Yes. It was a no-lose situation.
If he had stayed at heavy, fought and beat Tyson and Lewis, he'd have gone hands down as the greatest fighter ever.
If he fought and lost to those guys, no one would have held it against him and his legacy would have been intact.
Instead, like a lot of fighters before him, he defeated himself by letting his ego get the better of him, by taking the bait from Tarver and accepting Tarver's challenge at the post-Ruiz press conference.
The drastic loss of pure muscle, to make 175 again, destroyed him. It was evident he was in a lot of pain and distress the first time Tarver took him the distance.
We all know what happened in the rematch. And since then, let's face it, Roy has never been Roy again.
He made the foolish decision to move back down to 175, and now he's stuck there, trying to salvage a legacy as one of the greatest fighters in history, when he could have had a shot at being number one.
2006-12-01
10:01:19
·
9 answers
·
asked by
Anonymous