Didn’t Forget: Wylie On Superman

Last week the one-and-only Roy Levesta Jones Jr. marked another journey around the sun and no, we didn’t forget. Admirers of the uber-talented boxer who defeated such luminaries as Mike McCallum, Bernard Hopkins, Virgil Hill and James Toney, and who dazzled fight fans with his prodigious natural ability and remarkable athleticism, also coined the term “Y’all must’ve forgot” to remind his critics of his many accomplishments. And one keen observer who never forgot is the one-and-only Lee Wylie, and what better way to pay tribute than to revisit Wylie’s masterpiece on the four-division world champ they call “Superman.” Watch and marvel again at the skills of Roy Jones Jr. And refresh your memory. Check it out:

“What’s not impossible to discern is that Jones was an extraordinary — perhaps even a once-in-a-lifetime — talent. Here was a boxer and an athlete who, at his best, appeared untouchable. Indeed, the one thing that kept Jones from becoming a coveted household name was that there was really no one around during his prime, with the possible exception of James Toney, who could be viewed as a truly dangerous challenge. Yes, there are those who point out that Jones didn’t fight certain opponents, ie. Dariusz Michalczewski or Nigel Benn or Chris Eubank, but even so, it’s impossible to imagine any of these fighters, or anyone else active in the early to late 90s for that matter, actually being favored against the guy. … In his prime, [Jones] was so good that he made the extraordinary commonplace. If that isn’t a ringing endorsement of an extraordinary athlete, I’m not really sure what is. Jones, during his prime years, was a boxer virtually without peer. And that fact should be what his legacy rests on.”

From “Yes, Roy Really Was That Good” by Sean Crose