Bread. The caveat of RJJ’s greatness always irks me. As you stated he was basically untouchable for the whole of the 90s. He made his debut in 89 and didn’t lose until 14 years later, barring a Montell Griffin DQ, which he immediately avenged by a first-round KO. That run included a prime Hopkins, a prime James Toney (lineal super middleweight champ, and up a weight), Vinnie Paz, Mike McCallum, and Tarver. Jones Jr. isn’t close to being my favorite fighter. Sugar Ray Leonard, followed by Hagler and Frazier are for various reasons that. What upsets me is that since the Four Kings era, he has quite clearly been the greatest boxer we have seen and I think by a long way. So that’s 40 years of no one reaching that level. He made ATG Toney look like he should maybe consider taking up another sport, and I mean no disrespect by saying that, only that’s how ridiculous that performance was. Why is it then okay for people to erase Jordan being on the Wizards and still call him the GOAT, which he obviously is for anyone who watched his career, but denigrating the greatness of someone like Jones? Bear in mind, this isn’t a “his run at the top was too short to be considered one of the best ever” arguments, this is a “we have to punish him for not retiring earlier”. By that token Ray Robinson would be a lesser fighter than Calzaghe, Ward, or Mayweather because he carried on longer than he should have, which is ridiculous. Do you think, given a significant enough run of something special, there shouldn’t be a reduction in how someone is viewed in terms of historical standing? Many thanks for the Mailbag. Omar from London.
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