Obviously Johnson because it was a sustained beating and KO, but it doesn't mean he beat RJJ at his best. Tarver beat RJJ closest to his prime. The KO ruined him.
Tarver KO'ed Roy w/1 Clean Punch, in the 2nd Round of their Fight...It DOESN'T Get More "Decisive" than that... REED:shit:
The KO ruined him? Seriously? You think one KO can ruin RJJ? What does that say about him? Duran got KO'd brutally by Hearns - didn't ruin him. Lewis got KO'd by McCall and by Rahman - didn't ruin him. Hearns got KO'd by Hagler - didn't ruin him. ODH got KO'd by Hopkins - didn't ruin him. Wlad got KO'd by Brewster and by Sanders - didn't ruin him. Which is it? Was RJJ ruined by Tarver? Was he ruined before he faced Tarver the first time? The second time? If RJJ were ruined by the time he faced Johnson, what version of him showed up against Calzaghe? Hopkins?
Perhaps I used the wrong term then. Or maybe it requires explanation. Who won the most rounds against RJJ, in % terms? Who shut RJJ down the most? Tarver landed one punch that ended the fight. Johnson out-boxed RJJ round after round before knocking him out brutally. Live with it. Johnson is RJJ's God father.
I disagree, ODH was never relevant again after that open handed slap of doom. It turned him into a pussy though. Everyone just sucks so badly they can't touch his chin.
clearly between johnson and tarver. not sure what the point is in bringing up hopkins and calzaghe is. might as well mention green's first round tko as well then. i'd have to say tarver though. jones came out in the rematch to prove something and he got knocked out by a single punch. g. johnson whupped his ass and knocked him out in a more brutal fashion, but jones was coming off a KO loss and looked as though he wasn't well prepared.
Jones was still at least seen as a force when Tarver laid him out Calzaghe shouldnt even be in this poll, thats a weak concession to his fanboys...
I think Jones would struggle with Johnson at any point. That was a one sided domination, not a 1 punch KO.
It was one thing to KO Jones. It was something else to stand in front of him and offer him free shots, make him miss, and basically paste the chap. Let's be clear here: Roy was damaged once he ruined his body by coming down from 200+ to fight Tarver. After the first Tarver fight, that rot was established and was permanent. After that it is a matter of choosing which you preferred: guys blasting Roy out, or a guy who beat Roy with handspeed and point-blank hands down defense.
Except he didn't - they beat fighters of that level but not of that particular style. Johnson was built to trouble Jones.
I agree with this 100%. Do you think Roy could have had more success at HW at the time after beating Ruiz? Instead of dropping the weight to get back to LHW.
I picked calzaghe, because Joe embarassed Roy. Playing mind games and clowning him the whole fight. IMO that hurt roy than any KO.
To beat Johnson, you need good footwork and hand speed. Prime Jones would have stopped him brutally, worse than Hopkins did.
Its not that Major. Roy is very arrogant. Did you hear him the whole fight yelling at Calzaghe to hit him? "Hit me bitch" "hit me" Calzaghe goes ahead and hits him. Then jones tries to relatiate and Calzaghe is on the other side of him clowning.
Interesting theory.....but roy still had good footwork and handspeed but couldn't win a minute of a round. Sometimes you see an old fogy lose a fight and you can see from the action, from glimpses that the old man shows & from the mesh of styles, that he would of wiped his ass with him earlier. Tarver or Calzaghe in Roy's case. Sometimes you see an older fighter get beat so decisively you know that guy would always have posed him allot of problems. Johnson = latter for Roy.
I think so too. I was somewhat bummed when Roy went back down. I felt there wasn't anything left to prove at LHW. I can't remember who the other ABC belt holders were at the time but I remember thinking he could beat most minus Wlad.
I disagree with the first part. He picked a former Cruiser, easily one of the least talented big men of living memory, and won a decision. I don't think he would have beaten very many of the bigger better men out there. I agree with the second part. Joe was clowning him, Roy would try to smile it off, but you could see it was killing him. His face would change as he walked back to his corner. He'd smile with Joe and then as he turned to go back to his corner his expression would change drastically.
He had lost it or was on the verge of losing it to Sanders. Vitali and Lewis were to go at it that June. I don't think Roy could have touched Wlad, Vitali, Lewis, Sanders, and probably wouldn't have done a lot with a still fresh Byrd. Oldyfield, on an off night, one of his many off nights, may have struggled with Roy, Toney would have whupped him but James was at 190 at the time, and, IMHO, would have been a harder fight than Ruiz. Jones timed that fight with Ruiz something beautiful.
Tarver would have always given Roy problems (though I doubt he would have KO'd him or even won a decision), not Glencoffe Johnson or Calzaghe:bangh: Roy offered NOTHING in that fight. NOTHING.
When Roy fought Johnson and Tarver, he was always in the fight, to some degree, then get got BAM, KOd Against Calzaghe, he spent 11 rounds having to deal with a guy who was making faces, wiggling his hips, dropping his hands, shining Roy with fast hurtful combos, cutting Roy wide open over the eye, just 11 rounds of plain embarrassment. You could see Roy was trying to laugh it off. How often have you heard Roy say to Merkerson, "Im trying to get him but I just can't get him"
RJJ most certainly was NOT "always" in the fight with Johnson. He lost nearly every round before getting KO'd. And by the time he was KO'd it was clear he could not win the fight.