Bad Left Hook Time Machine Fight Series: Roy Jones (2003) vs David Haye (2010)

While Haye IS the bigger man, he’s not that much bigger than Roy was. Roy at 200 (or 198, whatever he weighed) was still very very quick, and wasn’t flat-footed like Haye is now that he’s gone up to heavyweight. For me, Jones 2003 was quicker of hand and foot, slicker, had better head movement, and still didn’t get hit much.

In Haye’s favor there is the obvious, that massive right hand. But Sergio Martinez proved against Pavlik that great movement can all but neutralize that long right hand, and Jones 2003 would do likewise I think. Obviously he’d be in trouble if Haye 2010 did land that shot, but I’m not sure Haye would land it. Jones was the master of getting out of the way of big shots,at least until after the Ruiz fight. Also, I can see Roy’s speed and countering giving Haye nightmares, and after 6 or 7 rounds I think Haye would have slowed down enough that the big right hand became a lot less of a threat.

Anyhow, it’s still very close…. :)

Tale of the tape:

Haye- 6’3’’, 78’’ reach, 225lbs.

Jones- 5’11’’, 74’’ reach, 193lbs.

Wow. That’s more of a difference than I thought it’d be. Roy is actually a smaller man than Sergio Martinez, IIRC.

I still pick Jones. ;)

Plus Jones wouldn’t be all that faster at the higher weight.

I think Haye’s speed is drastically overstated. He is very rarely on his toes, doesn’t have any real… I don’t know…. elasticity? There is no bounce now he’s a heavyweight. He was pretty light-footed at cruiser, but the extra couple of stone have made Haye on his toes a thing of the past. He lunges in a bit now, and I think Jones would pick him off all night, just like he did to Ruiz.

There was a rugby league player here in Australia named Rodney Howe . He was the best forward in the National Rugby League here for two years . There was a lot of whispering in the game about Howes sudden size increase and the corresponding increase in his abilities ( sort of like Mark McGuire ) . The bloke tested positive for anabolic steroids and was given a 22 week suspension . When he came back he was at least 20 pounds lighter and wasn’t half as good a player . He ended up in obscurity . Roy Jones jr actually weighed under the junior middleweight limit twice for fights in 1991 . He weighed in at 153 when he kayoed Kevin Daigle in 1991. Roy weighed in unofficially on the night of the Ruiz fight at 200 pounds of rock hard muscle. Can anyone explain to me how he did this? Its well known that athletes that take massive amounts of steroids stop producing their own testosterone , I quote" First, it is very likely that the body’s own testosterone production will be reduced since most steroids have an inhibiting effect on the hypothalamohypophysial testicular axis, resulting in a reduced testosterone production in the, testes by the Leydig’s cells.". When Roy he came back looked like a classic case. He seemed unconfident and his body looked drawn and weak . In his comeback Roy never had the physical abilities he showed up to the Ruiz fight. Perhaps its just age but the cynic in me wonders about this stuff. Also Roy relied so much on athleticism and speed as opposed to technique that a case could be made that he benefited more from using testosterone supplements than a more technical fighter that relied on height and reach would have . Feel free to call me a shit stirring scandal monger blokes ;-)