Someone who many regard as the best to ever do it, Roy Jones Jr, has voiced his opinion on who was the greatest to ever lace up the gloves.
Jones Jr had a sparkling career that kicked off with a Silver medal in the light middleweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics and went on to include multiple world championships in four weight classes, including titles at middleweight, super middleweight, all four major recognised belts at light heavyweight, and finally heavyweight in 2003.
Jones is famously the only fighter ever to have started fighting at light middleweight and then eventually ended up winning the heavyweight title. He is often considered an all-time pound-for-pound great known for exceptional hand speed, footwork and explosive punching power.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, the former multi-weight champion was asked about a series of fantasy match-ups including Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson and in his response said that Ali would “always be the greatest” in his mind.
“Muhammad Ali. If it wasn’t for Muhammad Ali, there wouldn’t be no Roy Jones Jr. He will always be the greatest in my book.”
Jones isn’t alone in his opinion. Ali, nicknamed ‘the greatest’ is regarded by many as the best of all time and was named Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC and Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated.
As for Jones, he has turned his hand to coaching and more recently, exhibition bouts, stepping into the ring with another heavyweight icon in Mike Tyson and most recently winning the ‘first-ever metaverse fight’ against bodybuilder ‘NDO Champ’. .