"Krusher" Kovalev vs RJJ@ 168-175lbs/12-12.5 Stone. Who wins?

[King Man]

I think Jones would get the KO

Jones was a freak of nature

[Syf]

Anything can happen in boxing when a legitimate clever power puncher like Kovalev is involved. But prime Roy would obviously be the favorite.

Kov is a nice Light Heavyweight. Very solid. But if old man Hopkins can still go 12 with Kov at age 50 then a prime, 25 year old Roy Jones DESTROYS Kovalev in 9 or 10 rounds.

Come on though. Kovalev could have demolished Hopkins. He carried him.

[robertzimmerman]

He dined off that TOney win for the majority of his career though. There were a **** load of great great SMW's and LHWTS from Europe and America that he didn't even look at, and fought the Richard Hall's of this world > Cab Driver

That's not true in the slightest.

[robertzimmerman]

John Ruiz was a ****ing god damned bum. He chose the worse heavyweight champ there was and if there was no Johh Ruiz holding a belt he would never have gone to heavyweight.

He tried to fight Evander on two occasions.

[Killer_of_Sheep]

Nothing obvious about it. Kovalev's ring IQ and generalship is too high to let that happen. He would catch RJJ pivoting left and right with vicious shots and impose his will.

He certainly wouldn't. If Roy's speed could befuddle a pin-point counter-puncher with much better reflexes like James Toney, i can't see why he wouldn't do the same do Kovalev.

Come on, Kovalev found Jean Pascal's movement and speed somewhat bothersome, couldn't land frequently. And Pascal is an abysmal RJJ wannabe.

Kovalev is very good indeed. But he couldn't stop a 50 year old Hopkins, i can't really see him doing anything to a prime RJJ.

[Humean]

I was about to say that's the only one. But that's been debated for years. He didn't want to leave Germany and come fight Roy in the states.

He was offered $5million to fight Roy on HBO according to them. Also didn't beat anyone of note anyway.

I'm not necessarily saying that Roy was fully to blame for all this but considering he was in the best financial position he really didn't fight all the best available opponents. Michalczewski didn't fight anyone of note? He defeated Virgil Hill before Roy and Michalczewski was rightfully the three belt and lineal light-heavyweight champion.

[robertzimmerman]

Nah wasn't around to see everything unfold but i've watched his fights. How can you deny that Roy's resume is dog **** compared to what it should have been? No Nunn, No Toney rematch, No Darius, No Eubank, No Benn, No Collins. There's an AWFUL lot of filler in Roy's record. Absolute dross lol

Roy's resume could have been stronger. But there's a myth that he was reluctant and he was only content to face subpar mandatories. But if you were around back then and you knew what was happening behind the scenes, then you'd know that circumstances prevented a lit of fights from taking place.

I've read numerous articles, interviews and book excerpts, as well as watching numerous videos, that all prove that Roy did want the biggest fights. I've seen proof that he tried to fight Evander Holyfield, Frankie Liles and a Hopkins rematch. And I also know of the difficulties in making fights with the likes of Nigel Benn and Darius Michalczewski. Chris Eubank was never interested in fighting Roy at his peak, and you can hardly criticise Roy for not pursuing a Toney rematch.

I think Roy has an underrated resume to be honest. I think it's quite strong. But he doesn't get the credit, because he beat most of his opposition easily. Yes, again it could have been stronger, but then so could everyone's.

[robertzimmerman]

I don't care what version of Roy it is. He gets KO'ed. What we didn't know about Roy back then, was that he couldn't take a punch. Against A Level fighters, you WILL get hit. You all act as if Roy is an ATG. He's not. He's a HOF'mer whose resume is suspect. You guys overrate Roy. You overrate Hopkins. You overrate Floyd. Guess what? I won't play that game. I call things like I see them. SK is too smart to be pot-shotted by Roy for 12 rounds. Roy has NEVER fought a pressure fighter like SK. What he did to Hopkin's was not a fluke because of Hopkin's age. Hopkin's has the upmost respect for him too. He would knock Roy COLD!

Ha!

Roy wasn't an ATG? Sure.

He's overrated?

And who has Kovalev beaten??

There are lots of question marks surrounding him. His biggest win was against a 50 year old man who was looking to survive.

Sure, he looks great. And I enjoy watching him fight. He looks to have good skills and awesome power. But he's been dropped, and he's been tagged with telegraphed haymakers from the likes of Pascal. He's hittable. At that stage we've no idea how he'd have coped against a guy as skilled and as fast as Roy. Roy also had genuine knockout power. We don't know how he'd react.

He could only have knocked Roy cold if he'd have had the opportunity. How hittable was Roy in his prime?

It seems silly to favour Kovalev at this stage. It's a fun debate, but it needs to be debated again in a few years time.

[robertzimmerman]

Sergey's chin is nowhere near the sand-castle level of Roy's. Also Roy was caught juicing, chin decreases when you go off roids. Roy is a fantastic fighter but Sergey is all wrong for him, I fully believe we are looking at an incredible all time great Lightheavy here. The perfect mix of everything, too smart to get out boxed all night and too powerful to not find the mark and finish. Against Roy and against Ruiz. It's insane you think Ruiz could beat Krusher lol

And you don't think that Roy would have been all wrong for Kov?

He was faster, harder to hit, used more variation, and he too had genuine one punch knockout power.

Also, why is it insane to think that Ruiz could have beaten Kov?

Styles make fights. Kov doesn't possess the speed that Roy had. Roy beat him easily by having superior speed. He could pot shot him at will. For Kov to have beaten Ruiz, I think he'd have had to have beaten him by fighting him and not boxing him. It could have been a hard nights work for him. Ruiz wasn't garbage, he was just awful to watch. He was a spoiler. But he was 230 pounds and a lot of decent HW's had hard nights against him.

[robertzimmerman]

Time will tell, you're right about that. One thing is already really clear though; SK is a very smart fighter who is very tough and has great stamina. He is an A Level fighter. And so what if Pascal rocked him? He looked to be roided up that night as well. Why didn't you mention that? He was faster than normal and he punched like a mule, too. This is clearly not the Pascal who fought Hopkin's twice, now is it? Pascal is "suspect" as hell, man. SK kicked his ass despite it all thought, didn't he? LoL. But don't leave out all of the facts and details when critiquing things.

What do you mean "so what if Pascal rocked him.."?

Roy was on another planet to Jean Pascal. If Pascal could repeatedly tag him with wild overhand rights, then Roy would have had a birthday.