Roy Jones Jr. Believes Oleksandr Usyk Beats Canelo Alvarez ‘Easy,’ Warns Against Moving Down
Roy Jones Jr. believes Canelo Alvarez would be easy work for Oleksandr Usyk.
Alvarez is set to move up in 2022 when he challenges Ilunga Makabu for his WBC cruiserweight title.
Although Makabu will be the much bigger fighter, many believe he is the most winnable fight for Alvarez at cruiserweight with the super middleweight champion currently being a heavy betting favorite.
It led to speculation of Alvarez potentially facing current unified heavyweight champion and former cruiserweight king Usyk with the latter being open to the prospect.
“Canelo is a handsome man. If he wants to box with me at cruiserweight, then I can go down there. But on condition that I still have my heavyweight belts because I’ll go back there later.”
Roy Jones Jr. Gives Oleksandr Usyk Advice
As far as Jones Jr. is concerned, Usyk would easily dispose of Alvarez.
However, he warned against moving back down as there is plenty of big fights for Usyk at heavyweight — with a rematch with Anthony Joshua being one of them.
“To me, Usyk is too big for Canelo,” Jones told IFL TV in a recent interview (via BoxingScene). “Uysk beats Canelo easy, in my opinion. But Uysk is the heavyweight champion of the world. Why would you go down to cruiserweight when you’re the heavyweight champion of the world?
“I remember when Chad Dawson went down from light heavyweight to fight Andre Ward at 168. That was the end of his career.”
In the end, there are far more lucrative fights for Usyk beyond Joshua in the heavyweight division — including a title unification with Tyson Fury among others.
“Why would you [go back down to cruiserweight to fight Alvarez] when you have Tyson Furys, Deontay Wilders, Anthony Joshuas? You’ve got so many big guys in the weight class where you are champion right now that it makes no sense unless you’re making way more money fighting [Alvarez], which you’re not,” Jones added. “Usyk versus Fury right now is probably one of the biggest fights on the planet. Usyk versus Joshua is another big fight.
“I think it’s all about a business decision. If there’ s more money you can make fighting somebody else, then ok. But why would you sacrifice by gambling on getting beat because you lost the weight when all you have to do is stay where you at and dominate?”
Do you agree with Roy Jones Jr.?
