Roy Jones Jr Interview 2001

[JUYJUY]

In mid-January the undisputed light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr, jetted into Mexico City to collect a lifetime achievement award, in the shape of a bulky Aztec calendar-style plaque. He also was presented with the first of the new-style “personalised” World Boxing Council championship belts. Jones’s belt featured portraits of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali as well as his own likeness. In a relaxed and friendly mood at the belt presentation, the normally reclusive Jones made time for a chat with Boxing Monthly’s man in Mexico, James Blears.



BM: You are the first current WBC world champion to be portrayed on their championship belt in this way. Do you feel honoured?

RJ: Yes, it’s a magnificent honour. People don’t understand how important this is to me. God did not bless me to have some of the big money fights that some of the fighters have. He blessed me by showing what he can really do through me, using me as an instrument. This honour means more than any dollar could ever mean to me.

BM: What is going to be your next fight?

RJ: I’m going to fight Derrick Harmon in Tampa on February 24th. After that I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Whatever is best for me I’m going to do, but I won’t be giving up my title.

BM: Joe Calzaghe wants to fight you, but he’s signed for a different TV network [Showtime, while Jones is with HBO]. However, your representative Brad Jacobs says nothing is impossible, and if the fight’s attractive then a deal can be worked out. Is there a possibility that you could fight Calzaghe in the future?

RJ: He’s welcome to come right on. I’ll be willing and waiting for anyone who wants to challenge me as far as me being the best. My duty as the best is to take on all challengers, so if they want to make it happen, and everything is fair for me, it happens.

BM: How do you rate Calzaghe as a fighter?

RJ: He beat Eubank, and Chris said that he’s never been hit so hard. I think he’s an exciting fighter, what can I say? He should be in the primetime of his career around now but I do enjoy challenges. Maybe we can put something together next year.

BM: Calzaghe is a super middleweight and you’re now a light-heavyweight.

RJ: I would make super middleweight for him. I’m that kind of champion. I will go down if I need to, or up to meet the challenge.

BM: And would he have to come to you or would you go to Wales? Does it matter to you?

RJ: Whatever is best for Roy, Roy does. Whatever situation is best for me, I do.

BM: You have mentioned that you might like to fight the right heavyweight in the future, for instance Evander Holyfield, one of the smaller big men. This is an interesting prospect.

RJ: Yes it is, but right now the lighter prospects are looking even better. There’s Joe Calzaghe, Felix Trinidad. Those prospects are looking a lot better, so I don’t know yet. It is according to which one comes first, and which one is best for Roy.

BM: Many boxers want to go up in weight. But in your case there might be a possibility you could go back down to super middle and middle and win more championships. That’s never really been done before.

RJ: No it hasn’t, and that’s the way I’m going to try to do it. I don’t know if I’ll make middle, but I know that I can make super middle.

BM: How do you rate yourself as an all-time great in the light-heavyweight division? There have been some great fighters like Michael Spinks, Bob Foster, Matthew Saad Muhammad. How would you rate yourself alongside them?

RJ: I don’t try to rate myself, I’ll leave that to the people to do. Whatever they say is fine with me, I don’t mind. I only care how God rates me. And I think God is very pleased with what I do because I go out and achieve to the best of my ability, to show people what God will do for you, if you just have faith and believe.

BM: In the 1970s Bob Foster tried to take on heavyweights. He got wiped out against Joe Frazier in two rounds and Muhammad Ali finished him off in eight rounds. It’s a heck of a difficult jump. Where as you could possibly hold your own against Holyfield, Lennox Lewis is 250 pounds in weight. That is a massive difference. What do you think about this?

RJ: That is the only reason I would try, because I would like to be the first one to ever accomplish the mission of going from middleweight to heavyweight.

BM: Micky Walker in the 1930s fought a draw against Jack Sharkey, but was stopped against Max Schmeling. Michael Spinks built himself up. What do you think?

RJ: It all depends on the heavyweight as well. Look how competitive Michael Spinks was against Larry Holmes, but look what happened when he fought Mike Tyson. Larry was bigger than Mike, but he wasn’t as powerful as Mike. So it all depends on what heavyweight you are going to take on.

BM: All those years ago, did you truly believe at the time that you’d beat James Toney?

