Roy Jones Jr. is set for a retirement fight on Feb. 8, but he’d make an exception for Anderson Silva.
Jones Jr. has been competing in boxing professionally since 1989, but he will finally hang up his gloves. His bout with Scott Sigmon will air live on UFC Fight Pass. While Jones Jr. says he intends to stick to his word, he simply can’t say no if Silva is an option.
Speaking to the media at the UFC Performance Institute, Jones Jr. explained why a clash with “The Spider” would get him to change his mind (via MMAJunkie.com):
“Of course (I would), because it’s not a fight – it’s an event. And events always interest me. It’s a huge event that interests both of us. I was so interested (in the fight with Silva), because I knew that, just like the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight turned out to be one of the best events of all time, I knew that the Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva event would have been one of the best events of all time,” he said.
“So when you talk boxing, it’s one thing, when you talk MMA fighting, it’s another thing, but when you talk events, it’s a whole other light.”
Jones Jr. has won titles as a middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight, and cruiserweight. His legacy lies in the work he did as a light heavyweight. Jones Jr. was once considered the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world.
Silva was also renowned for his world class striking, but he did so in the combat sport of mixed martial arts. “The Spider” once held the record for most successful consecutive UFC title defenses. That record was recently broken by Demetrious Johnson.
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