By Dan Ambrose: Former world title Mike Jones (26-1, 19 KOs) will be fighting this Saturday night against Jaime Herrera (11-2, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round bout at the Bally’s Event Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
It’s been 2 years since the 31-year-old Jones last fought. He was stopped in the 11th round by the hard hitting Randall Bailey in June of 2012.
Jones should have got back in the ring and continued his career following the loss, but instead he stayed out of the ring for the remainder of 2012 and all of 2013. When you see a fighter stay out of the ring for a long stretch after a disappointing loss, it makes you question their resolve.
The question is will Jones stop fighting if he takes another loss? You can’t know, but it’s not a good sign that he stopped fighting after the loss to Bailey. Jones lost to Bailey because he made the mistake of not keeping him on the outside in the 11th round after he’d built up an insurmountable lead.
All Jones would have to do was box Bailey in the last two rounds and he would have won the fight. But instead of boxing him, Jones stood directly in front of Bailey and was dropped hard in the 11th round.
“Boxing is a mental game just as much as a physical one,” said Jones’ trainer Ismael Salas. “When we first worked with Mike for this fight, we talked for a long time and worked on renewing his fighting spirit. He is a great fighter and he needs to think that when he walks into the ring he will be a powerful force. Mike is very strong and hits hard. He is in top condition; just look at him. After two years off, you will see what hard work and mental toughness did for Mike. He’s ready to fight.”
Jones had the talent to capture a world title in 2012. Whether he still has that talent is the big question. It’s been two long years since he last fought, and he’s 31 now. It might be too late for him. The welterweight division has gotten better since then, and there’s really no easy marks for Jones to select for a title shot.
At best, we’re probably looking at least 2 years before Jones can possibly get in position to fight for a world title, but that’s only if he wins his fights and defeats some high quality opponents along the way.
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