RJ: I wouldn’t of showed up otherwise. I thought it would be a close twelve-rounder and the outcome would be in God’s hands. But I even suprised myself on the night. But I did believe that Toney wasn’t as good as people made out. Sure he was a very good fighter, and still could be if he got his hunger back. But when you think about it, Barkley and McCallum didn’t have much gas left in the tank at the time and Toney got caught up in the hype. If you think back to the Nunn fight, Toney didn’t look in the same league until the knockout. So take those fights away and you didn’t have anything left, so then I kind of thought to myself “Now Roy, your a pretty darn good fighter and God has blessed you”, I thought to myself “you have God on your side Roy, so surely, you can beat this guy”.

[JUYJUY]

BM: Your amateur career ended when you were robbed of the gold medal in the Olympics. And then against Montell Griffin you were disqualified. Those two things took perfection away. You are a diamond, but because of that there are two tiny flaws. Does that disappoint you? How do you overcome that?

RJ: Those flaws only show how truly beautiful this diamond really is. When they robbed me in Korea, it made me stand up and show the person I really am. It was a blessing from God. But a blessing in disguise, because despite being distraught at the time, it then made me so determined to shoot up the ranks when I turned pro. My frustrations from Korea, I took them out on my victims when I was climbing. After the Montell Griffin situation happened, it made me come back to show what I can do when I’m motivated. It shows why I’m still truly pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world today.

BM: You didn’t hang around in the second fight did you?

RJ: I didn’t come to hang around. And I don’t come with that attitude often, but that time I came with the attitude to not hang around.

BM: A lot of people wonder why you didn’t get it on with the likes of Benn, Eubank and Nunn for example. What have you got to say about that?

RJ: I was the contender for Toneys title when I moved up, he was rated over them guys although they were ofcourse very good fighters too. That division looked hot for a few years but the fights just did not happen, and this is before I moved up. If you think that when I got the win over Toney, those guys were on the decline and needed to prove themselves again to fight me which they never did. End of story.

BM: But I can remember when Steve Collins and Chris Eubank were calling you out, why didn’t you take those fights?

RJ: Okay, let’s just say that they needed me more than I needed them. If people don’t accept your terms or want to be too greedy then what can you do? If you want the truth, you can have it. The truth is people wanted to share a ring with me when I became a big name so that they could try to have one big payday then put their feet up and retire. I had an agreement with Gerald McClellan that we wouldn’t face eachother until we both moved up so that it would carry more hype. But I wanted to unify the middleweight title before I moved up, so I offered Stevie Collins and John David Jackson the chance to unify. But neither Collins or Jackson would fight me, they just would not fight Roy. You see, it wasn’t a big payday back then because nobody knew Roy. But a few years later and guys at the end of their careers suddenly turn to me. What is it with that? You know, what is it? I thought to myself “hold on Roy, your no longer climbing because your at the top, your the best pound-for-pounder in this thing and they are nowhere near, so you call the shots now Roy”. I’ve left those days behind, made my name at light-heavy.

BM: What is your X Ingredient, which makes you the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?

RJ: My mind.

BM: What does a fighter have to do to be best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?

RJ: For one, when you say best pound-for-pound fighter, you mean he is the most skilled at doing everything. That is what people fail to realise. A lot of people say because Shane Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya, Shane has the title. That’s one fight, against one opponent. Can he beat five left handers in a row like I did? Can he beat the James Toneys and Virgil Hills, who were ruling their divisions? Can he move up and beat fighters who he is not supposed to beat, like I did? When you are the best pound-for-pound, you are the best at moving up, or if you have to, move down. You are the best in every situation. You are the best body puncher, the best head puncher, you have the best offence, the best defence. You are the best all-round fighter, and nobody can top you for that. Who is the quickest for being so big, the powerfullest for being so small, and the best for being so great... It's Roy.

BM: Is it sometimes a challenge not to become bored. And is it sometimes difficult to motivate yourself?

