Roy Jones: Ward Wins, He is P4P Best - If Kovalev Wins, Not Sure

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. broke down one of the best matches of the year, the light heavyweight showdown between IBF/WBO/WBA world champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs) and Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs).

The fight is scheduled for November 19th and likely at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the contest.

Jones once dominated the entire light heavyweight division and captured virtually every title at the weight class before a quick move to heavyweight.

Ward, after dominating the super middleweight division, moved up to 175 earlier this year. Jones views the contest as a 50-50 fight where either guy is capable of winning at the end of the day.

"I still see it as a pretty even fight, both fighters can win the fight. Both guys are determined, both guys have a lot to prove, Kovalev more so than Ward. Both guys want to prove that they are the supreme guy at light heavyweight, therefore both guys have a lot on the line. It’s a great fight, great situation, and I still see it as a fifty-fifty fight right now but we’ll see what happens," Jones told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

A lot of experts believe the winner of this contest will become the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Jones feels, without question, that Ward will be the best fighter in the world. But if Kovalev wins, Jones is not sure if a Ward victory is enough to unseat the current pound-for-pound king, Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez.

"Well it would be close because if Ward wins, he’s still clearly the pound-for-pound guy. If Kovalev wins, he comes close, but he still has a few more obstacles to climb because he will have beaten the pound-for-pound guy right now but at the same time, there are a couple of other guys looming in the wind there," Jones said.

"Just because you beat the pound-for-pound guy doesn’t make you the pound-for-pound guy, although Kovalev does have a strong claim for it and because the claim is so strong, I can understand people giving it to him if he does win. The winner of that fight could become the clear cut guy."