That split decision was ridiculous. What was that one judge smoking?

 

 

I can see someone scoring it a draw or having Oscar ahead by a point or two. It's not that ridiculous. I had Oscar winning rounds 2,3 5,6,7 and 8, but I just knew Floyd was going to dominate the later rounds. You could tell he was playing possum with Oscar.

Flurries of blocked punches do not equate to round victories.

 

 

He was landing some of those flurries though, especially to the body. Mayweather was simply playing defense in those rounds,which is why you have to give them to Oscar.

Overall, I was underwhelmed. I wouldn't say this was a stellar performance by either fighter, and I definitely would not call Floyd a top 5 fighter of all time, nor would I say this was a virtuoso performance. Oscar had a terrible strategy and abandoned the jab way too much. Floyd's lack of power was apparent, and Oscar walked through Floyd's best punches.

 

Floyd clearly won this fight, but IMO, it was more of a terrible strategy by Oscar than a great fight by Floyd. Floyd didn't put many combinations together, and Oscar let Floyd go when he had him cornered too often. If Oscar would have stuck with the jab and tried to rough up Floyd a little more, he would have won. If there was a rematch, I would think that the line of Floyd being a 2-1 favorite like last night would go down. As a fighter, a prime Roy Jones whoops either of their asses in a P4P fight.

Just released today 2.15 million households bought the bought for 54.95, surpassing the previous record of 1.99 million buys for Holyfield/Tyson 2.

 

This is excellent news given the fact that is expected to challenge the record but not shatter it, it's even more impressive when you factor in that it was neither a heavyweight bout, and Floyd was not that well known by the general public.

 

Their will still be those that nitpick, and yes the sport is in need of reform but anyone wants to say that boxing is dead just needs to look at that number.

 

The UFC is a hot promotion right now, but it has a long ways to go before it can ever capture the publics attention like Boxing can for mega fights.

Overall, I was underwhelmed. I wouldn't say this was a stellar performance by either fighter, and I definitely would not call Floyd a top 5 fighter of all time, nor would I say this was a virtuoso performance. Oscar had a terrible strategy and abandoned the jab way too much. Floyd's lack of power was apparent, and Oscar walked through Floyd's best punches.

 

Floyd clearly won this fight, but IMO, it was more of a terrible strategy by Oscar than a great fight by Floyd. Floyd didn't put many combinations together, and Oscar let Floyd go when he had him cornered too often. If Oscar would have stuck with the jab and tried to rough up Floyd a little more, he would have won. If there was a rematch, I would think that the line of Floyd being a 2-1 favorite like last night would go down. As a fighter, a prime Roy Jones whoops either of their asses in a P4P fight.

 

Nah on Roy , Mayweather has Roy Jones athleticism but he also has the polished skills Roy lacked. Mayweather would beat Roy fairly easily . I think Floyd is one of the best but his style can make very boring fights.

Overall, I was underwhelmed. I wouldn't say this was a stellar performance by either fighter, and I definitely would not call Floyd a top 5 fighter of all time, nor would I say this was a virtuoso performance. Oscar had a terrible strategy and abandoned the jab way too much. Floyd's lack of power was apparent, and Oscar walked through Floyd's best punches.

 

Floyd clearly won this fight, but IMO, it was more of a terrible strategy by Oscar than a great fight by Floyd. Floyd didn't put many combinations together, and Oscar let Floyd go when he had him cornered too often. If Oscar would have stuck with the jab and tried to rough up Floyd a little more, he would have won. If there was a rematch, I would think that the line of Floyd being a 2-1 favorite like last night would go down. As a fighter, a prime Roy Jones whoops either of their asses in a P4P fight.

 

Nah on Roy , Mayweather has Roy Jones athleticism but he also has the polished skills Roy lacked. Mayweather would beat Roy fairly easily . I think Floyd is one of the best but his style can make very boring fights.

 

Mayweather doesn't have the power to make Roy respect him. I don't know what skills you are talking about that Roy lacked, but you must be forgetting how great RJJ was even before he became a light heavyweight. He easily defeated Bernard Hopkins and James Toney. For my money, in his prime, he is arguably the best fighter of my generation.

He easily defeated Bernard Hopkins

But had the most recent negotiations for a rematch not fallen through, would you still have picked Roy?

 

Hopkins had the better skills but Roy in his prime was just far too quick and powerful. Now that his athletisism is not what it used to be, I don't think many would have picked him in a rematch.

He easily defeated Bernard Hopkins

But had the most recent negotiations for a rematch not fallen through, would you still have picked Roy?