RJ: Very difficult, really difficult infact. And that’s why I try to be careful who I fight and I like to fight people who are difficult, because I know they are dangerous. That makes me want to get ready for just in case the guy is tougher than I think he is. Great fighters are made on common opponents, like Muhammad Ali had Frazier, like Sugar Ray Robinson had LaMotta, that sort of thing. Not even great fighters can make themselves great anyway, like Holyfield and Bowe went away and did their own thing without the top guys Lewis and Tyson. They made themselves great, when they weren’t great anyway. In my divisions, while Roy has been around, there has been this and I look on in envy at it. You had Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, great rivals in England at the same time, same divisions, same everything. Now they didn’t fight many times, but they were rivals. Maybe you could say the German’s too, like Rocky, Maske, the other guy. I’ve never had that, what motivated me after I became champ was Gerald McClellan until he got hurt, we both knew that one day soon we would be these huge rivals on one another, and that would give us the motivation to go away and train our backsides off. That’s competition, that is what it is all about. Roy hasn’t had that, but I’m still, I am still a great fighter. That is why I need all the applause, no common opponent after McClellan got hurt, didn’t even get to fight Gerald once let alone many times over. Nobody came along for me. But I managed to stay motivated and still be seen as a great, great fighter now and I will carry on, I will carrying on winning and doing all I can. That is how real respect is earned, no common opponent, just wipe out whoever is put in front of you. That’s Roy, the best, the champ, and long may it continue. I just gotta do what I gotta do.

BM: Your father was a boxer, and you have other relatives who have boxed. But none made it all the way to the top. What makes you different?

RJ: It is all about when God touches you, and you accept that God is there. A lot of them didn’t realise until they were older that God was there. With God all things are possible. Most likely they didn’t have it together, because they didn’t have God. When you have God in your life and at the right time, as early as you can understand, then your chances are better.

BM: What are the challenges that now lie ahead of Roy Jones?

RJ: I want to knock out everybody this year, and I have a family to raise — three little boys. I want them to come up and have the opportunities that I had and more, to be beautiful people.

BM: Very few superstar boxing champions have had sons that have gone on to be champions too. If one of your sons were interested, would you encourage him?

RJ: No, I just wouldn’t because it’s a tough sport and people don’t realise that every time you step in that ring, no matter who you are facing, your life is on the line. I’ve known people like Gerald McClellan, who went in one way, came out and never was the same again. I would rather my kids be playing baseball, football or basketball. You don’t see many bad career-ending injuries in basketball or baseball. You see them in football, but not as bad as you do in boxing.

BM: How much longer do you want to continue your career?

RJ: Anywhere from three to five years. I’m starting a record company. Once my music jumps I’m going to start looking at getting out of boxing.

BM: You don’t seem to have had that difficult a route to the top. But who is the toughest opponent you’ve fought, or who is the opponent you have learned most from?

RJ: Jorge Castro from Argentina, because he was so strong, you could hit him with everything but he didn’t stop, and he stayed just as strong for the entire fight. I had to box him and use my head, and not get caught up in his tactics. I had to be very mature at a young age. He had previously knocked a lot of people out, he beat a lot of people by playing games, because he was one of the smartest guys I ever fought.

BM: Have we yet seen the best of Roy Jones, or are you going to go from strength to strength as you get older?

RJ: The latter. Stronger, faster and harder-hitting.

[jack_the_rippuh]

Wow.
Will he ever return?

[trevorjulien]

He should of retired after Ruiz. He has nothing to prove. We all could see that he was not motivated. RJ will always be my favorite boxer

[JUYJUY]

He talks about fighting Calzaghe and Trinidad there, well why didn't he?

[Boxerdog]

He talks about fighting Calzaghe and Trinidad there, well why didn't he?

Yeah it would have been nice had he fought them or Benn or McClellen or Julian Jackson or D.M. or Collins or Eubank or (ad nauseum..)

[Tha Greatest]

lol this is funny

[JUYJUY]

Yeah it would have been nice had he fought them or Benn or McClellen or Julian Jackson or D.M. or Collins or Eubank or (ad nauseum..)

You forgot Nunn and Rocchigiani, and Frankie Liles, and just about everybody else. It's so annoying that Roy didn't fight the best in his weight divisions.

[Truth]

He should have retired after the first Tarver fight or moved back to heavyweight.

[The Fix]

shoulda stayed at heavy and let tarver come to him, that way they wouldnt have needed a rematch