By Vadim Pushkin

According to WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, former four division beltholder Roy Jones Jr. has been embraced as a true countryman by the Russian people.

Jones became a Russian citizen in September in a move that was personally approved by country President Vladimir Putin.

Lebedev fought Jones in Russia in 2011 and finished off the veteran with a vicious knockout in the tenth round. Last month Jones suffered another vicious knockout defeat in Russia, this time in four rounds at the hands of former WBO cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev.

After that loss, a lot of Russian fans were upset about the health of the 46-year-old veteran.

"You know what's amazing? Let me tell you a little secret. I train in Los Angeles, and in the United States Roy Jones has long since been forgotten, and very few rarely bring him up. The only thing is that he has a job on TV, he is a commentator there. But the general public has forgotten him. And in Russia they are so fond of him. As there is an expression here "like a son of our own," Lebedev said.

"I know that when Roy went down during the fight with Maccarinelli, a lot people cried and cried. This means that they are very worried about him, like someone would be for their own son or their own child. He belongs only to the Russian people, it is. Of course, I humanly feel for Roy, but this is a sport."

"And this is a sport that Roy Jones knows from A to Z like the alphabet. He knew what was going on [in the ring]. He knew what would happen in the event of a bad training camp. I feel sorry for him ... we the people, we feel sorry. But if you look, he knew what he was doing and what might have happened."