Axum Ezana
Driving in the fast lane
u think holy would beat him? plus I heard he was posed to fight Tyson but something happened?
SO why wasn't roy jones jr a bigger p4p star?
- Thread starter Axum Ezana
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u think holy would beat him? plus I heard he was posed to fight Tyson but something happened?
Knicksman20
Superstar
At that time Holy might've beat him just off being the bigger man. It's also RJ could've boxed circles around him too but I'd lean towards Holyfield.
With the Tyson fight I think Mike just didn't want it. He had one foot out of boxing at that time too. I remember reading back in the day when they were trying to work that fight out Roy saying dealing with Tyson on the negotiations side wasn't bad at all.
He would have beat Holyfield as well as Chris Bryd; off tape Lennox would have had to be on his absolute A game to beat the roy that fought Ruiz; just dont understand moving down for Tarver
He was on the cusp of all that post-Ruiz had he stayed @ Heavy...everything was lined up perfectly for him to crossover...was finally in a division filled with PPV stars and fighters that had mainstream name recognition, and most of those fights were extremely winnable...and the sports media hype he was getting after the Ruiz fight was at a fever pitch...he threw his ticket to superstardom and potentially 100's of millions of dollars away to move down two weight classes to fight some nikka named Antonio Tarver 
Dumbest business/professional decision in boxing history, bar none.
But during the 90's, all the guys he fought, and even alot of the "elite" fighters that he missed, like DM, Benn, Eubank, Collins, Nunn, McClellan etc....as good/great as some of these dudes were...they didn't have any sort of mainstream notoriety with casual boxing/sports fans...stars are created in boxing via fights/rivalries with other stars...unless you fought in the Heavyweight division from the 90's on back.
Dumbest business/professional decision in boxing history, bar none.
But during the 90's, all the guys he fought, and even alot of the "elite" fighters that he missed, like DM, Benn, Eubank, Collins, Nunn, McClellan etc....as good/great as some of these dudes were...they didn't have any sort of mainstream notoriety with casual boxing/sports fans...stars are created in boxing via fights/rivalries with other stars...unless you fought in the Heavyweight division from the 90's on back.
Roy woulda definitely beat the 03/04 version of Holy...don't even think the shyt woulda been competitive.
That Florida pride is what destroyed Roy.
He just had to fight Tarver.
I remember being at the Source awards in 2003 in Miami, and when Roy and Tyson were on stage and their potential fight was brought up, the audience went crazy. That was the fight that was going to take Roy to a new plateau. It never came through and ya'll know the rest of the story.
Credit to Tarver for always crashing Roy's press conferences and constantly talking shyt in videos and interviews. Real talk, Florida nikkas will down right piss you the fukk off. Them nikkas got the biggest mouths and when they talk shyt and crack jokes its over. They never stop. I can understand why Roy fought Tarver tho. That shyt talking just finally got to him. Hell, around that time I was a big Roy fan and by then Tarver even convinced me he was being ducked (He had to fight 2 eliminators and shyt, Roy sending letters to the belt organizations to prolong shyt.) A lot of that shyt was chronicled on Boxingtalk at the time.
Tarver made it his whole life existence to beat Roy Jones Jr. He got that work as a kid and made it his life goal to get revenge. That takes some resolve, especially when you consider all of the obstacles hes faced (crackhead, Harding breaking your jaw, etc...)
Roy would have beaten a lot of the top Heavies too if he had stayed, thats the fukked up part. He'd outtalent Byrd in a decent decision type of fight. Outbox Toney again and make Holy look slow as fukk.
Ditto for Rahman. He only needed a couple of fights. Didnt even have to clean out the top ten or anything. shyt''s crazy
Lesson in all of this is, you gotta know your trajectory in life and stick to it. Don't allow others to force their dreams onto your path because one misstep can and will throw off everything you worked so hard to achieve.
He just had to fight Tarver.
I remember being at the Source awards in 2003 in Miami, and when Roy and Tyson were on stage and their potential fight was brought up, the audience went crazy. That was the fight that was going to take Roy to a new plateau. It never came through and ya'll know the rest of the story.
Credit to Tarver for always crashing Roy's press conferences and constantly talking shyt in videos and interviews. Real talk, Florida nikkas will down right piss you the fukk off. Them nikkas got the biggest mouths and when they talk shyt and crack jokes its over. They never stop. I can understand why Roy fought Tarver tho. That shyt talking just finally got to him. Hell, around that time I was a big Roy fan and by then Tarver even convinced me he was being ducked (He had to fight 2 eliminators and shyt, Roy sending letters to the belt organizations to prolong shyt.) A lot of that shyt was chronicled on Boxingtalk at the time.
Tarver made it his whole life existence to beat Roy Jones Jr. He got that work as a kid and made it his life goal to get revenge. That takes some resolve, especially when you consider all of the obstacles hes faced (crackhead, Harding breaking your jaw, etc...)
Roy would have beaten a lot of the top Heavies too if he had stayed, thats the fukked up part. He'd outtalent Byrd in a decent decision type of fight. Outbox Toney again and make Holy look slow as fukk.
Ditto for Rahman. He only needed a couple of fights. Didnt even have to clean out the top ten or anything. shyt''s crazy
Lesson in all of this is, you gotta know your trajectory in life and stick to it. Don't allow others to force their dreams onto your path because one misstep can and will throw off everything you worked so hard to achieve.
