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Roy Jones Jr predicts an 'easy win' for Oleksandr Usyk if he faces Canelo

Roy Jones

Jones believes there is only one winner if Oleksandr Usyk and Canelo Alvarez collided at cruiserweight.

After three years of dominance as a cruiserweight, Oleksandr Usyk stepped up to heavyweight.
Following two wins against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora, some questioned whether he had the credentials to win world titles at heavyweight - something only Evander Holyfield and David Haye had achieved at the division as well as 200lbs.

However, Usyk extended his unbeaten record to 19-0 when he outpointed Anthony Joshua to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles in London.

He has since been linked with a unification bout against Tyson Fury but will first have to face Joshua again after he triggered his rematch clause.

Since then, Canelo Alvarez has spoken of his interest in becoming cruiserweight champion. Ilunga Makabu is an opponent his team are looking at - the WBC titlist. Should the Mexican be able to win a world title in a fifth division, Usyk is interested in fighting him.

Despite the talk, Roy Jones Jr believes there would only be one winner should the two collide.

"To me, Usyk is too big for Canelo," said Jones Jr. during an interview with IFL TV. "Usyk beats Canelo easy in my opinion."
"Usyk has no reason to come down and fight Canelo," continued Jones Jr. "Usyk is the heavyweight champion of the world. Why would you go 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 at 168? That was the end of his career. Why would you do that to yourself?"

Chad Dawson had picked up wins over Antonio Tarver and Bernard Hopkins before dropping down to super middleweight in 2012 against Andre Ward.
He would get dominated by Ward, getting floored three times before being stopped in round 10. While Dawson returned to light heavyweight, he was never the same type of animal.

Jones Jr had a similar ending to his career. After moving up to heavyweight and overcoming John Ruiz for the world title, he would move back down to light heavyweight but the weight cut had a huge impact on the American.
He would pick up eight defeats, with five of them ending inside the distance, including a crushing stoppage to Tarver in 2004.

The Hall of Fame boxer doesn't expect southpaw Usyk to make the same type of mistake he made, especially with the lucrative fights on offer.
"You got Tyson Fury, you got Deontay Wilder, you got Anthony Joshua again, you got Andy Ruiz. You got so many big guys who are in the weight class that you are champion at right now that it makes no sense.
"Unless it's way more money that you're going to make which he's not because you vs. Fury right now is probably one of the biggest fights on the planet. You vs. Joshua again is also a big fight."

Read more: What next for Canelo Alvarez in 2022? Makabu, Golovkin, Usyk all options

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