By Rick Reeno
Promoter Lou DiBella has advised BoxingScene.com that talks are ongoing for Jermain Taylor (27-2-1, 17KOs) to face Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38KOs) in either June or July, on HBO pay-per-view. The fight will likely take place at a catch-weight of 170-pounds.
Taylor, a former middleweight champion, lost a unanimous decision last Saturday night to Kelly Pavlik at a contracted weight of 166-pounds. Jones, a former four-division champion, won a unanimous decision over Felix Trinidad in January. The Jones-Trinidad affair was also held at the catch-weight of 170.
"Pavlik may have won the fight on Saturday, but Jermain didn't lose," DiBella said.
Talks for Taylor-Jones were previously held in 2007. Jermain skipped out on Jones to defend his title against his mandatory, Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik stopped Taylor in the seventh-round of that September title defense. Following the loss, Jones claimed in an interview with BoxingScene.com, that he advised DiBella to turn Pavlik down.
"I saw it coming. I was telling Lou DiBella. The bad part about it, Jermain Taylor and I had a date for September. HBO gave him a pay-per-view (date) to fight me. They agreed to this a long time before I fought Anthony Hanshaw (7/14/07)," Jones said. "They said 'naw, we're going to fight Kelly Pavlik first'. I said 'you are making a mistake Lou, he (Taylor) almost lost his last six fights.'
On a side note from last Saturday's Pavlik-Taylor pay-per-view from Las Vegas, DiBella slipped and fell while exiting the ring during Ronald Hearns' undercard bout. He suffered a back injury and a broken rib.
"I was wearing new shoes. I fell very hard and I'm still in pain, but I'm continuing to conduct business for all of my fighters," DiBella said.