Former four-division champion Roy Jones Jr. refuses to go away quietly. Not only will the 46-year old future Hall of Famer continue on with his continue, but is planning to fight in bunches.
Jones is confirmed to return to the ring on August 15 at Foxwoods Hotel and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The bout headlines Knockout Season Two , and will air live on Fuse/Nuvo TV.
An opponent has yet to be announced for the August 15 bout, but Jones and his handlers have confirmed an encore performance on August 29.
"I am going to fight on Knockout on the 15th and then again on the 29th,” insists Jones (61-8, 44KOs), who is riding a seven-fight win streak as he fights deep into the twilight of his career.
The stacking of fights mirrors his ring return earlier this year, when he appeared at separate club shows in North Carolina and in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Each of his past four contests—all coming versus nondescript opposition—have ended inside the distance, including three straight fights ending in two rounds or less.
“I did two (fights) in March and I am liking how it feels so I am going to do two again in August and see how that feels,” Jones says of the planned schedule. “If I like how it feels then I will do it again maybe two or three weeks apart.”
The end goal for Jones is to capture a cruiserweight title, which would make him the only fighter in history to win belts at every weight class from middleweight through heavyweight.
Such a task is a tall order, considering he hasn’t been competitive at the top level in more than a decade.
Jones became the first former middleweight titlist in more than 100 years to claim a heavyweight belt following his March ’03 points win over John Ruiz. It was the last hurrah of his legendary career, as the decline began with narrow points win over Antonio Tarver in Nov. ’03, in which Jones dropped back down to light heavyweight and his body paying the price in a sluggish, albeit winning performance.
Beginning with a shocking 2nd round knockout loss to Tarver in their May ’04 rematch, Jones suffered seven losses in as many years, three in a row in 2004–2005 and again from Dec. ’09–May ’11. Wedged in between was a 12-round loss to Joe Calzaghe in Nov. ’08, the final fight of Calzaghe’s Hall of Fame career.
Jones hasn’t lost since a violent knockout at the hands of Denis Lebedev in the closing seconds of their 10-round bout in May ’11 in Moscow. Among his seven wins include a debatable split decision over then-unbeaten Pawel Glazewski in June ’12 on the road in Poland. The world tour continued, fighting in Latvia and Russia (twice) before returning back to the states earlier this year.
Whether local or global, the plan for Jones—at least until he’s able to secure a title shot—is to remain as active as possible.
"See, they are getting away from the old school stuff,” Jones believes. “I want to take it back to old school boxing where they used to fight every three weeks. Those were guys that were true fighters. I like that. I want to see how it feels. You can't do that now because of technology and the rules but I want to prove that I am the only old school OG (original gangster) around, you feel me?
"Fighting two or three weeks apart if I can. If I can do it, I want to do it because I want to keep on going as long as I can. Can't nobody tell Roy Jones when to start and nobody can tell Roy Jones when he should stop. Roy Jones is going to do what he wants to do and I enjoying myself in the ring and I am going to get back where I want to be.”
