Former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr has confirmed he is in talks with Tommy Fury regarding a possible fight in Saudi Arabia.
Despite a 30-year age gap between the two boxers, Jones Jr has stated he is ’75 per cent’ confident the bout against the 10-0 Brit will take place.
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Jones Jr has announced he is in negotiations regarding a fight with FuryCredit: Getty
The 54-year-old is regarded as one of the finest boxers in history, where he is the only man to start his career at light-middleweight to win a heavyweight world title.
A silver medallist at the 1988 Olympics, Jones Jr retired in 2018, before stepping back in the ring two years later to take on Mike Tyson in an exhibition, which ended in a draw.
He then made his professional return to the squared circle in April, where he lost on points to ex-UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
And he has now set his sights on pitting his wits against 2019 Love Island contestant Fury, in what he hopes is part of a card that features Tyson against Tommy’s dad John.
Discussing a potential dust-up with TNT in an interview with Casino Alpha, Jones Jr said: “Me and Tommy Fury is a great idea.
“John Fury initially said he wanted to fight Mike Tyson, so I said If you’re all going to do that, let’s go and make an all-out card – if John fights Mike, I’ll fight Tommy on the undercard or as the co-main, that would be awesome right?
“Tommy Fury said, ‘alright, let’s fight for real’, so I said, ‘whoa okay, that might work, but I need to get these knees right first’.
“That’s going to take me a little bit of time, not a lot of time, six to eight weeks – but we’re in talks, it’s being negotiated, it’s a really interesting fight.
Fury is yet to taste defeat
inside the boxing ringCredit: 2023 Getty Images
Jones Jr won world titles from super-middleweight up to heavyweightCredit: Getty
“If the money is right it will be good, but if it’s not a crazy, astronomical amount of money, why would I do it?”
He added: “I haven’t heard anymore about John Fury and Mike Tyson, but Tommy Fury said ‘hey, we can still do our thing and do our own exhibition’.
“And I said, ‘that’s not a bad idea but the money will have to be right’. But guess what? In Saudi Arabia right now it will probably be right.
“Saudi Arabia at the moment will probably pay what I’m looking for to make an exhibition happen. Dealing with the Saudis I’ll say that I’m 75 per cent sure this exhibition happens against Tommy Fury.”
As for his prediction on how the fight will pan out, Jones Jr believes his experience will see him outclass his younger rival.
He stated: “I should be able to defend myself. Keep him away. Keep him off balance and outsmart him. I should be able to do all the things that I know I can do.
“I know my reflexes are not what they used to be. I know my legs aren’t the same, but I still should have enough to neutralise Tommy Fury and anything he brings to me.
“I should beat Tommy Fury. I was a professional boxer by trade. That’s what I grew up doing. That’s not what Tommy Fury is. He took up boxing later.”