 

Hopkins had the better skills but Roy in his prime was just far too quick and powerful. Now that his athletisism is not what it used to be, I don't think many would have picked him in a rematch.

 

Well, first off, I think the transformation of his body and the weight gains and losses took a toll on him more than anything. After he bulked up and easily beat Ruiz and then shed the weight to come down and fight Tarver for the first time, he was never the same. It's one thing to lose bad weight, but to have to basically starve yourself to shed muscle, especially at an older age, is never a good thing.

 

Second, I don't see what a Roy-Hopkins fight now has to do with the RJJ in his prime debate. Even with that said, he would have definitely had a legit chance because as we all know, styles can make fights and Roy's style matches up well with Hopkins. All you would have to do is take a look at Vernon Forrest and Shane Mosley. Shane is easily the better overall fighter, but Vernon's style just doesn't match up well for Shane. At this stage in their careers, Bernard may have more in the tank, but Roy's style would give him a legit shot. But, as we have already seen, in their physical primes it's Roy easily.

He easily defeated Bernard Hopkins

But had the most recent negotiations for a rematch not fallen through, would you still have picked Roy?

 

Hopkins had the better skills but Roy in his prime was just far too quick and powerful. Now that his athletisism is not what it used to be, I don't think many would have picked him in a rematch.

 

Well, first off, I think the transformation of his body and the weight gains and losses took a toll on him more than anything. After he bulked up and easily beat Ruiz and then shed the weight to come down and fight Tarver for the first time, he was never the same. It's one thing to lose bad weight, but to have to basically starve yourself to shed muscle, especially at an older age, is never a good thing.

 

Second, I don't see what a Roy-Hopkins fight now has to do with the RJJ in his prime debate. Even with that said, he would have definitely had a legit chance because as we all know, styles can make fights and Roy's style matches up well with Hopkins. All you would have to do is take a look at Vernon Forrest and Shane Mosley. Shane is easily the better overall fighter, but Vernon's style just doesn't match up well for Shane. At this stage in their careers, Bernard may have more in the tank, but Roy's style would give him a legit shot. But, as we have already seen, in their physical primes it's Roy easily.

Well, I really can't argue against any of those points.

 

Although, I will say I do think Roy was still in a bit of semi-decline before his move up to heavyweight. I'm not talking the decline like we saw against Glen Johnson or Tarver III, but I remember watching the Clinton Woods fight(who was probably his best opponent in that relative time frame at Light Heavy, although after watching the tape of Woods/Johnson III. The clinton woods of today, was a better fighter than the one who fought Roy) and although Roy was clearly winning it just didn't seem to me the same Roy that was erasing people left in right through most of the 90's.

 

Getting to your second point, I think it applies because in terms of pure boxing skill. I think their progression as they aged shows that Bernard was probably the better pure boxer. Now, of course your right that styles make fights so its virtually impossible to know who would be the better man if they fought today, and given Roy's stubborness and unreliability to promoters, we never will. But yeah, styles defiantly make fights and even how amazing Roy was back then, it had to be more than just skill that made a guy like Hopkins such an easy fight for him.

 

But I still think it was Roy's athletism that carried that fight more than anything. I'd make the arguement that in terms of being a pure athlete, Roy was one of the best of the 90's in any sport. And I think it showed in the Taylor fights, that Hopkins has problems with great athletes(Yes, I know I used to be really high on Taylor but its become clearer and clearer that he is just a superb athlete with solid but not spectacular boxing skills). So if that fight ever happened again, I would take Bernard but like I said I can't really argue with what you said.

Good post, Rune. It's hard to find people to talk boxing with due to the declining popularity of the sport, but when there is someone else that knows their stuff, it makes the debate/talk that much more fun. Boxing is the ultimate "barber shop argument" sport, IMO.

 

I think your last post involving the Jermaine Taylor talk is another example of boxer Roy was in his prime, in addition to being a great athlete. While I will concede that Hopkins is a smarter, if not better overall fighter than when he was younger, the thing that kept him from beating Taylor was stamina due to age. Hopkins was clearly the better fighter between himself and Taylor, but he had to conserve more before fighting since he knew he wouldn't be able to last 12 full rounds otherwise; and the fights were still close (many thought he won the first fight).

 

However, when he fought Roy, the fight was an easy, easy decision for Roy, and that was with Hopkins being in his physical peak and having the energy to go the distance and fight the whole time.

