WBA Has No Plans To Strip Roy Jones Jr

03.03 - LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Promoter Don King today said that no one, not even Top Rank's Bob Arum or Bill Caplan, is going to diminish the epic and spectacular performance of Roy Jones Jr. in capturing the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight championship last Saturday night when he scored a 12-round unanimous decision over champion John Ruiz at Caesars Palace.

King's statement came in response to a story in today's edition of the San Diego Union- Tribune that said the WBA has given Jones seven days to determine whether he wants to remain a heavyweight, or return to the light heavyweight division.

'I talked with the WBA, and the organization has no plans to do this,' King said. 'This smells of greed, corruption, jealousy and envy in trying to put the WBA and myself on the spot. Top Rank's Bill Caplan is spreading a pack of lies on behalf of the rumor monger himself, Bob Arum. Then, Arum can respond to the rumors and lies that he created.

'They (Arum and Caplan) are attempting to diminish the WBA and Roy Jones Jr.'s performance. Allow this great champion an opportunity to savior his victory, and do not spread the Top Rank garbage 24 hours later to disparage the victory. Jones Jr. was that good, and John Ruiz was not that bad. Roy beat him to the punch, and Ruiz did all he could do, which was nothing.

'Caplan and Arum do not know a thing about my relationship with Roy Jones Jr. and Murad Muhammad. We will get together and work within the process and the rules, and resolve what is good for the American public and boxing. Roy Jones Jr. should be allowed to celebrate and savior his championship.

'The fight with Vladimir Klitschko is not in the making. He is not the mandatory challenger in the WBA because Klitschko has never paid the sanctioning fee to the WBA for the elimination bout with Larry Donald. His position with the WBA is tenuous at best. He has totally disrespected the WBA and did not abide by their rules. Instead, he is the World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 1 contender, and he has a mandatory challenge in June with Lennox Lewis. We will deal with that in June.

King's promotion, 'Hard Road to Glory' was seen live last Saturday by more than 15,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center, as well as by hundreds of thousands of people across the country on HBO Pay Per View.

Also, thanks to President George W. Bush, Don King, Roy Jones Jr., John Ruiz, Caesars Palace and Murad Muhammad, the world championship match up was shown to America's military forces free of charge on closed circuit television on U.S. Navy ships at sea, on military bases in 179 countries, and U.S. territories, including those in the Persian Gulf.

'I love President George W. Bush and I love America," King said. "God Bless you, Mr. President and God Bless America.'