For many, Roy Jones Jr is up there with one of the best fighters to have ever laced up the gloves.
His speed, reflexes and showmanship made him one of the most exciting fighters of all time and helped to cement his place among boxing’s greatest.
Jones Jr’s long and storied career spanned multiple weight classes and he became the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in over 100 years, all after having won a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
He won his first world title in 1993 by beating Bernard Hopkins and after moving up to super middleweight he dominated James Toney to claim the IBF title, later adding the WBA, WBC and IBF belts to make him the undisputed champion.
In 2023, Jones Jr famously moved up to heavyweight and defeated John Ruiz for the WBA title and eventually retired with a record of 66 wins and 9 losses but remains in the sport as a pundit and trainer.
Speaking on Jay Midnyte, he was asked about the best ever and didn’t hesitate when naming Muhammad Ali.
“The greatest fighter of all time, the greatest athlete of all time in my book, always is going to be Muhammad Ali. It ain’t what I think, it’s what I know.”
Ali – who won the heavyweight championship three times and was undisputed from ’74 to ’78 – transcended the sport in ways few others have and remains a cultural icon many years after his death in 2016.
He was asked this same question about the greatest the sport has ever seen and in characteristically self-confident style he went with himself as the best ever heavyweight, but Sugar Ray Robinson for pound-for-pound greatness.
