I remember this fight was in talks around 2003. But Jones moved up to heavy to fight Ruiz and Jirov fought Toney. There was even a ring magazine with predictions for the fight. Who wins this at Cruiser in 2003?
Apparently HBO wanted Roy to fight him mid to late 2002, instead of Woods. But Roy says that they were only going to pay him just a little extra. Then after he beat Woods, he signed to fight Ruiz towards the end of the year. Jirov was a tough southpaw as you saw against Toney. He would have presented Roy with a big test. But I think that Roy was still so fast back then, that his speed would have been too much. I think he'd have won a decision in what may have been a dull fight. I'm certain it wouldn't have brought the fireworks that we saw against Jirov-Toney. Stylistically, it would have been a completely different match up.