 

Roy won his first fight weighing 157lbs and went on to become a heavyweight champion, despite being only 193. People don't remember how devastating Roy was early in his career with the combo of power and speed. IMO, RJJ was easily as fast as Mayweather, if not faster, and had power that Floyd couldn't even dream of. Before meeting Hopkins, RJJ had won 21 of his first 22 fights by knockout. He also knocked out Eric Lucas after playing a professional basketball game earlier in the day. To me, he is one of the most underrated fighters of all-time.

Good post, Rune. It's hard to find people to talk boxing with due to the declining popularity of the sport, but when there is someone else that knows their stuff, it makes the debate/talk that much more fun. Boxing is the ultimate "barber shop argument" sport, IMO.

 

I think your last post involving the Jermaine Taylor talk is another example of boxer Roy was in his prime, in addition to being a great athlete. While I will concede that Hopkins is a smarter, if not better overall fighter than when he was younger, the thing that kept him from beating Taylor was stamina due to age. Hopkins was clearly the better fighter between himself and Taylor, but he had to conserve more before fighting since he knew he wouldn't be able to last 12 full rounds otherwise; and the fights were still close (many thought he won the first fight).

 

However, when he fought Roy, the fight was an easy, easy decision for Roy, and that was with Hopkins being in his physical peak and having the energy to go the distance and fight the whole time.

 

Roy won his first fight weighing 157lbs and went on to become a heavyweight champion, despite being only 193. People don't remember how devastating Roy was early in his career with the combo of power and speed. IMO, RJJ was easily as fast as Mayweather, if not faster, and had power that Floyd couldn't even dream of. Before meeting Hopkins, RJJ had won 21 of his first 22 fights by knockout. He also knocked out Eric Lucas after playing a professional basketball game earlier in the day. To me, he is one of the most underrated fighters of all-time.

I certainly agree that he's certainly been underrated. We disagree a bit on his overall place in this generation but their is no arguement for how underappreciated he's been and I really believe the main source of that is the fact that his personality turned off a lot of the experts who have a huge say in your legacy.

 

Everyone holds against Roy, his weak opposition after the Toney/Hopkins fights(I tend to disagree because Macullum, and Griffin in his prime were no push overs), but Hopkins seemingly gets a pass, which I believe has to do with the fact that Hopkins is a likable throwback type of personality. Roy had a guaranteed HBO contract, so their was no reason for him to go crazy, and the fact is their just wasnt anyone of real quality out there at Light Heavy at the time. He had already fought Hopkins so the only real opponent that he didnt fight was Darius Michalshefski(I know I misspelled that). And it's unfortunate many hold that against him because the fact is Roy was the lb for lb champion, yet he's expected to go to the most notorious country for screwjobs and defend his title against a guy who had no name value outside of hardcore boxing fans? Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed in Roy but I can certainly understand why he didnt take that fight. If they had fought, I believe Roy would have won a close, but clear decesion. But a close, and clear decesion for an American in Germany, means victory for the German.

 

The one time Roy did step up against Ruiz, the accomplishment was immediatly taken away from him by the experts given the weakness of Ruiz against other heavyweights but that certainly shouldn't diminish the fact that a natural middleweight whipped around a much heavier heavyweight belt holder. Going back to Hopkins when he finally had his career performance against Trinidad, he was given a free pass when he fought nobodies before he finally got the DLH fight.

 

So yeah, getting back to the original arguement I still contend that Hopkins would beat him today, but we can only argue that so much. I would still take Mayweather though given the better opposition he's faced and the relative ease at which he's done it. But I do recognize I may be taking away from Roy's greatness given the fact that a faded Roy is still hanging around. So maybe five years after Roy's gone, Ill probably have a different perspective but I will still agree with you that Roy is one of the most underrated athletes of the past 15 years. We have truly failed to recognize true greatness just for the fact that he had a division of relative nobodies, and a combative personality.

 

And you are certainly dead on about boxing being the ultimate barbershop arguement sport.

I used to watch Roy Jones a bunch because most of his fights were on regular old HBO. No PPV. And he used to just stomp people. He would just toy with them because he was so much better than them that I think he would get bored. He certainly looked more impressive to me than Mayweather did on Saturday night. Mayweather is really, really fast, but it didn't look like he did anything to hurt De La Hoya. Obviously, Roy Jones was bigger, but he could put a hurting on other people. And basically no one got to him until his career suddenly came to a thud. We'll never really know how good Roy Jones was in relation to other boxers in history, but in his time and class, he was probably as dominant as anyone else has ever been.

Overall, I was underwhelmed. I wouldn't say this was a stellar performance by either fighter, and I definitely would not call Floyd a top 5 fighter of all time, nor would I say this was a virtuoso performance. Oscar had a terrible strategy and abandoned the jab way too much. Floyd's lack of power was apparent, and Oscar walked through Floyd's best punches.

