The most surprising fight of 2025 has featured legends
Floyd Mayweather and
Roy Jones Jr. going back and forth with each other in recent weeks.
The Hall of Famers have been at odds after Jones recently stated that
Sugar Ray Leonard would have beaten Mayweather if they faced each other in their primes. Jones also admonished Mayweather for not listing
Muhammad Ali as the greatest of all time.
Mayweather responded by posting a video of him watching clips of Jones getting knocked out several times. The gesture prompted Jones to call for an end to the online jabs, and instead, for a real fight.
In an interview with
The Ring, Jones expanded on how he feels toward Mayweather.
“It was low class for him to post clips of me losing,” Jones said. “If I wanted to be messing with him, I could have done the same thing he did and got a book to start reading. Then what is he going to say? He did it because I said I would bet my life that Floyd would not beat a prime Sugar Ray Leonard.
"I'm sorry, it's just the fact, and I am entitled to my own opinion. If you are going to get mad about it, come see me. You think you can whoop me still? I never said no. Let's go. I fight. I don't do all that cherry picking. If you want to make it beef, come on.”
Jones, the 1990s Fighter of the Decade, then went on to critique the resume of Mayweather, who retired undefeated in 2017 and was later named the 2010s Fighter of the Decade by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
“What top black fighter did Floyd ever face and beat handily in their prime? Not one,” Jones said. “He struggled with an old Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather's dad said he lost that fight. Then they say Floyd beat so many world champions. Most were not world champions at the time, they were ex-world champions.
"Who was his Thomas Hearns or Marvin Hagler or James Toney or Bernard Hopkins? Where is the guy who was on his level? Canelo Alvarez was young, and he fought Manny Pacquiao after he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez. He didn't fight Terence Crawford.
“Pacquiao fought everyone who was at his level. In my humble opinion, it's almost safe to say that Pacquiao had a better career than Mayweather had. He didn't make the money Mayweather made, but he fought the fights that were supposed to be fought, when it was time to fight them. He didn't wait around.
"That's what king of the hill fighters do. Now, I'm not saying Mayweather was wrong because he made more money than everyone ever did. That's cool. But stay over there on that side. Don't come over here on this side talking crazy because you didn't do it on this side. When you come on this side, it's going to be a little bit more different.
“We were in Dubai a few years ago, and Mayweather said, 'I chose currency over legacy,' and then he talks about how Ali isn't the greatest of all time. You lost me right there. Now I look at you differently. How are you going to tell me that Ali isn't the GOAT? Especially when you didn't play king of the hill and dominate like he did.
"You made more money than anyone else, and that's what you think makes you the GOAT in boxing? No it does not. Face the facts, brother.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan