Roy Jones Jr has locked horns with some of the best fighters of his generation.

From two-weight world champion Bernard Hopkins to the tremendously talented Jeff Lacy and, of course, unbeaten British great Joe Calzaghe.

At his best, Jones Jr AKA Superman, was one of the greatest boxers of all timeGetty

But none of them earned the same plaudits from RJJ as first-ballot Hall of Famer James ‘Lights Out’ Toney.

“As far as skill goes James Toney is definitely the best fighter I have ever been in there with and it will never change,” Jones Jr told talkSPORT.com.

“James had everything: he had offence, he had defence, he had movement, he had everything.

“The one thing he may have lacked was footwork because I had that too.

“So when you talk about a complete fighter there are not many complete fighters being built every day.

“You rarely come across fighters like Terence Crawford, Andre Ward, Roy Jones Jr, even Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol.

“These are all complete fighters. James was a complete fighter, you feel me?

“He could stay in the pocket all day long and not be harmed. Not many guys can do that.”

Jones Jr met Toney at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena in November 1994 for ‘Lights Out’s’ IBF super-middleweight title.

The fight billed as ‘The Uncivil War’ pitted two of the best boxers of the decade in their primes.

Jones Jr beat Toney by wide margins but credits him with being his best opponentGETTY

At the time, Toney was rated the No.3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, having already conquered the middleweight division.

Meanwhile, Jones Jr entered the bout at No.8 in the pound-for-pound rankings and previously held the IBF middleweight crown.

Both men boasted undefeated records while the boxing legends were also at the peak of their physical powers at 26 and 25 years old respectively.

Jones Jr opened up as a favourite with the bookies and proved why he was deserving of such odds as he battered his adversary from pillar to post for 12 rounds.

Early in the third round, Jones Jr and Toney backed away after a furious exchange.

Jones Jr put his arms down to his side and Toney reciprocated.

When he did, ‘Superman’ uncorked an explosive left hook that sent Toney reeling backwards into the ropes.

Jones Jr beat Toney connivingly but ‘Lights Out’ earned his respectGETTY

He remained on his feet thanks only to the bottom rope, and so the referee issued a count.

Ring Magazine would later describe Jones Jr’s performance as the most dominant of any big fight over the past 20 years.

According to the punch stats, Jones Jr landed 285 of 614 punches, Toney only 157 of 451 – that’s 128 more shots during the course of the fight.

The scorecards reflected his superiority with all three judges scoring the fight in his favour by margins of 117-110, 118-109, and 119-108.

But in the immediate aftermath, Jones Jr gave all the props to his tough adversary, who never stopped searching for the knockout.

“James is the toughest fighter I’ve ever fought, probably the toughest I ever will fight,” he said post-fight.