 

Floyd clearly won this fight, but IMO, it was more of a terrible strategy by Oscar than a great fight by Floyd. Floyd didn't put many combinations together, and Oscar let Floyd go when he had him cornered too often. If Oscar would have stuck with the jab and tried to rough up Floyd a little more, he would have won. If there was a rematch, I would think that the line of Floyd being a 2-1 favorite like last night would go down. As a fighter, a prime Roy Jones whoops either of their asses in a P4P fight.

 

Nah on Roy , Mayweather has Roy Jones athleticism but he also has the polished skills Roy lacked. Mayweather would beat Roy fairly easily . I think Floyd is one of the best but his style can make very boring fights.

 

Mayweather doesn't have the power to make Roy respect him. I don't know what skills you are talking about that Roy lacked, but you must be forgetting how great RJJ was even before he became a light heavyweight. He easily defeated Bernard Hopkins and James Toney. For my money, in his prime, he is arguably the best fighter of my generation.

 

His win against hopkins was a close decision in which neither man did anything to really win the fight , seriously it is perhaps one of the most boring title fights i have ever seen , none the less it was a close fight i believe Jones got the ud 116-112 . second jones may have handily beaten toney anyways but we will never know because james toney lost the fight on the scales i believe he had to loss 40-50lbs in two months to make weight he was a spent force before he entered the ring . as to the skills i refer to mayweather's superior jab and defense would have won the fight against jones . I agree mayweather isnt a one punch threat but neither was jones particularly after seeing the brutality and the consequences of nigel benn's fight with the g-man, jones lost some of his killer instinct after that fight and admitted as much. would mayweather have knocked jones out ...no ...but he would have beaten jones, Mayweather can stand right in front of you and not get hit cleanly Roy didnt get hit because he had a huge speed advantage against his opponents and would hit his opponent and be quick enough to get out of the way , Mayweathers speed would negate Jones main defensive asset . I dont care for Mayweather , i was rooting for hoya , but i think he beats Roy

I'm sorry, but if you don't think RJJ had serious knockout power (and he did in both hands), then you either (a) don't know much about boxing, or (b) you just don't like Roy. Roy's defense in his prime was phenomenal and the fact that he didn't get hit should be enough for you. By the way, we both know you looked up the scorecards for the RJJ-Hopkins fight because there is no chance you remembered the cards from 14 years ago. You probably didn't even watch the fight, because nobody who did would argue it was a closely contested fight. Boring? Maybe, but close? Not a chance.

I'm sorry, but if you don't think RJJ had serious knockout power (and he did in both hands), then you either (a) don't know much about boxing, or (b) you just don't like Roy. Roy's defense in his prime was phenomenal and the fact that he didn't get hit should be enough for you. By the way, we both know you looked up the scorecards for the RJJ-Hopkins fight because there is no chance you remembered the cards from 14 years ago. You probably didn't even watch the fight, because nobody who did would argue it was a closely contested fight. Boring? Maybe, but close? Not a chance.

 

I suppose because it is because i dont agree with you i dont know much about boxing . I am 29 and have been an avid fan of boxing since i was boy , i boxed as an amateur when i was in the military . I have large library of fight tapes . I have witnessed virtually every one of RJJ's fights when someone throws out the term serious ko power i associate that with one punch ko power for the most part RJJ was not that type of fighter he broke down most fighters on the world class level with an accumulation of stinging punches and blazing handspeed. Second I did not look up the fight scores i have the fight on tape i viewed it on tv when the fight actually occurred and have watched it only a few times since i got it on tape . The fight was for the most part a dull affair in which neither man threw or landed alot of punches to say Hopkins was outclassed as you seem to suggest would not be an accurate statement .As to Roy's defense his defense was predicated on speed , I believe Mayweather p4p is a bit quicker than Jones or at the least his equal , Mayweather is a more polished boxer i believe his skills negate much of what Jones was able to do against slower opponents . Your free to have your opinion and disagree with mine but i am not prepared to say you are more of an authority on boxing than i am purely because you disagree with me . As to whether i remembered the cards from 14yrs ago i have a under grad degree and and grad degree in history so i pretty much have dedicated my studies to memorizing and analyzing seemingly irrelevant facts and events i will look up the fight result now but for some reason 116-112 stuck in my mind because that type of fight is a fight in which neither man was dominated but the other did just a bit more .

 

all 3 had it 116-112 rjj ud