness ability, and caginess to not get stopped). If Ward was a better puncher his chances might increase as one of Jones Jr.'s few discernible weaknesses is that his durability is somewhat questionable, but Ward is far from a puncher. I might even give Kovalev a better chance of beating Jones Jr. than Ward due to the fact that Kovalev, while not being a pure pressure fighter, is more comfortable on the front foot and has real power in both hands, although, Kovalev would also have a much better chance at getting stopped in spectacular fashion.

One would think that the guys who would be the real threats to Jones would be guys who have legitimate KO power to go with size and serious boxing ability. Guys like Charles, Foster, and Moore who had size, serious boxing ability, and one shot power come to mind. Still, I'd have a hard time actively favouring them over Jones Jr. at his peak.

Two other interesting challenges who don't really fit into the last description would be Spinks and Qawi (Spinks sort of does, but his style is weird enough to have him separate, I think). Spinks is an interesting challenge with his strange style. His size, workrate, and power could have been pretty problematic for Jones. I'd give him a reasonable chance. Qawi's pressure game would have been interesting, as well, as Jones did show at times to be uncomfortable when he got backed up to the ropes and forced to fight on the inside.
 
Why do so many people pose mythical matchups with people who never even looked like being stopped, and say they would get knocked the fuck out. Like fuck is Roy invincible at lhw or mw.
 
PUO3 said:
Wards not getting knocked out.
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Yes he is. The problem Ward would have is facing an opponent thats not only physically more talented but also mentally more intuitive. Kovalev knocked Ward silly for 3 rounds and he wasn't half the athlete RJJ was. RJJ would knock Ward down then go at him with fresh angles like an avalanche. I love Ward but he ain't going the distance.
 
McCellan, Benn, Eubanks, and anyone else who is hard to put down and too stupid to not engage in a fire fight. Anyone that beats prime roy takes a beating and will look like a clown until he connects.
 
moosaev said:
Yes he is. The problem Ward would have is facing an opponent thats not only physically more talented but also mentally more intuitive. Kovalev knocked Ward silly for 3 rounds and he wasn't half the athlete RJJ was. RJJ would knock Ward down then go at him with fresh angles like an avalanche. I love Ward but he ain't going the distance.
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He got knocked down, got back up and pretty much shut Kovalev down lol. Youre wildly underrating how good Ward is.

The guy is elite everywhere the fight goes.
 
PUO3 said:
He got knocked down, got back up and pretty much shut Kovalev down lol. Youre wildly underrating how good Ward is.
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Yeah, he shut KOVALEV down. RJJ ain't Kovalev, THATS MY DAMN POINT. If he struggled early with Kovalev, he'd get slept by prime RJJ. Period.
 
moosaev said:
Yeah, he shut KOVALEV down. RJJ ain't Kovalev, THATS MY DAMN POINT. If he struggled early with Kovalev, he'd get slept by prime RJJ. Period.
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Roy didn’t win every fight by knockout, why is he going to knockout an undefeated champ who’s one of the best of his generation?
 
moosaev said:
Yeah, he shut KOVALEV down. RJJ ain't Kovalev, THATS MY DAMN POINT. If he struggled early with Kovalev, he'd get slept by prime RJJ. Period.
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Oh ok.

So then if RJJ struggled vs Tarver then Ward would maul him.

Thats the argument youre making.
 
The fact is, as incredible a talent and speciemn as RJJ was, outside of Toney, the best opposition he faced either gave him hell or beat him.

Ward would give him hell to say the very least.
 
PUO3 said:
Oh ok.

So then if RJJ struggled vs Tarver then Ward would maul him.

Thats the argument youre making.
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He fought Tarver after coming back down from HW. He was washed by the point. We're talking about a prime RJJ.
 
Sunfish said:
Roy didn’t win every fight by knockout, why is he going to knockout an undefeated champ who’s one of the best of his generation?
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Ultimately nobody knows what wouldve happened, so its a pointless exercise going back and forth on this. But in his prime Roy almost KO'd everyone even if a couple went the distance. Going off the eye test having watched both in their primes,...i just don't think Ward would've survived RJJ. And i'm a huge Andre Ward admirer. I actually rooted harder for Andre during his fights than i did for Roy.
 
moosaev said:
He fought Tarver after coming back down from HW. He was washed by the point. We're talking about a prime RJJ.
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He was 33 when he fought Tarver. Ward came up from 168. Guess how old Ward was when he fought Kovalev?

Literally identical situations.
 
PUO3 said:
He was 33 when he fought Tarver. Ward came up from 168. Guess how old Ward was when he fought Kovalev?

Literally identical situations.
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It literally isn't. RJJ had 49 fights when he fought Tarver. Ward only had 30 fights when he fought Kovalev. Being washed isn't only about age its about mileage and about what you're doing to your body.

Ward moved up in weight to face Kovalev (and not immediately). RJJ moved up THEN BACK DOWN to fight Tarver. That kills your body. RJJ was washed when he fought Tarver. You're way off man.
 
Same ages and moving weight classes isnt the same thing. Got it.

So washed that he just beat Ruiz. Got it.

If you want to play the mileage game then factor in ammateur fights and by 33 I believe Ward had more fights than RJJ.
 
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