Roy Jones, Jr., fresh off his obliteration of former welterweight great Felix "Tito" Trinidad, has released a memorandum to the entire boxing community. Jones, never the shy one, listed these possible opponents in a recent statement:
"I'll take the winner of either the re-match between Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor or Joe Calzaghe vs. Bernard Hopkins," Jones said recently. "I'm even willing to go down to [166] pounds to face Oscar De La Hoya in May. Line them up and I'll knock them down."
Whoa.
Let's look ahead at these match-ups and predict how the Roy Jones of now would fare against these tough opponents:
Kelly Pavlik: The undefeated middleweight champ is a formidable opponent for anyone. He carries power in both hands and has shown the ability to get off the floor in order to win a fight. While Jones would try to offset Pavlik's power with speed, Kelly would just be too strong for his Royness and win via late-round knockout.
Jermain Taylor: Taylor has already beaten some over-the-hill future hall-of-famers. He won 2 controversial decisions over Bernard Hopkins and 1 even more controversial decision over Winky Wright. In my view, Taylor lost all 3 of those fights. Against Jones he would probably try to impose his will early, get frustrated by Jones speed and power, and ultimately lose a close, controversial decision.
Joe Calzaghe: As much as I love RJ, something tells me that Calzaghe would out-box and frustrate Jones in a lopsided decision. Calzaghe is one of the most underappreciated fighters of his era, and he's still at the top of his game.
Bernard Hopkins: These two fought way back in 1993. Jones won a boring but unanimous decision the first time. Since then, each has done his part to secure his legacy. Hopkins defended the middleweight crown 20 straight times while Jones became the heavyweight champion of the world. I'd bet anything on Jones winning another unanimous decision. Hopkins usually outsmarts opponents, but Jones is one of the smartest fighters in the game.
Oscar De La Hoya: In a fight that might break all box office records known to man, Jones would win easily by a KO. Jones is too big, too fast and too strong for an old Oscar. This fight would probably be even less competitive that the Trinidad fight.
So there you have it.
But, how would a prime Roy Jones do against these opponents?
Let's make this fair and put all these opponents in their primes as well. Guess what? It doesn't matter. Jones wins all five of these fights easily, and that's not a knock on what these other guys have done in the sport. Roy Jones was just that good.
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