Roy Jones - In the ring interview, just prior to the Brannon fight.

Roy Jones interview (2001)

BM: You are the first current WBC world champion to be portrayed on their championship belt in this way. Do you feel honoured?

RJ: Yes, it’s a magnificent honour. People don’t understand how important this is to me. God did not bless me to have some of the big money fights that some of the fighters have. He blessed me by showing what he can really do through me, using me as an instrument. This honour means more than any dollar could ever mean to me.

BM: What is going to be your next fight?

RJ: I’m going to fight Derrick Harmon in Tampa on February 24th. After that I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Whatever is best for me I’m going to do, but I won’t be giving up my title.

BM: Joe Calzaghe wants to fight you, but he’s signed for a different TV network [Showtime, while Jones is with HBO]. However, your representative Brad Jacobs says nothing is impossible, and if the fight’s attractive then a deal can be worked out. Is there a possibility that you could fight Calzaghe in the future?

RJ: He’s welcome to come right on. I’ll be willing and waiting for anyone who wants to challenge me as far as me being the best. My duty as the best is to take on all challengers, so if they want to make it happen, and everything is fair for me, it happens.

BM: Calzaghe is a super middleweight and you’re now a light-heavyweight.

RJ: I would make super middleweight for him. I’m that kind of champion. I will go down if I need to, or up to meet the challenge.

BM: And would he have to come to you or would you go to Wales? Does it matter to you?

RJ: Whatever is best for Roy, Roy does. Whatever situation is best for me, I do.

BM: So we could see you on our side of the Atlantic? That would be cool.

RJ: They been saying there’s a sports venue with 60 or 80 thousand seats in England.
[The Millenium Stadium is in Wales not England, but Boxing Monthly wouldn’t dare correct him]

BM: That would be the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

RJ: Right.

BM: How do you rate Calzaghe?

RJ: He beat Eubank, and Chris said that he’s never been hit so hard. That was the best super middle performance apart from Roy on Toney.

BM: His win against Eubank was spectacular and we really thought that was going to be the start of something special, but his career hasn’t really kicked off like it should of done.

RJ: I’m a big fan of Calzaghe. I understand he’s the home-boy like me, got screwed abroard like me too. He’s stylish with real good speed of hand and he comes to fight and so he’s good to watch.

BM: You have mentioned that you might like to fight the right heavyweight in the future, for instance Evander Holyfield, one of the smaller big men. This is an interesting prospect.

RJ: Yes it is, but right now the lighter prospects are looking even better. There’s Joe Calzaghe, Felix Trinidad. Those prospects are looking a lot better, so I don’t know yet. It is according to which one comes first, and which one is best for Roy.

BM: Many boxers want to go up in weight. But in your case there might be a possibility you could go back down to super middle and middle and win more championships. That’s never really been done before.

RJ: No it hasn’t, and that’s the way I’m going to try to do it. I don’t know if I’ll make middle, but I know that I can make super middle. If Trinidad wins the middles, we can do it at a catch weight of 168 pounds.

BM: How do you rate yourself as an all-time great in the light-heavyweight division? There have been some great fighters like Michael Spinks, Bob Foster, Matthew Saad Muhammad. How would you rate yourself alongside them?

RJ: I don’t try to rate myself, I’ll leave that to the people to do. Whatever they say is fine with me, I don’t mind. I only care how God rates me. And I think God is very pleased with what I do because I go out and achieve to the best of my ability, to show people what God will do for you, if you just have faith and believe.

BM: In the 1970s Bob Foster tried to take on heavyweights. He got wiped out against Joe Frazier in two rounds and Muhammad Ali finished him off in eight rounds. It’s a heck of a difficult jump. Where as you could possibly hold your own against Holyfield, Lennox Lewis is 250 pounds in weight. That is a massive difference. What do you think about this?

RJ: That is the only reason I would try, because I would like to be the first one to ever accomplish the mission of going from middleweight to heavyweight.

BM: Micky Walker in the 1930s fought a draw against Jack Sharkey, but was stopped against Max Schmeling. Michael Spinks built himself up. What do you think?

RJ: It all depends on the heavyweight as well. Look how competitive Michael Spinks was against Larry Holmes, but look what happened when he fought Mike Tyson. Holmes was bigger than Tyson, but he wasn’t as powerful as Tyson. So it all depends on what heavyweight you are going to take on.

BM: Your amateur career ended when you were robbed of the gold medal in the Olympics. And then against Montell Griffin you were disqualified. Those two things took perfection away. You are a diamond, but because of that there are two tiny flaws. Does that disappoint you? How do you overcome that?

