Was Roy Jones' biggest mistake not staying at heavyweight?

Question

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.

Robert - you missed the whole point of the question. The weight loss destroyed Jones. Otherwise, why else was he shot overnight?

Ric - when was Roy slipping? There was not a hint of slip in his three fights pre-Ruiz, against Clinton Woods, Glen Kelly and Julio Gonzalez.
The first time there was any hint of a chink in his armour was in his first fight with Tarver. Roy Jones was not 'slipping' and nobody noticed it. His problems only began when he moved back down to 175.

Answer 1

Brad a really intriguing observation on your part. That never occurred to me. You may be correct. If he stayed at heavyweight fought 2 or 3 more fights and won he may have gone down as the top 2 or 3 of all time, that may have been a big mistake on his part. It's not like he got fat (Toney) to fight at heavy.

Answer 2

I don't think he got old over night. Yes, the muscle/water loss does mess with someone. But seriously, who was the last person to test him before he moved up? More likely than not, even if we didn't notice, due to his weak compitition, he was probably really sliding for quite sometime. Ruiz was the perfect fight, he wanted a "title". Not THE title (Lewis) or a mega match (Tyson perhaps). He just wanted a title, pure and simple, and like typical Roy Jones, he picked on the weak. He was and oppertunist. I remember he said he wouldn't fight Byrd because there would be no interest... no interest? I would have LOVED to see a strategic battle between them. One of the 2 would have been the WBA/IBF champ. Did ROY at least find it interesting? I'd go Byrd on points. And IF he really wanted to be heavyweight, The WBA/IBF Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones Jr. vs the WBC/Linnear Champion Lennox Lewis... no interest, can you say MEGA FIGHT? $$$$$$$$$ Roy had absolutely no intent on being a champ or contender at heavyweight, just get in, pick lesser target (Ruiz) and get out. Roy was a very good fighter, no doubt. But a great? I think so, but there is room to debate there. I personally think he shouldn't be recognised as "The 1st middleweight champ to gain the heavyweight champ in over 100 years". Fitzsimmons was THE middleweight champ, and THE heavyweight champ. At the time of Jones in heavyweight, Lewis was THE champ. Jones didn't beat Lewis, Jones was only a titlist, never the champion in the heavies. And here is my next question I'll ask. JONES had the name then... not Tarver, if I was Jones, I'd have fought at cruiser. That way he would have lost no weight and been out of the hw division. If Tarver didn't take, no big deal, he'd miss his money shot. Secondly, if weight WAS an issue, after winning barely against Tarver, why not say, "OK, but the rematch is at cruiser, I can't make 175 no more."? Face it, Roy was just finished,

Answer 3

I don't think it was a mistake. Jones had a good style for Ruiz. He was fast but hit hard enough where Ruiz had to respect him. Ruiz was too slow and plodding. So I'm not sure Jones would have had great success at heavyweight against other guys but Ruiz fit him well.

His problem was age more than anything else. His reflexes simply started to slow a little. When you are the fastest man on the planet a tiny slowdown in reflexes can make a huge difference. No way would Jones have lost to Johnson or Tarver if his reflexes were still 100%

Answer 4

Roy Jones legacy was never as good as his record states look the guys he beat were not that good he was a big fish in a pond of small talent he had to move up and down weight classes to get the best fighters and well losing weight and gaining weight adding muscle and losing it screws up a boxers body and does it fast. in reality he was never ganna be considered the best fighter ever we just werent ganna have it to him the most dominating maybe but not the best too many great fighters before him and he didnt fight many great fighters like ali did.

Answer 5

Roy Jones was at his best when he fought at middleweight. It's amazing he fought good enough to be a champion at light heavyweight, considering he started his career as a welterweight. Despite not doing as well as a heavyweight, he's still considered one of the best boxers pound for pound in the last century. His episode in Korea during the Olympics would go down as the greatest theft ever pulled in the Olympic ring.

Answer 6

I think Lewis would have destroyed him though. Ruiz was always a pathetic joke as a boxer. I think Roy always understood how to maximize his image and his chances of winning and if he thought he had a legitimate shot vs. top heavyweights he would have stayed there - Ruiz was a one time opportunity for him because the man lacked both power and speed.

Answer 7

if you remember correctly, after roy beat ruiz. lennox told roy if you want to be a heaveyweight champ you have to beat the king and challenged roy. Roy accepted his challenge and said lets get it on. Then lennox who probably thought roy would have never accepted, said he had nothing to gain by fighting roy. But roy did want lennox.

Answer 8

I think you answered your own question.

Answer 9

No argument here.