Roy Jones Jr Says He Would Be The Greatest Of All Time If He Hadn’t Made One Career Decision: “Facts”

Roy Jones Jr in his prime was viewed, by many, as unbeatable.

The man from Pensacola, Florida is a four-weight world champion who dazzled fans worldwide with his speed and movement. He has 66 wins from 76 fights, 47 coming by way of knockout, and boasts victories over the likes of James Toney, Mike McCallum and Virgil Hill.

In a recent conversation with Titan Play around what future Hall of Famer Terence Crawford should do next, Jones looked back on his own career and said that he would now be considered the greatest fighter of all time had he retired in 2003. In fact, he believes he should be known as such regardless.

“Had I retired after I beat Antonio Tarver the first time, we wouldn’t be having conversations about the greatest of all time. And we still shouldn’t, because facts are facts.”

Jones beat Antonio Tarver in their first bout via majority decision in an extremely close affair to win the vacant WBA Light Heavyweight World Title as well as Tarver’s WBC belt. The victory came just eight months after Jones had made history by beating John Ruiz for the heavyweight championship.

Post-fight, he had said that it would be his last bout at 175lbs, and that he would move back up to heavyweight perhaps for a fight against Mike Tyson, whom he later faced in an exhibition.

That was not to be, however, and ‘Captain Hook’ instead stuck around the weight class for a further seven years, losing to Tarver in their rematch and trilogy, and later being bested by Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins. He is technically still not officially retired, often discussing a comeback after having last fought and lost to former MMA fighter Anthony Pettis in 2023.