Best answer in the thread.That Florida pride is what destroyed Roy.
He just had to fight Tarver.
I remember being at the Source awards in 2003 in Miami, and when Roy and Tyson were on stage and their potential fight was brought up, the audience went crazy. That was the fight that was going to take Roy to a new plateau. It never came through and ya'll know the rest of the story.
Credit to Tarver for always crashing Roy's press conferences and constantly talking shyt in videos and interviews. Real talk, Florida nikkas will down right piss you the fukk off. Them nikkas got the biggest mouths and when they talk shyt and crack jokes its over. They never stop. I can understand why Roy fought Tarver tho. That shyt talking just finally got to him. Hell, around that time I was a big Roy fan and by then Tarver even convinced me he was being ducked (He had to fight 2 eliminators and shyt, Roy sending letters to the belt organizations to prolong shyt.) A lot of that shyt was chronicled on Boxingtalk at the time.
Tarver made it his whole life existence to beat Roy Jones Jr. He got that work as a kid and made it his life goal to get revenge. That takes some resolve, especially when you consider all of the obstacles hes faced (crackhead, Harding breaking your jaw, etc...)
Roy would have beaten a lot of the top Heavies too if he had stayed, thats the fukked up part. He'd outtalent Byrd in a decent decision type of fight. Outbox Toney again and make Holy look slow as fukk.
Ditto for Rahman. He only needed a couple of fights. Didnt even have to clean out the top ten or anything. shyt''s crazy
Lesson in all of this is, you gotta know your trajectory in life and stick to it. Don't allow others to force their dreams onto your path because one misstep can and will throw off everything you worked so hard to achieve.
'Pride goeth before the fall'.
Knicksman20
Superstar
I don't know. Holy was faded but stylistically he could've been a major problem for RJ. Would've tried to use his natural size & rough house tactics. I know some of you are looking at the JT fight for Holy but an old Holyfield was all wrong for a fighter like JT. JT thrived in fights like that where he didn't have to chase you down & you tried to maul him.
but Holyfield lost to Chris Byrd though...
Exactly, people always forget about that fight. I've watched it several times over the years. I got it on a vhs with Mayweather/Castillo 2. King gave LL a mil and a range rover I believe to drop the IBF belt.
Bryd outboxed him badly for like 9 or 10 rds of that fight. Even hurt him badly with a body shot that sent him into the ropes. The championship rounds were the best rounds because thats' when Holy really dug deep and went at it. Kinda gave you a glimpse of what a younger Holy would have looked like against a prime Bryd and even then that's a hard fight.
Bryd >>>Moorer if we talking southpaw skills and chin.
Roy would have definitely beat Holy but he would have prolly buzzed and hurt Holy more with those single shots. He just wouldn't stand in front of him as much as Bryd and Toney did, but their defense was elite tho. Roy moreso had elite footwork and reflexes. He didn't have to stand in front of you for extended stretches.
Scottie Drippin
Should Never Mention Me
Holyfield/RJJ would have looked exactly like those nondescript LHW fights I talked about. Holyfield wouldn't have touched him.
There was a host of gimme fights at HW for Roy (Toney, Byrd, Tyson, Holyfield). As long as Roy stayed away from the proper giants in the division he wouldn't have had any trouble. And then shyt, after those four fights, go ahead and roll the dice against a Klitchsko or if Lennox is still around. BUT that's what makes Roy not staying at heavyweight so unbelievable. He had FOUR big fights with people his damn size.
There was a host of gimme fights at HW for Roy (Toney, Byrd, Tyson, Holyfield). As long as Roy stayed away from the proper giants in the division he wouldn't have had any trouble. And then shyt, after those four fights, go ahead and roll the dice against a Klitchsko or if Lennox is still around. BUT that's what makes Roy not staying at heavyweight so unbelievable. He had FOUR big fights with people his damn size.
Knicksman20
Superstar
True but Byrd was a slick southpaw closer to his prime (maybe at the tail end of it) when he fought Holyfield. I think he was just coming off of dominating Tua too. Also Holyfield would've been juiced out to the max coming in to right RJ.
Holy at that stage wasn't beating any quick fighter. Bryd, Toney, and Roy were the quickest boxers at that time at Heavy. Roy wasn't as defensively slick as those Michigan nikkas, but he didnt have to be. He'd just pot shot dude to death and move away whenever dude got close. It'd look like the Ruiz fight. Roy's footwork would be like nothing Evander has ever experienced.
Holyfield's last good performance was against Rahman. It was downhill from there tho. Plus from what I can remember Holy's shoulder wasnt at its best going into those Bryd and Toney fights.
Hell, shortly after them fights, a past it ass Larry Donald was able to outbox and use struggle footwork to out manuever Holy into a lop-sided decision.
Roy left easy money on the table with that fight.
Holyfield's last good performance was against Rahman. It was downhill from there tho. Plus from what I can remember Holy's shoulder wasnt at its best going into those Bryd and Toney fights.
Hell, shortly after them fights, a past it ass Larry Donald was able to outbox and use struggle footwork to out manuever Holy into a lop-sided decision.
Roy left easy money on the table with that fight.
That Holyfield-Donald fight hurt to watch...that was the fight that convinced me that he was on that slide
It took you all the way up until the Donald fight to convince you Holy was on the slide?
