By Lem Satterfield

Following Saturday night's second round stoppage of Raul Munoz of Topeka, Kan., at the South Philly Arena before his hometown fans, unbeaten 28-year-old welterweight Mike Jones of Philadelphia declared himself officially ready to be considered the man to derail southpaw eight-division and WBO welterweight king Manny Paquiao.

"Pacquiao's a true warrior who has beaten a lot of great fighters. He gets the utmost respect from me. It's not part of me to be a trash talker. He's a gentleman too. It'd be an honor to get a chance to fight him. I would come to fight him and come to win," said Jones.

"I'm 100 percent confident in myself to beat anybody out there. I can get a call any day to fight a guy like Manny Pacquiao so I gotta be in great shape all the time," said Jones. "As for me, I feel I can beat him because I got 100 percent confidence in myself. It will put me a step closer to my ultimate goal of being the undisputed welterweight champion of the world."

Jones floored the overmatched, 35-year-old Munoz (22-14-1, 16 KOs) with a big overhand right to end it at 2 minutes, 29 seconds of the second round.

"I took my time in the first round. I was relaxed and looked for an opening. When Munoz was more aggressive in the second round, he left himself more open," said Jones.

"I followed our game plan of going to his body to get him to drop his hands down," said Jones. "Then I started to go up on top. I got him with a good right."

In victory, Jones rose to 25-0 with his 19th knockout this, in his first fight in his native City of Brotherly Love since March of 2009, when Jones stopped Dairo Esalas in the second round at the Blue Horizon.

And he did so before an overflow, standing-room-only crowd of 1,229 that included Philadelphia legend and newly-crowned WBC light heavyweight king Bernard Hopkins.

"This is home. I was born and raised in Philly. It's motivating to see all the fans out there screaming my name. I'm real happy with my performance and I'm glad to have given the fans a good show," said Jones.

"I'll take two-three weeks off and then start preparing for my next fight I want to finish the end of the strong. I want a big fight," said Jones. "There are a lot of great fighters out there and I'll fight any one of them. I want to fight the best."

The win followed February's second straight victory over Mexican brawler Jesus Soto-Karass (25-6-3, 16 knockouts), whom Jones defeated by unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Hotel three months after having earned a disputed, majority decision over Soto-Karass at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in November.

Jones' consecutive wins over Soto-Karass were contested, respectively, on the undercards of a unanimous decision by Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) over Antonio Margarito for the since-vacated WBC junior middleweight belt, and, a second-round knockout by then-WBA interim super flyweight king, Nonito Donaire over then-WBO and WBC king, Fernando Montiel.

Jones is expected to return to the ring in November, perhaps on the Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard in Las Vegas.

"I feel as though I can beat anybody in the welterweight division. Pacquiao will bring far more than exposure," said Jones. "Any time you fight a Manny Pacquiao you're also going to see seven digits purse so that's gotta be a dream come true for me and my family."

Jones had spent the past couple of months training for Munoz in Philadelphia under the watchful eyes of Vauhn Jackson, which has afforded him the opportunity to speak often with Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs).

Last month, the 46-year-old Hopkins dethroned WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KOs) by unanimous decision to surprassed George Foreman as the oldest man to win a significant world title.

Hopkins become a titlist 192 days beyoned when the 45-year-old Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round on November 5, 1994, to become the eldest man to win a heavyweight crown.

Hopkins-Pascal II was a rematch of December's majority draw during which Hopkins rose from two early knockdowns and appeared to have out boxed Pascal for the crown.