Roy Jones Jr. Was his chin always suspect?

I have been a fan of RJ for many years and still think he is the most gifted Athlete to ever lace the gloves up. At his peak he seemed unbeatable, but what about his chin? Underneath all that armor was there always a weak chin lurking waiting to be exposed? This puts a twist to many mythical match ups from before. RJ has always been heavily favored because of his gifts, but weak punch resistance can back fire on you at any point including against the past greats!

 

No. The Tarver KO would have put out a lot of light heavyweights and he still got up. The Johnson KO ruined him and was not even a shot to the chin, but was to the same spot where he hit his head on the canvas in the Tarver fight.

 

I see your point but remember This, Lou Del Valle put RJ on his ass too. Anyone can be dropped in a fight but it really puts in serious question weather RJ always had a suspect chin.

 

Very had to rate considering the way his career went. Now he seems to get hurt by virtually anything that lands. It's sad.

No way to know exacty how good a guy's chin is when they rarely get caught flush, but obviously his beard was never made of granite.

 

Good point. Problem here is RJ reflexes in his prime evaded many shots so its hard to determine how good his chin was. One thing is for sure, he never had a granite chin.

 

For ONE instance? Give me a break. Roy would have been stopped a lot earlier if he had a bad chin.

James Toney hit him with a hellacious punch and Roy just glared at him. John Ruiz caught him too.

 

While NEVER LaMottaESQUE, Roy's Punch Resistance WASN'T as Weak as it Appears to B Today...Guys like to Cling to the Premise that 'Roy NEVER Got HIT'...Well, if that's the Case, What U're REALLY Saying is that Roy Jones is the Greatest Defensive Fighter EVER, Since it Took 15-16 YEARS Before his 'Suspect Chin' was Exposed...

In REALITY, Roy Jones WAS Hit w/Single Shots Here & There, w/ZERO Effect....

Thomas Tate BUMRUSHED Roy & Landed a Shot or 2, Before Getting STRETCHED...James Toney Landed a FLUSH Counter or 2, as Roy was LEAPING IN w/Left Hooks...Merqui Sosa (Noted as RING Magazine's "Hardest Punching Lightheavyweight" of 1995) Forced Roy into a DOGFIGHT, Landing his Fair Share of Shots...Montell Griffin Actually ROCKED MichalSHITski w/Some Shots...He was TAGGING Roy w/More Frequency than we'd EVER Seen Up to that Point, Early in their Fight...Yet Roy NEVER Appeared to B the Least Bit Hurt...

Lou Del Valle DROPPED Roy w/a Shot HIGH to the Head, which Glen Johnson AND Danny Green Also Exploited, Later in Roy's Career...But Against Del Valle, Back in '98, Roy Got Up, Weathered Del Valle's Initial Rush, then was BACK IN CONTROL of Things Before the End of the Round...Roy Won Every Single Round BEFORE the Knockdown & Every Single Round AFTER the Knockdown...Guys like Brannon, Telesco & Others Hit Roy HIGH on the Head Too...John Ruiz was @ LEAST 30lbs HEAVIER than Roy, Landed a FLUSH Hook Seconds Into the Fight (While Roy was Backed Against the Ropes), yet NATHAN Happened...Ruiz even Slightly STAGGERED Roy w/a Right HIGH TO THE HEAD, to Which Roy Responded w/a BOLO Right Hand of his Own...

Again, Roy was NEVER Jake LaMotta, but he WAS Hit w/Enough Shots, During his 15-16 Years of Pure, Unadulterated GREATNESS, to Illustrate that he WASN'T Chinny Either...This ISN'T Amir Khan, Junior Jones, Augie Sanchez or Terry Norris we're Talking about Here...



REED

 

Yeah I remember Toney landing that crazy spinning shot on Roy which he didn't see coming and it caught RJJ FERRRLUSSHHH. Didn't even flinch.

 

Big parts of being able to take a shot are the psychological factor and the ability to see the punch. Early in his career Jones was caught sometimes, but hardly ever got caught blind. Also, his confidence was miles high. These both shattered in the first Tarver fight and that lead to his downfall.

So while Jones clearly was not invincible even in his prime, he also took shots better back then. I don't think Danny Green for example would have chopped prime Jones down that quickly, even if he somehow had managed to hit him

 

Lack of confidence/being gunshy would allow him to be hit more, surely. That doesn't meant that a lack of confidence would physically cause him to be KTFO more easily.

 

No but if a fighter doesn't have a confidence, getting hit with punches will cause them to fold much easier than.

 

It has nothing to do with being OUT COLD though. Absolutely nothing.

