Today (Thursday, February 8th), future Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr takes to the ring at 49 years old as he is still seeking a Cruiserweight world title to add to his resume. In his storied career, Jones Jr. has held world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions and he has spent the last few years obsessively hunting the championship in a fifth weight class.
Remember all that nonsense about Jones Jr becoming a Russian citizen? Well, he may still have the passport but he has not been back to Russia since Enzo Maccarinelli knocked him senseless in December of 2015. Many thought that would be the end of the road for Jones, but he proceeded to fight twice in 2016 and he logged one fight in 2017. Now the World Boxing Union, a minor outfit not on anyone’s radar, is sanctioning a “world title fight” for Jones Jr against Scott Sigmon. Sigmon is best remembered for being Kelly Pavlik’s opponent for Pavlik’s penultimate fight. He has also fought the likes of Lanell Bellows, Luis Arias, Matt Korobov and Caleb Truax so he has maintained a high level of competition. He is experienced and at 30 years old, he is two decades younger than Jones Jr., but he has never broken through and beaten a name yet. With that said, Jones made a mistake in 2015 setting up the fight with the faded but still dangerous Maccarinelli and his matchmaking is likely to be on the safe side for this fight. The sports books have him a major favorite.
Also of note, Jones Jr. is corroborating with the UFC as this fight will air on the UFC’s Fight Pass network, where they are advertising it as Jones Jr.’s last fight. Let’s hope that is the case.
North of the border in Canada, former super featherweight contender Tyson Cave (30-3) returns to the ring to take on Ulises Perez. Cave is best remembered for his split decision loss to Oscar Escandon for an interim world title back in December of 2014. Since then, the 36 year old has won 6 fights in a row. For his part Perez logged three fights in 2017, going 1-2 in those bouts.
Thu 2/8 Civic Center – Pensacola, Florida – UFC Fight Pass
Cruiserweight 10 rounds –
Scott Sigmon +650
Roy Jones Jr -1350
17 Steakhouse – Ontario, Canada
Lightweight 8 rounds –
Ulises Perez +1600
Tyson Cave -4000
