Boxing icon Roy Jones Jr. thinks Oleksandr Usyk would be severely misguided to go back down to cruiserweight for a fight with Canelo Alvarez.
Jones still believes Usyk would be unwise to drop back down to cruiserweight for several reasons, none of which has to do with any belief that Alvarez would win. On the contrary.
“To me, Usyk is too big for Canelo,” Jones told IFL TV.
“Uysk beats Canelo easy, in my opinion. But Uysk is the heavyweight champion of the world. Why would you go down to cruiserweight when you’re the heavyweight champion of the world?”
“I remember when Chad Dawson went down from light heavyweight to fight Andre Ward at 168. That was the end of his career.”
In short, in Jones’ view, Usyk does not lack opportunities in the most remunerative division in boxing.
“Why would you [go back down to cruiserweight to fight Alvarez] when you have Tyson Furys, Deontay Wilders, Anthony Joshuas? You’ve got so many big guys in the weight class where you are champion right now that it makes no sense unless you’re making way more money fighting [Alvarez], which you’re not,” Jones said. “Usyk versus Fury right now is probably one of the biggest fights on the planet. Usyk versus Joshua is another big fight.”
“I think it’s all about a business decision. If there’ s more money you can make fighting somebody else, then ok. But why would you sacrifice by gambling on getting beat because you lost the weight when all you have to do is stay where you at and dominate?”
