i remember the bout was discussed right after hopkins beat carl daniels and possible fight w/ jones at the time went out the window. i think hopkins would've fucked him up then. d mich had all he could handle from richard hall and ended up losing to julio gonzalez. even if this fight happened in the late 90s, hopkins still would've won, but not sure if he would've won convincingly enough in germany to get the W.
I dunno if Hopkins beats the DM that beat Virgil Hill. And if he does, it wouldnt be easy. DM was 2 light years better than Pavlik.
calzaghe should've gone to germany and fought d-mich especially right after he beat that bum veit in germany. EDIT - actually, nevermind. d-mich had already lost to gonzalez by then.
You fucking motherfuckers........I just knew it, I knew it, I fucking knew it, you cocksuckers couldn't wait to crack open the big one. Hopkins loses, oh how he loses. The fuck is Hopkins rep based on at 175???? Beating Tarver? Or drawing with a guy like Paschal, son of Froch? I can see DM lose to a prime Jones, or any of the wonderful class of 1975 to 1985.......or Archie Moore or Bob Foster...but please....Hopkins?
In retrospect, when you consider the success Johnson had fighting RJJ at mid-to-close-distance, with a short jab, and a fast ryhthm, it really does make you wonder if DM couldn't have had success against RJJ. To me, Hopkins' style, of counter-punching and stinking it up on the inside would actually be more advantageous against DM than RJJ's style would've been. I really do think that Johnson doesn't get enough credit for his win over Jones, since Jones had just lost to Tarver. But the fact is, Johnson was the first guy to dominate, not just knock out RJJ. He managed to win round after round against RJJ before knocking him out. Tarver's win months earlier came by way of a single punch and had little to do with game-plan, style or strategy. Johnson's success was due entirely to strategy, game-plan, execution, endurance and durability.
Roy was standing in front of Johnson all night just absorbing hit after hit. He was shot in that fight. You're acting as if he never dealt with brawlers before:tick:
Brawlers don't consistently move their heads, throw a short jab and go to the body consistently. RJJ was not shot. He wasn't at his best, but he was wielding the same weapons he had against the likes of Hall and Harding. The biggest missing component from RJJ at that point was his air of invincibility. Johnson was inspired, hopeful and motivated, unlike 90% of the guys RJJ had faced in the past five years.
So you're not going to credit Johnson with any of RJJ's inability to move around the ring? Name another fight of RJJ's prior to the Johnson fight in which an opponent, "hung in there" the way Johnson did. Johnson threw his short jab, got close, cut off the ring, braced himself for AND absorbed plenty of incoming, in order to to land his own, to control the pace, and to ultimately win the fight. Johnson is a smart fighter, with a great trainer. He completely figured RJJ out - moreso than Tarver and even Calzaghe or Hopkins did. Unlike the crew of mediocre light heavies that RJJ had faced prior to Tarver, Johnson was willing to take the incoming and was not spooked by it. He was determined, inspired, confident and durable. Nobodies controlled the space against RJJ the way Johnson did.
DM is a much better fighter than Glen Johnson could ever have hoped to be. I don't think Roy was the night of the Johnson fight, but he was certainly on the way to being shot.
Let's hear your case as to why DM was a "much" better figher than Johnson? Additionally, can you clarify your final statement? It sounds like you're claiming RJ was not shot when he faced Johnson, but it's a little bit ambiguous. I'd also like to know who you felt beat RJJ more comprehensively, Johnson or Calzaghe?
The notion of DM losing or even being in close fights with Clinton Woods, Sven Ottke, is just preposterous. DM was a 6'1" genuine 175lb guy, he wouldn't have been in the least intimidated by Hopkins.
Yeah Roy was just standing there not trying....that was the dynamic of that fight. You pretty much dunno what you're watching.
Roy Jones was very clearly DONE when he fought Johnson, I dont know how anyone could say otherwise with a straight face
I don't think he was done. I think Tarver KO just scared the fight out of him. Tarver took his soul. To me round 5 of Tarver/Roy 3 proves that Roy wasn't as shot as everybody claims. I think physically he was still very capable but mentally he was DONE.
Roy Jones looked different to me the first time he fought Tarver, the signs of decline were already evident in that fight, never mind all the fights after it
Roy was 35 when he and Johnson fought. He and DM would have fought when he was under 30. Jones in a whitewash.
Jones would have won a clear, competitive decision when they were both in their primes. The notion that Hopkins, who does not enjoy any physical advantages over DM, does the same, is hilarious. DM, as I stated, was a big 175lbr, who, a la Hatton, perhaps did not lead the best of lives. In his prime, and when he was keyed in, he was a remorseless fighter with a great jab, a very adept pressure fighter. Once again, the demise of a fighter that many people either didn't know, or didn't like, has been translated into his not being good at all. It's a recurring trend in modern boxing.
Yes he was shot or nearly shot. But the style dynamic was still obvious to see, in a way it wasn't obvious in the Tarver, Jones or Hopkins fights. Johnson was tailor made to trouble Jones.
Agreed. His balance and ability to pull the trigger had already gone to shit by the first Tarver fight, you could see the decline.
