I mean it would be a great addition to his career. Another weightclass where he became world champion. Did he avoid cruiser cuz of his shaky chin? Sure he fought Ruiz at heavyweight but that's a case where the reward outweighed the risk and he took a chance. Did he avoid the cruiser champs cuz he didn't wanna push his luck?
dsimon writes: I think he did. The cruiser division has always been a puncher's division and especially when the heavyweight division is weak it makes sense to avoid this weight class and go directly to the big boys.
i think so too. Roid went up to heavy to fight Ruiz specifically, since Ruiz doesn't throw a lot of punches, isn't awfully fast or skilled. Roid figured he could outclass him by speed alone (which he did) now if he fought cruisers he would be fighting guys who are a lot closer to his speed than ruiz was plus guys who throw a lot more punches and guys who probablly even hit as hard as ruiz
Probably because Roy never fought for his legacy, he fought for money. Had he fought for his legacy he might have tried harder to fight guys like Mikalszewski, Calzaghe or like it's being asked, gone to Crusierweight and picked up a title there. The Hopkins failed negotiation is the perfect example where money was more important than the fight itself when it came to Roy. I don't think his chin had anything to do with it. In fact Roy's chin used to be very good. I saw him take flush shots from Griffin and even Ruiz without budgeing. I know Griffin's no big puncher but Ruiz hit Roy with a very good shot and he took it surprisingly well. I don't know if his chin got worse over time or what but it always used to be pretty good.
I think people would've given him a lot more credit for beating Jirov, rather than accuse of him of scouting out and seeking an easy title pickup against Ruiz. Not saying I believe the latter to be true, mind you. But at the time, Jirov was the best cruiserweight, and Ruiz was basically boxing's version of a cockroach (though the latter never changed). I realize that the pot wasn't big enough to entice Roy to fight Jirov. But still, he could've made it one-and-done. He probably could've gotten away with weighing in the mid 180's for the Jirov fight, then decide whether or not he wanted to move back down, stay put, or add a few more lb. and move up to heavyweight. Instead, he chased heavyweight dollars, tried to stick around for one more fight, improperly shed the weight prior to the first Tarver fight... and we know the rest. Hell, had he beaten Jirov (and I believe he would've), he could've rematched Toney at cruiser, a fight for which HBO would've most likely paid a handsome ransom. But it's boxing, where most will step over a $20 bill to pick up a quarter.
well, Toney-Jirov was big enough to where HBO was interested. Had Roy beaten Jirov, Toney would've been his mandatory. If the choice was Roy-Toney II, Roy-Woods or even Roy-Tarver, I think HBO would've put up the money to make it happen. And keep in mind, Toney would've been forced to accept short money to make the fight happen. I don't know what he got for the Jirov fight, but it was a Boxing After Dark telecast, where the budget is nowhere near what WCB and PPV main events pay.
I don't think Jirov was an especial threat, He just didn't bring the money or kudos. RJ's solo trip to HW brought both, and the risk was manageable. I think that verision of Roy could have beaten Jirov clearly and collected another weight division bauble...but he didn't, he took Woods instead. A great fighter, but too many match-ups that for whatever reasons didnt come off, you have to think his complacency and greed had something to do with it.
A better thread to open is... why did Golota never win a big fight in his life? Or better yet.... why did DM make a career off of fighting Roy's leftovers, and why did he shamefully hide in Germany?
True... I'm just pointing out that Jirov was the fight that put Toney on the map. If I remember right, all Toney had done leading up to that fight was KO a fellow named Robinson on FSN with a beauty of a hook. Considering the result of their first fight, and the fact that Toney would not have had that Jirov fight to re-establish himself, I see that fight as another Roy fight that fans would have bitched about. It would have been a letdown.
Sorry, I missed your point about taking the Toney fight over Tarver or Woods. That's fair. Tarver had at least stopped Eric Harding the year prior. Until he beat Jirov, there were a TON of questions surrounding Toney and his dedication and his all-around ability as a top fighter at that point.
You and I both know it wouldn't made a bit of difference That's what we need, another excuse for Toney about weight.
Personally I thought Roy wanted no part of a Toney rematch. Toney was calling Roy out all the time back then. I also think Roy wanted no part of the body snatching Jirov even though he liked to talk the part. It was all no risk taking for RJJ. Sure he took on a HW, but he took on the easiest HW he could find and honestly he really thought Ruiz wouldn't accept his financial demands which were so outrageous it would have made a KO loss worth it.
Michalczewski at some point of his reign stopped facing the top guys. That doesnt take away from his unification win, the win against Griffin, and Rocky..of those career best wins, two of those guys werent leftovers. He sold out venues, was a huge fan favorite, its hardly hiding out shamefully from that viewpoint.
No one was calling for a Roy/Toney rematch back then. I don't care if James was calling him out. :: I could call him out too.
Yeah. I'm sure he wanted no parts of a guy that he beat the crap outta for 12 straight rounds when both were in thier primes.
