American Boxer Roy Jones Junior, undisputed light heavyweight champion and an unbeatable fighter during his prime has brought out a stinging rebuke to Floyd Mayweather for not accepting a fight with Manny Pacquiao. The American boxer in fact used to favour Mayweather as the better fighter between the two. But with the recent blood-testing issues Floyd's vacation, this appears to have changed Roy's opinion.
While teaching a masterclass at London’s Real Fight Club, Jones also took the time to answer general questions. His take on the Mayweather-Pacquiao saga was revealing. “Off the top I like Mayweather. Now that has changed,” he said.
He showed his reasoning, even though in a round-about way. He picked out two students from the class to form a triangle. He pointed at one then the other, saying, “His name is David Haye, his name is Vitali Klitschko.” Gesturing at himself, he declared with a smile, “My name is Roy Jones.”
His thought experiment followed: “They call me and tell me, like they did the other day, at Wembley you and David Haye will sell it out. David Haye is in his prime right now and let’s say I’m back in my prime. Let’s say I’ve just won a world title in the same weight class. They decide to have a battle to decide who’s best between he and I. “It’s going to be the biggest fight in this country, we’re just saying, this is going to be the biggest pay-per-view event ever in the history of the sport. And we’re going to find out who’s the best fighter, right? Okay, he says, ‘I’m all in.’”
In this point in time it begins to become clear that Manny Pacquiao is represented by Haye in this allegory. “I’m going to make him wait for now,” Roy explained. “I’m the boss, I’m the best, I’m going to wait. So he tells me, ‘I’m going to go fight Vitali Klitschko.’ What do you think I’m going to do?” Jones raise up his hands, and answered himself, “That’s not going to happen.” He swung his finger from one man to the other, insisting, “I’m not going to let him [Klitschko] steal my glory whipping his [Haye’s] behind when he thinks he’s as good as me. If I think I can beat him, I don’t want to take that chance.”
He added: “So why does Floyd Mayweather let Manny Pacquiao go take that chance with [Antonio] Margarito? If [Pacquiao] loses, whether through a fault, whether it’s a headbutt, that ruins this big fight. So if you really thought you could beat him, would you allow him to do this?”
The message of Roy proceeded: “You talked yourself into this too. You’re claiming to be the best fighter pound-for-pound. Now that the man agreed to take a blood test, you’re still messing around. So do you really think you can win?”
Roy gave his verdict on the issue. “I’m starting to think he don’t. Because if he did he wouldn’t let this Margarito fight happen. I was thinking Mayweather was the better fighter to begin with and I still think he’s the better fighter,” Roy revealed. “But I don’t think that he believes he can win. If he does think he can, he doesn’t think it’s easy.”
Jones indicated one more time at the two men standing dutifully in front of him as depictions of Haye and Klitschko. “Truthfully if I let him fight him, I’m hoping I don’t have to fight. That’s what Floyd’s thinking. He’s hoping [Pacquio’s] upset so he never has to fight.”
