Roy Jones Jr warns Oleksandr Usic against fighting Canelo lvarez – even if he wins ‘easy’.
Canelo, the current undisputed super middleweight champion, is preparing for a sensational move to cruiserweight.
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It was a division formerly ruled by the undefeated Usyak, before he jumped to heavyweight and defeated Anthony Joshua.
Boxing legend Jones considered the Ukrainian to make light work of Canelo, but still thinks losing the weight would be a mistake.
He told IFLTV: “Usik is too big for Canelo. Usyk beat Canelo easily, in my opinion but Usyk is the heavyweight champion of the world.
“Why would you go back to cruiserweight when you’re the heavyweight champion of the world?
“Look what happened when Chad Dawson went down from light heavyweight to fight Andre Ward on 168. That was the end of his career.
“Why would you do this to yourself when you have Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz?
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“You have so many big guys in the weight class where you’re the champion right now that it doesn’t make sense unless you’re making more money.
“Usik vs. Fury is probably one of the biggest fights on the planet right now. Usyk vs. Joshua is a big fight again.”
Canelo, 31, had a request by the WBC to step up to cruiserweight and challenge for his belt.
Meanwhile, Usyak, 34, is set to retake the match in April to 32-year-old Joshua, who won the unified heavyweight title in September.
He raised 15th 11lbs the day before, finished three and a half stones At super-middleweight, Canelo weighs more than 12th.
Jones, 52, theorized that Usik was using Alvarez’s name to put pressure on Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn ahead of rematch talks.
Usyk beat Canelo easily, in my opinion but Usyak is the heavyweight champion of the world. Why would you go back to cruiserweight when you are the heavyweight champion of the world?
Roy Jones Jr.
He added: “If you want to use that fight as a negotiating tool, it’s understandable.
“If they’re not paying you enough for the rematch with Joshua, and you’re getting double to fight Canelo then you’re right, maybe you should go down and fight Canelo.
But if it’s not, I guess it’s about a business decision.
“If there’s more money you can earn fighting someone else, that’s fine, but why would you want to risk a losing chance because you’ve lost weight when all you have to do is stay there and dominate ?
“Like I said, he’s probably using it as a negotiating tool, because they’re probably not paying him what he wants for the Joshua fight.
“So he’s right, if I can do a Canelo fight and double or triple the money, that makes sense.”
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