RJ: Those flaws only show how truly beautiful this diamond really is. When they robbed me in Korea, it made me stand up and show the person I really am. After the Montell Griffin situation happened, it made me come back to show what I can do when I’m motivated. It shows why I’m still truly pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world today.

BM: You didn’t hang around in the second fight did you?

RJ: I didn’t come to hang around. And I don’t come with that attitude often, but that time I came with the attitude to not hang around.

BM: One guy you haven’t fought yet is Dariusz Michalczewski, do you plan on beating him before you retire or before you move up so that you can say you cleared up at light-heavyweight?

RJ: The German isn’t much of a proposition, nobody wants to see him fight. You got to knock them out to get a draw over there, and he won’t come over here.
[Michalczewski is Polish not German, but Boxing Monthly wouldn’t dare correct him]

BM: What is your X Ingredient, which makes you the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?

RJ: My mind.

BM: What does a fighter have to do to be best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?

RJ: For one, when you say best pound-for-pound fighter, you mean he is the most skilled at doing everything. That is what people fail to realise. A lot of people say because Shane Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya, Mosley has the title. That’s one fight, against one opponent. Can he beat five left handers in a row like I did? Can he beat the James Toneys and Virgil Hills, who were the best our country had in their division for years? Can he move up and beat fighters who he is not supposed to beat, like I did? When you are the best pound-for-pound, you are the best at moving up, or if you have to, move down. You are the best in every situation. You are the best body puncher, the best head puncher, you have the best offence, the best defence. You give James Toney a left hook and Virgil Hill a body shot, and nobody can land enough punches on you. You are the best all-round fighter, and nobody can top you for that.

BM: Is it sometimes a challenge not to become bored. And is it sometimes difficult to motivate yourself?

RJ: Very difficult. And that’s why I try to be careful who I fight and I like to fight people who are difficult, because I know they are dangerous. That makes me want to get ready for just in case the guy is tougher than I think he is.

BM: Your father was a boxer, and you have other relatives who have boxed. But none made it all the way to the top. What makes you different?

RJ: It is all about when God touches you, and you accept that God is there. A lot of them didn’t realise until they were older that God was there. With God all things are possible. Most likely they didn’t have it together, because they didn’t have God. When you have God in your life and at the right time, as early as you can understand, then your chances are better.

BM: What are the challenges that now lie ahead of Roy Jones?

RJ: I want to knock out everybody this year, and I have a family to raise - three little boys. I want them to come up and have the opportunities that I had and more, to be beautiful people.

BM: Very few superstar boxing champions have had sons that have gone on to be champions too. If one of your sons were interested, would you encourage him?

RJ: No, I just wouldn’t because it’s a tough sport and people don’t realise that every time you step in that ring, no matter who you are facing, your life is on the line. I’ve known people like Gerald McClellan, who went in one way, came out and never was the same again. I would rather my kids be playing baseball, football or basketball. You don’t see many bad career-ending injuries in basketball or baseball. You see them in football, but not as bad as you do in boxing.

 

BM: You didn’t fight Nigel Benn at super middle. That was a mouth-watering fight, that was the fight everybody wanted to see in the mid-90s.

RJ: Benn wouldn’t stop his association with Don King. My agents though were at his fight when he lost the title to Malinga, but since Benn lost there was no point going through with it. Another thing is we didn’t want to do it too soon after Gerald McClellan because it would of received the wrong publicity as a revenge mission. Benn was one fighter I had a lot of respect for, I wouldn’t disrespect him, Mike McCallum was another one. When I turned pro he’d already knocked out 22 of them in a row, and he was a true warrior.

BM: How much longer do you want to continue your career?

RJ: Maybe two years, maybe two years. I’m starting a record company. Once my music jumps I’m going to start looking at getting out of boxing. The plan was to get out of boxing in my 20s, at my peak and with my health. I didn’t plan to fight beyond the 1990s. But since I did nothing to default against myself when I was coming up, never tried any kind of drug, never drunk alcohol - not even a sip, then it means that I got this great longevity and I might as well use it because I’m still not getting hit in the head too much.

BM: You don’t seem to have had that difficult a route to the top. But who is the toughest opponent you’ve fought, or who is the opponent you have learned most from?

RJ: Jorge Castro from Argentina, because he was so strong, you could hit him with everything but he didn’t stop, and he stayed just as strong for the entire fight. I had to box him and use my head, and not get caught up in his tactics. I had to be very mature at a young age. He had previously knocked a lot of people out, he beat a lot of people by playing games, because he was one of the smartest guys I ever fought.

BM: Have we yet seen the best of Roy Jones, or are you going to go from strength to strength as you get older?

RJ: The latter. Stronger, faster and harder-hitting.