By James Slater: Both before and after his recent points win over inactive, oft-beaten former “Contender” Max Alexander, all-time great Roy Jones Junior said that he wants to win a major cruiserweight title, as “it’s the only think I haven’t done.”
The wide but lackluster points win over Alexander saw the 42-year-old legend win for this first time since August of 2009, and Jones improved to 55-8(40). And, despite looking faded to the point where his real fans have been wishing for the longest time that he would hang ‘em up, there is a suggestion that Jones could get a shot at a major 200-pound belt next year (let’s face it, he’s NOT gonna retire until he’s good and ready!)
According to a small piece in British Boxing News, there are reports in certain Polish media publications that say World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiser boss Krzysztof Wlodarczyk’s manager has expressed interest in a fight with the one-time superstar; with March of next year in Poland being a date put forward. There has been nothing beyond the mere talking stage so far, but it does seem as though a trend is growing whereby aging former greats from the U.S get a shot at a strong and dominant cruiserweight hailing from Europe (think Denis Lebedev Vs. Jones and James Toney recently).
Would it really be a massive shock if Jones landed a fight with the 30-year-old WBC ruler with the 46-2-1(33) record? No. It would, however, be a big upset if Jones proved to be competitive, much less actually won the fight.
Back in his glorious heyday, Jones, I’m sure, would have had a relatively easy time against the Pole. Wlodarczyk is not a bad fighter by any stretch, but he was deemed most fortunate to have gotten the decision in his fight with Francisco Palacios (who is the WBC mandatory and isn’t likely to just sit back and watch if Wlodarczyk does sign to fight Jones next, instead of him in a return fight) back in April, and after that Wlodarczyk was being out-pointed by Danny Green until an 11th-round TKO saved the day for the champ known as “Diablo.”
Jones, no doubt, will talk himself into believing that even today he has enough left to defeat the WBC champ. No way will this actually happen, and no way is Jones in any way deserving of a shot at the green belt (just that one win up in the 200-pound division, with one loss). At the very best, Jones will be capable of dancing around, throwing out a few soft but reasonably fast combos, before the younger, stronger man catches up with him – just as Lebedev did in that awful fight back in May.
Once upon a time, Jones never wanted to or had to travel for a fight. Now, with his stock lower than ever, the Floridian has gone as far as Russia to box. He may be catching a plane to Poland next March. But how many KO defeats will it take for this lock for The Hall of Fame to call it a career?