By Eric Thomas: Unbeaten welterweight contender Mike Jones (26-0, 19 KO’s) will be squaring off with what shapes up to be his biggest test of his career against the hard hitting Randall Bailey (42-7, 36 KO’s) on Saturday night on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao – Tim Bradley bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jones, 6’0″, will get the chance to prove that he’s the real deal after a pretty much mediocre first seven years of his career. The best opponent that Jones has fought was Jesus Soto Karass, who arguably should have been given a dvision over Jones in their first fight in November 1010. Jones was given a 10 round majority decision but he appeared to lose.

Bailey, 37, is a really big puncher with one punch knockout power. If he can land his shots in the early going, we may see Jones go in this fight. If Jones tries to trade with him, Bailey will have a good chance of scoring a KO. However, Jones will probably elect to use his legs to move around for the first six rounds until Bailey tires out and loses his power. Once Bailey becomes less of a threat, look for Jones to work him over and get a stoppage.

A win for the 29-year-old Jones will open up a lot of big opportunities for him. However, at 6-foot, Jones will likely be ignored by both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao for the remainder of their careers. Jones isn’t a big enough name for either of them to want to tackle such a tall fighter as this.

I’m sure Bob Arum might like the idea of matching Jones vs. Pacquiao, as this would really increase Jones’ value with Top Rank, but Pacquiao likely won’t agree to the fight because there’s no real pay off. It would be similar to Pacquiao facing Tim Bradley, only that Jones is perhaps not even as popular as Bradley. Pacquiao would be the only draw in this fight. Jones will have to instead look to get fights against guys like Kell Brook, Andre Berto, Devon Alexander and Jan Zaveck.