Green vows to stop Roy Jones Jr.

By Jason Kim: International Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion Danny Green (27-3, 24 KO’s) is promising to knock boxing great Roy Jones Jr. (54-5, 40 KO’s) out this Wednesday evening in their title bout at the Acer Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Jones, 40, will be stepping up to the cruiserweight division for the bout, and there’s no telling how well he’ll do at this weight.

Jones previously stepped up in weight to capture the WBA heavyweight title in 2003 with a 12 round decision over John Ruiz, but that was six long years ago. Jones has been beaten in four out of his last 10 fights since that night, and it’s no longer any surprise when Jones loses. In his prime, Jones would have likely made easy work of a fighter like Green.

However, Jones has been well past his prime for a number of years now and it’s hard to tell how he’ll do on any given night. Recently, Jones has looked good with wins over Jeff Lacy and Omar Sheika. However, neither of those fighters were fighting particularly well at the time that Jones fought them. Jones showed that he’s capable of beating fighters that have slipped a couple of notches.

But we haven’t seen Jones beat a top level fighter in some time, aside from a narrow 12 round decision over Anthony Hanshaw two years ago. Whatever the case, Jones needs to win and look good against Green for him to keep the excitement going for his next fight against Bernard Hopkins in March 2010. That fight will take place regardless of the outcome of the Green-Jones bout, but if Roy isn’t victorious against Green it will likely cause the Hopkins fight to bring in less money.

Green is 36-years-old now and has fought twice since making a comeback in 2009 after retiring for two years from 2007 to 2009. In 2007, Green captured the World Boxing Association light heavyweight title with a 12 round decision over Stipe Drews, but instead of defending the title, Green chose instead to retire. Since coming back in 2009, Green has defeated Anthony van Niekerk and Julio Cesar Dominguez, stopping both of them.

This may not be good news for Jones, but Green has power and a heavy pressure style of fighting much like Glen Johnson. Green has very heavy hands and tends to go in a forward direction only. Jones can’t afford to stay on the ropes and try to trade with Green for too long, because he hits too hard and if he catches Jones with one of his big shots, he can end it quickly.

Jones may be feeling good about himself because of the way that he was able to put away Jeff Lacy in a 10th round stoppage in August. But Green is a lot more dangerous than Lacy, and has an excellent chin. Jones is going to have to move a lot if he wants to stay upright in this fight.

One thing that is being overlooked is that Jones will be fighting in front of Green’s home crowd, who won’t likely be too friendly towards him. Jones has become accustomed to being cheered for all his flashy moves. He may be in for a shock when he discovers that it’s Green who is being cheered and not him.

10 Responses to “Green vows to stop Roy Jones Jr.”