Roy Jones Jr has fought across five decades, 76 fights, 502 rounds, consistently proving his status as one of the best fighters in history against top opposition.
The four-weight world champion had impeccable reflexes, incredible athleticism and confident defence. With those tools, he beat the likes of James Toney, John Ruiz, Antonio Tarver and Bernard Hopkins.
When asked to pick the best of the bunch in a feature with the Ring Magazine, Jones said Toney ‘had all the tools.’
“James Toney probably had the best defense of all of them. You couldn’t hit him flush; he was so elusive, the hip movement and the shoulder roll made it very difficult to hit him with a clean shot.
He had all the tools, he was hard to hit, he could knock you out at any time. He would be right there in your face and you still couldn’t hit him flush.”
Jones moved up from middle to super-middleweight in 1994 to face the then-undefeated Toney. Jones dictated the pace and largely dominated proceedings, scoring a knockdown by sending ‘Lights Out’ back into the ropes. It would be one of only two counts Toney received in his career.
All three judges favoured Jones clearly with scored of 119–108, 118–109, and 117–110. With the win he took Toney’s IBF World Title and would make five successful defences before making the jump up to light-heavyweight.
Toney would go on to have a Hall of Fame career of his own, eventually hanging up the gloves with a record of 77 wins and just ten losses, with none of them coming inside the distance.