 

Good post! :bears:

 

It seems to happen though: when Lennox wasn't concentrated in hi's fights, he got hurt more easily, same happened to Calzaghe for example. Also I believe the way fighter gets 'ruined' after a bad KO is as much mental as it is physical. Fighter's physique doesn't necessarily change between such fights

 

Being in shape can increase the fighter's ability to take punishment as well, but the actual physiological act of being knocked out is due to brain damage.

 

Did you skip the rapture??

 

::wtf?

 

No, I believe his chin was just fine... Roy Jones got hit in his career... he got hit with enough solid shots that if he had been as chinny as the Tarver/Johnson/Subsequent matches had suggested, he would have been knocked out LONG before

I do not buy into this Double L-esque theory

 

Guys that Say "Roy Never Got Hit" SEVERLY UNDERESTIMATE just how DIFFICULT it Is to Go 12 x 3 Minute Rounds WITHOUT Taking SOME Shots...



REED

 

agREED

Pernell, Locche, Pep, Harold Johnson, Floyd... these dudes got hit and so did Roy

 

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I would love to hear that Theory ::

BTW where the hell is Double L ?

 

Double L believes that Glen Johnson did something amazing that no one had ever tried before to beat Jones and that the guy he tried it on was the same Roy Jones that made boxing look pathetically easy in his prime

clearly, this is an insane viewpoint

 

I do think that Roy (post Ruiz) suffered greatly...

I personally think he juiced up to be a hw, did a fantastic job, but then came back down, losing weight when he was already lean and it hurt him badly


I think prior to Ruiz, he did "rarely" take shots and took them very well

 

I think the Muscle he had to burn Greatly effected him. You can see it against the first fight with Tarver. He looked spent. He was never the same.

 

Roy's chin has never been suspect at any time, even now. We know he had a solid chin in the past, and we know he has a fine china chin now.

 

Yes. amazing talent, but not a great chin. Norton level maybe.

 

I dont think his chin was shaky all the way through, but his actual rep as a fighter provides me with endless mirth. Hilariously over-rated in so many quarters.

 

By all means share who you think would beat him prime P4P?

 

Splendid word! :giggle:

i use it all the time myself.

In any event, Jones was virtually flawless, if he ever had a weakness it was his chin...but he never showed this deficiency until post Ruiz.

I agree with REED's point. Even if you're as elusive as Roy was, you can't go 12 rounds without getting hit with some hard shots. He was obviously not the china chin that his latter career seems to suggest.

 

I don't quite see it in those terms, but I will indulge you with some names after I explain the way I do see it.

Now, I routinely see Jones' name bandied about as, "most athletic ever," "virtually flawless," (in this very thread, in fact!), & even, wait for it..."maybe the best fighter of all-time!" Yes, I've heard that contention.

Then I look at his peak years. Let's say, between Toney & Kelly, so roughly 94-02. The list of names during that period, & while I do not disrespect them, I just think there are damn well dozens upon dozens of all-time greats who would look every inch as dominant as Jones would with these guys. From the descriptions of him, I should think his victim list had 168-175lb. versions of Duran, Foreman, Ali, Leonard, Armstrong & Pep on them...instead, I find names like Harding, Telesco, Hill, Gonzalez, Griffin & Del Valle.

When I look at the resumes of fighters like Ezz Charles, or Muhammad Ali, or Hank Armstrong --- I see guys who not only looked great beating a mixed crop (as Jones made a career of doing), but who fought & bested rivals who were literally light-years ahead of Jones' competition. Does he really deserve such praise ahead of these guys? What would Archie Moore have done with the names I mentioned? What would so many others have done? Would they have looked any less brilliant? I don't doubt for one second they'd look just as hot, yet they also defeated so much better men than Jones ever did. If that isn't over-rated, I don't know what is.

Oh, & pound-for-pound? I'll give you ten names in history off the absolute top of my head, nothing more than a cursory glance at better men who would beat Jones (or be no worse than 50-50 with the man), were they prime at the same size...

Roberto Duran
Ezzard Charles
Muhammad Ali
Sandy Saddler
Henry Armstrong
Pernell Whitaker
Floyd Mayweather
Thomas Hearns
Ray Leonard
Ray Robinson

Every single man on that list out-shines Jones for achievements, too (excepting possibly Mayweather, who has dropped off heavily in this regard during recent years), yet none outside of Robinson & perhaps Armstrong are ever described as being, "flawless," or, "IMO, the best fighter ever, period," as Jones is. I didn't pause for one moment to come up with a name in jotting them out, incidentally.

Jones is the best Super-Middle ever head-to-head, at least. No question on that --- & I will say there were few fighters in recent memory more dazzling, yes, from an athletic standpoint. That's as far as it goes. Place him in Charles' day, when he's fighting month-to-month, with minimal preparation, & watch the losses mount in jaw-droppingly steady fashion.