By Luke Furman

Former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. (62-8, 45KOs), 46-years-old, hopes to be speaking fluently in Russian by next year. Last week Jones was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin.

Jones has had tours in the country, where he performed songs from his rap albums. He plans to open up a boxing school in the country and more concert tours are being worked out.

"Yes, I will learn Russian. I want to talk so well in Russian that you will easily understand me. I think that it will take about a year. I hope that by next year I will talk like a Russian," Jones said.

"I'm going to write and perform my new raps. There are so many people who know me, so that there are all sorts of areas of business that can be developed here. And - why not? Maybe I'll discover something new. And besides, I plan to open a boxing school in Russia. I'm 46 years old? To me that is just a number. My goal is to win the world title at cruiserweight. I'm still very motivated. I would like to make a couple of billion dollars. I want to develop my businesses in the United States and Russia."

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.