Roy Jones Jr. - Should He Move Up To The Heavyweight Division?

With five-time world champion Roy Jones Jr’s bout with Felix Trinidad fast approaching, I thought this would be a good time to consider whether Jones should move back up to the heavyweight division following his light heavyweight bout with Trinidad. Clearly, the 38 year-old - soon to be 39 - Jones isn’t what he once was and doesn’t have the blinding speed that he did 10 years ago, but he still seems more than fast enough to compete in the heavyweight division. Like a lot of fighters in the 40’s, 50s and 60s, Jones should move up in weight as he ages, a move which would enable him use his fast hands on the slow heavyweights in the division.

Indeed, there is no better time than now for Jones to make the move, as the division is the worst it’s been in years with a number of limited Eastern European heavyweights occupying the top spots. Like it or not, Jones proved before that he’s more than good enough to beat the best of the heavyweights when he won a one-sided unanimous decision over WBC heavyweight champion John Ruiz. Unfortunately for Jones, he chose not to defend the title, instead dieting back down to 175 to fight Antonio Tarver, a bout in which Jones lost by 2nd round knockout. Since then, the stress of having to take off over 25 lbs of pure muscle has left Jones a shell of a fighter.

Rather than taking a clue and realizing that his body is forever set at a heavyweight level, Jones has stubbornly persisted at fighting at 175lbs, and has been beaten twice more for his efforts. Hopefully, after Jones takes on Trinidad, he’ll finally come to his senses and move back up where he belongs - the heavyweight division.

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