Boxing
Roy Jones Jr.: 'Canelo is not big enough to stay at 175'
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Following his loss to Dmitry Bivol on May 7, boxing fans and experts haven't been afraid to criticise Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
After conquering the super middleweight division, Canelo decided to move up in an attempt to become a two-time world champion at 175lbs. This move however backfired and he was beaten comprehensively by the talented WBA champion.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with DAZN, former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr. believes Canelo deserves the criticism for his performance against Bivol.
"I would say yes he deserved the criticism and I only he say he deserves the criticism because you already went to 175, you beat Kovalev, what are you going back to 175 for?," Jones Jr. told DAZN.
"Are you trying to stay at 175, it’s obvious you’re not big enough to stay at 175, this is not the weight class for you, are you doing this to win titles?
"You’ve already been there, done that, why do you keep going back?"
The 53-year-old has experience in moving through the divisions, winning world titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light-heavyweight and even heavyweight. But after winning the WBA world heavyweight title against John Ruiz in 2003, Jones Jr. decided to move back down after realising the sport's most glamorous decision wasn't right for him.
"When I won the heavyweight title, I had one request, if Mike Tyson doesn’t want to fight, I’m not staying at heavyweight, I’m not big enough to be fighting these guys.
"What I got back from Mike Tyson was he’s done with boxing at the time, he doesn’t want to fight.
"I went back to light-heavyweight and fought Tarver.
"I was not going to keep going back and forth to the heavyweight division, I’m not a legitimate heavyweight, I know this.
"But if I got the opportunity to go make history and win the heavyweight title, yeah I’m going try, it’s not going to kill me, I’ll box anyway.
"Dealing with those big guys will be detrimental to my health long term because I’m not big enough to bang with those guys on a daily basis."
DAZN subscribers can watch the full interview with Roy Jones Jr. who dissects the fallout from Canelo vs. Bivol tonight on The DAZN Boxing Show.
