By John Brady – I would like to take this time to personally thank Dana White for not only saving the sport I love a great deal of public embarrassment, but possibly Roy Jones’ life in the process. As I’m sure you all have heard by now Roy has publicly challenged UFC phenomenon Anderson Silva to a cage match UNDER MMA RULES! UFC president Dana White refused to allow this event to occur calling it a “circus event” and I have to agree. Personally I feel Dana is trying to protect his investment because if the impossible happens and Roy beats Silva in the octagon his product will take a major hit.. I would like Dana to explain why he tried to sanction a Floyd Mayweather vs. Sean Sherk MMA bout that he attempted to put together in 2007. Does he think that Floyd would actually have a chance against Sherk in the cage? Is Mayweather vs. Sherk any less of a “circus event” than Jones vs. Silva? Dana had stated in regards to the Mayweather crossover that it would “generate interest” because Mayweather is a household name and at the time was the best pound for pound fighter. This leads me to believe that it was about the money. A Mayweather vs. Sherk PPV would sell plain and simple. But then again a Jones vs. Silva PPV would sell just as well. So why is it yes to the Floyd crossover and no to Roy? Is it because Mr. White knew that Floyd would NOT accept his challenge and when Roy challenged Silva he froze up. Anyway that’s neither here nor there. Either way I’m glad Dana isn’t gambling because Roy beating Anderson in the cage is about as likely as Freddie Roach having Floyd Sr. over for Sunday dinner.
I am a boxing enthusiast first and foremost. The sport is in my blood. To tell you the truth I am not a huge fan of the UFC or any type of MMA for that matter but I do respect the sport and their athletes. And that is the one thing that boxers, mixed martial artists and fans of both sports have to come to understand: they are COMPLETELY different sports! And Anderson Silva is their version of Floyd Mayweather. He’s the best at what he does. Michael Jordan is the best basketball player in the history of the sport, but could he play baseball? Obviously I’m aware that there are a few exceptions but athletes who attempt to crossover to another sport usually wind up disappointed and in this case it would end in devastation.
The original agreement between Roy and Silva is that they were going to fight under boxing rules. Dana obviously would not allow this while Anderson is under contract so he declined. Silva has repeatedly stated how badly he wants to box the 40 year old. Bottom line is Roy isn’t getting any younger and whether he’s having financial problems, or misses the big stage, or even if this is just a publicity stunt he finally gave in shocking fans of both sports and publicly stated that he would fight the best fighter the UFC has to offer inside the octagon. As big of a Roy Jones fan as I am, he is nowhere near the fighter he used to be. He fights strictly on reflexes that do not exist anymore, and to be completely honest at the present time I wouldn’t completely rule out Silva’s chances in the boxing match either. Anderson Silva has a professional boxing record of 1-1. He’s a quick southpaw who spends most of his MMA fighting time on his feet. Three of Roy Jones’ five losses came at the hands of southpaws, and one by brutal knockout. I would still have my money on Roy in the ring, even today, but judging by the way he’s looked in the ring since the Tarver knockout, added to the fact that Silva is a southpaw who’s six years Roy’s junior with boxing experience, and it just might not be the quick knockout that everyone thinks it would be. Not to mention Silva will have the extra motivation thinking that he’s fighting for the “pride” of his sport being that most MMA fans still feel Roy Jones is a force to be reckoned with inside the ring and will hold a lot of stock into this fight, where boxing fans know he’s washed up and probably won’t be paying too much attention.
I think I can speak for all boxing fans when I say that Roy Jones should not be fighting anymore. The first Tarver fight was his peak, and would have been a perfect time to go out on top. Throughout Roy’s career he was never in the habit of keeping his hands up and to be honest, he didn’t have to. He was that good. He dominated the sport for a decade strictly on his speed and reflexes. But that was then and this is now. Jones was never all that technically sound which makes it so dangerous for him to still be fighting at 40. Almost every fighter hangs around too long and will fight a few more times than they should have. Right now I think Roy has fought eight times more than he should have, and I haven’t been hearing any talks of retirement come out of his mouth. If Roy insists on continuing his work in the ring my advice would be this, stay within the sport and if anything challenge yourself one more time against the top 175 pounders. Try to avenge the losses against Johnson or Tarver. Again I would advise Jones to retire and I think either one of those ideas would result in his failure. But they are better routes to take than taking on Anderson Silva in a UFC fight, because that’s not a bad idea, that’s suicide.
So thank you Dana White for pulling the plug on this fight. I know you only did it because you were afraid that your man might lose, but whatever the reason this match only would have wound up devastating to Roy Jones who already seems to have lost more of his marbles than I thought, and also would have put yet another black eye on the great sport of boxing that is slowly but surely climbing its way back to the top. And to Anderson Silva, I’m sure you will get your chance to box Roy after your UFC contract is up in another year and a half because men in this sport never seem to know when to hang em up, and regardless of the reasoning a Jones vs. Silva fight under any rules will generate fan buzz and sell PPV’s. But just keep in mind in case you land a lucky shot that you won’t be fighting the REAL Roy Jones, you’ll be fighting a 41 year old fraction of Roy Jones. And to Roy, I hope you do decide to hang em up before then. This fight is not going to be allowed in the cage, and honestly it should not happen in the ring either, it will prove nothing. Don’t show fans of a different sport today’s Roy. Let us remember you for the great champion you were throughout the nineties when you dominated the middleweight division all the way up to heavyweight.