Roy Jones Jr has left the door open for a sensational return to the ring.
The 56-year-old four-division world champion has not competed as a professional since he was defeated by MMA legend Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis back in April 2023.
At the peak of his powers, Jones was a force to be reckoned with, winning world titles across four weight classes. The majority of his success came during the 1990’s, defeating the likes of Mike McCallum, Montell Griffin and Bernard Hopkins to name a few.
Jones is regarded as of the best fighters in the history of the sport, though many feel that he kept on fighting a little too long. It is not a problem he sees, as he told Covers he will always be interested in a showdown with former MMA superstar Anderson Silva, claiming it would be ‘one of the biggest’ events in combat sports.
“The fight that really started this crossover boxing, even before Conor McGregor got involved in it, the first fight that was on the horizon that we said would be a big event would be Roy Jones versus Anderson Silva and I’m never going to back away from that and say that’s not one of the biggest events that could happen today.”
After what was an exceptional professional mixed martial arts career – in which he set the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days – ‘Spider’ Silva made the move into boxing back in 2021.
The 49-year-old Brazilian has had three sanctioned contests within the last four years, defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and fellow MMA star Tito Ortiz, although he was beaten by YouTube sensation turned boxer Jake Paul in their 8-round bout in October 2022.
