By Jake Donovan

Roy Jones Jr. will likely make his ring return on December 12, potentially with a cruiserweight title at stake if presently tentative plans hold true.

An announcement is expected to be made this weekend in Venezuela. Jones and Russian business mogul Vlad Hryunov are in country in association with a fight card in Caracas, topped by Jorge Linares’ lightweight title defense versus Ivan Cano.

Jones has become an active member of Hryunov’s promotional team, including his work in preparing Fedor Chudinov and Khabib Allakhverdiev in their recent title fights. Chudinov defended his super middleweight title with a decision win over Frank Buglioni on Sept. 26th on the road in England.

Allakhverdiev’s road trip didn’t fare quite as well, suffering a 12th round stoppage at the hands of Adrien Broner in their vacant super lightweight title fight last weekend in Cincinnati. Jones was instrumental in preparing Allakhverdiev for the fight, but was unable to make the trip due to his obligations as HBO expert analyst for a Boxing After Dark show that same evening in Carson, Calif.

Jones remains a globetrotter, having traveled from Russia to England, to California and now to Venezuela, where he is on hand to assist in this weekend’s fight card along with local outfit Jupiter Fight Boxing.

Prior to fight night – which will air live via simulcast on ESPN3.com – Jones and Hryunov will unveil details regarding his next fight including the opponent and what will be at stake, although the location remains up in the air.

Jones recently gained Russian citizenship with the intention of staging major events in pursuit of a cruiserweight championship. Recent developments could complicate those plans, as Hryunov saw his promoter’s license revoked by the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia (PBFR).

The banishment comes with a twist, however; Hryunov can, through loopholes, still stage events in Russia, though just without the blessing of the PBFR.

Regardless of where Jones’ next fight takes place, the opportunity to fight for a cruiserweight title – should it materialize – could produce a historic moment. A title win by Jones would make him the first fighter in boxing history to capture championships at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight.

At present moment, Evander Holyfield and David Haye are the only two fighters in history to have claimed championships at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. James Toney was briefly on the list, only for his April ’05 title win over John Ruiz overturned after testing positive for a banned substance.

Jones (62-8, 45KOs) – who turns 47 in January – has presently won eight straight fights, though all coming against largely nondescript competition. The fighting pride of Pensacola, Florida was regarded for the better part of a 10-year stretch from 1994-2004 as the best fighter in the world, with title wins in four weight classes covering that period.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene