Living legend and future Hall of Famer Roy Jones Junior was originally set to attempt to keep his fading career alive by facing ‘bare knuckle champ’ Bobby Gunn in Philadelphia on December 4th. Gunn – who lost to former Jones rival James Toney in his most recent sanctioned boxing match, being stopped with a broken hand after 5-rounds last April – will be disappointed, yet Jones has had a change of mind and will instead be fighting in Moscow on December 21st.
(statement from Team Toney: For the record, the reason why Bobby Gunn didn’t answer the bell was cause he didn’t want to fight James Toney anymore. Gunn did not sustain a broken hand as you reported during the fight, the following morning he was even in the lobby shaking hands and laughing with boxing fans. Also for the record, there are no medical documents whatsoever supporting that he indeed had a broken hand. We are tired of hearing the same old false reports of Bobby having a broken hand. – TEAM LIGHTS OUT)
This is the world according to Russian promoter Vlad Hrunov, who spoke to R-Sport today.
“Roy Jones should have boxed on December 4th, but his bout was cancelled and he turned to us with an offer to take part in our boxing night,” Hrunov said.
“Jones intends to choose his opponent soon, but it won’t be a Russian boxer.”
The Dec. 21st card will take place at Krylatskoe Sport Palace, and will feature unbeaten duo Dmitry Chudinov (a middleweight) and Eduard Troyanovsky (a lightweight) in action along with the former multi-weight king.
Jones, now aged 44 and sporting a 56-8(40) ledger, will apparently make his opponent choice from a list of five or six fighters who hail from Europe and the U.S.
Jones has boxed in Russia before yet he won’t have pleasant memories of the occasion. Back in May of 2011, Jones was brutally KO’d in the 10th-round by a then 21-1 Denis Lebedev. Many experts felt that upsetting knockout would finally convince Jones, by then already way past his best, to call it quits. Yet on he goes.
Jones’ next Russian adventure is scheduled for ten-rounds. So far, there is no word on the weight Jones Jr will box at.
