All throughout his boxing career roid avoided real challanges and real risks, it was clear why. He didn't want to end up like his friend gerald mccallen. So he fights safety first against mostly non punchers and guys he knows can't touch him and then one day runs into cruckdud and gets stretched the fuck out. Roy's ego doesn't let him hang it up and writes it off as a fluke and since it was only one good punch then no way that damages him in long term like it did gerarld. So he fights Glen Johnson. Roy gets battered and streched the fuck out AGAIN. So now he must be thinking about his health right? i mean he was so worried about it when he was fighting bums and not even getting touched so why not worry about it now when there is actual legit reason to be worried? Plus dude is getting up there in age, he's getting slower easier to hit. Is it his ego? Does he really think he could have done better against Glen oR crackdud?
Roy did beat Tarver the first time, so yeah he DID better. I have no doubt that had Roy fought Glen Johnson before the second Tarver fight he would have won handily. He just had no failth in himself at that point.
roy didn't beat tarver i felt tarver won that fight but if you think roid won don't say he beat tarver rephrase it to something like roid narrowly outpointed tarver
Indeed. Roy was always a smart business man, always his own boss. I didn´t like his career from a competitive perspective, but there is no denying he maximized his profits in boxing, I never thought he´d be the one to hang around too long. Somebody said there were rumours he lost a lot of money in the music industry. Who knows. :dunno:
I think when it comes down to it, he realizes that the tail end of his career isn't his best body of work and wants to end on a somewhat high note. Maybe before he was worried about looking great, making lots of money etc, but now I think it is ego and legacy which is nipping at his heels.
Which means he won the damn fight. Only in boxing do cats make stupid ass statements like this. When a cat who runs track wins by a photo finish they say so and so who won by photo finish won the race. They don't say rephrase shit. They give the winner his due. I'll Holla 5000
:bears: :bears: Great thread. I've like wise asked this same question because as much as Roy would always hint at retiring early and use Gerald as his reasoning he's now fallen into a Holyfield like rut of trying to reclaim his glory days. He really must have lost a lot of money somewhere because I can't imagine his ego getting this out of control. On second thought, yeah, I can.
This is the thing with the majority of athletes. It doesn't have much to do with ego. It's just that when you have been doing something for such a long period of time/the majority of your life it's hard to realize that the end is near and you really want to hang on. Not to mention they really don't know nothing else. We see this in all sports. Hell take basketball. We had Jordan hanging when he should have stayed retired. Now you have Reggie Miller talking about making a comeback. You had Jerry Rice, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, and hella other football players trying to hang on. Athletes in general have a tough time closing the athletic chapters of their lives. I'll Holla 5000
Personally, with team sports I don't have any problem with a former great hanging around. If Michael Jordan could still be a bench warmer, more power to him. Boxing is different. Lots of potential to to get hurt if you've slipped, but the libertarian in mE wins out and if they can pass the physical, more power to them. As far as Roy goes, it's not even close. I thought Roy might be completely broken after the Johnson fight and Tarver3 wasn't exactly great proof he wasn't. But he's gotten an okay win vs ajamu and a very decent win against Hanshaw since then. Roy is only 38 and imo (now) has a lot left. We'll see.
Maybe the problem is your premise... You say Roy Avoided challenges... The record shows he took chances every time he stepped in the ring. Any one of those fighters he faced could have given him the gerald McClellan treatment (not to make light of Gerald.) but he faced them anyway. There are no "sure things" in boxing. One wrong move and that's your life. If he wasn't one to take a chance, He wouldn't have taken the third Tarver (or 'crack-dud" as you put it) fight. Tarver put him on queer street but good. Who did he not take a chance against? Eric Harding was supposed to be a "non puncher" as you put it, but in the fight before Jones, he had just broken Antonio Tarver's ribs and his Jaw. Sounds like he hit pretty hard to me. He fought John Ruiz. Ruiz was big and he had just had Evander Holyfield on queer street to win the belt he had. Holyfield has always had a good chin. Roy took a chance there. Richard Hall was a good puncher. It's not Roy's fault he wasn't close to his level. I could go on, but I won't. I still say your premise is wrong.
It is still hard for me to believe that Antonio Tarver beat Jones at least 2 outta 3 times. And then Bernard flat out dominates him a couple years later.:eeeek: The two guys that Jones has beaten since the 3rd Tarver fight were handpicked opponents....obviously. And the only reason he is going to fight Trinidad is because Roy looks at it like this----- Much smaller guy + has trouble with speed and movement + HUGE boxing draw = More reward than risk. Simple as that.
I agree with you about basketball. Old players can be hidden. However in football that not the case. But my point is that when athletes get old no matter what sport they play it is hard for them to walk away from the sport that they've been playing their whole enitre life. That's why athletes hang on longer then what they need to. I'll Holla 5000
I also imagine the top guys become addicted to the glory. You probably always want another taste of people chanting your name.
The premise was 'real' challenges, not 'challenges.' Roy detractors can point to the excellent British challengers, Liles, etc...and the old-and extremely valid (imo) standby--Dariusz. I'm not saying there isn't another side (Ruiz fight is good ammo), but calling Harding a puncher? Anyway, I think you replied out of context, but I also think your reply would be pretty much the same so it doesn't really matter. If I'm wrong, mY bad.
It's hard for mE to believe it, too, and I thought Tarver won all 3. And it's why I thought Tarver would handle Hopkins pretty easily. Hanshaw is a very, very good fighter. Smaller, not a big puncher...so handpicked I can't disagree with, but not a no-hoper. And I agree about the Tito fight. Hell, I'd pick Hanshaw over Tito if they were fighting.
Tarver is shot himself. He´s 39 years old. He couldn´t even KO Elvir Muriqi for christ´s sake. Danny Santiago, the worst world title challenger in light-heavyweight history knocked him out. Tarver left his legs in the ring, when he outworked Glen Johnson in the rematch. Hanshaw is not a very very good fighter, because very very good fighters don´t lose to this version of Roy Jones. There aren´t that many very, very good fighters at 175 right now. No matter how you define it, a maximum of 5-6, and Hanshaw ain´t one of them.
