Amari Jones is excited for the next part of his career with Golden Boy Promotions.
Jones, 23, recently made some changes, one of which was a new promoter, the other being a new head coach, Virgil Hunter.
Jones, 14-0 (12 KOs), spent the good portion of his career with Devin Haney Promotions. For some fans, the optics of Oakland, California’s Jones being with another promoter were shocking. For Jones, it is just the next part of his career.
“People wonder about me and Devin Haney Promotions, because it was never publicized,” Jones said. “I saw people say that I switched up on them, but it was far from that.”
Jones, managed by Rick Mirigian, aims to revive a rather sleepy middleweight division, which has failed to pick up steam since Gennadiy Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez left. Despite credible titleholders like Janibek Alimkhanuly, Erislandy Lara and Carlos Adames, the division has fallen into the abyss of boxing, often not being spoken about.
“I am No.12 in the IBF rankings,” Jones said. “I am getting closer to the top 10, which means closer to a world title shot.”
“I want anybody who is ranked ahead of me. I don’t care who it is; if they are ahead of me, I am willing to fight them.”
Jones detailed the process of signing with Golden Boy Promotions, which was announced in June.
“I got an opportunity with Golden Boy Promotions, and I took it,” Jones said. “Golden Boy gave me a good offer.”
One of the key factors for Jones was the broadcast deal Golden Boy Promotions has with DAZN. The other was the relationship the promotion has with the Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Alalshikh.
“They are with DAZN, they have a network deal, and they work with Turki, who is bringing big fights to the sport right now,” Jones said. “Those two things weighed heavily on my decision.”
