Former four division world champion boxer Roy Jones Jr believes Canelo Alvarez deserves the criticisms for going up to Light Heavyweight and take on the undefeated WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, saying that 175 is “not the weight class” for him.
What are you going back to 175 for? Roy Jones Jr criticizes Canelo’s return to Light Heavyweight
Canelo Alvarez, the reigning undisputed super middleweight champion, had already made his Light Heavyweight debut back in 2019 against Sergey Kovalev and won the WBO belt in the process.
The next year, Canelo embarked on his rise to the 168-pound crown and after becoming the four belt champion, made a comeback to 175 for the second time- taking on Bivol for the WBA title on 7th May. Despite going into the bout as the favorite, Canelo was outboxed by his larger opponent and after going the distance, it was a unanimous decision win for Bivol.
While there is yet to be any confirmation on Canelo’s next move- whether he will opt for a rematch or return to 168 for the Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy, the Mexican is bombarded with reprimands for choosing a weight class above his abilities, which Roy Jones Jr himself agrees upon.
“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 said in a recent interview with DAZN Boxing Show, “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?”
“Superman” himself is well-experienced with the idea of moving up the weight classes. Starting as a light middleweight early in his pro career, Jones clinched titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and all the way up to heavyweight. However, the 5″11″ Jones himself knew that he wasn’t going to stay in that division.
“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,” Jones added. [H/T Boxingscene.com]
Do you agree with Roy Jones Jr? Let us know in the comment section below.
