The response surprised me.

I always wondered how Roy Jones Jr., the best fighter in the world, backed out of a bout against Buster Douglas with a contract for $6 million in front of him. At the time, Jones' father had advised against the bout, citing Buster's size advantage.

	Roy Jones Jr., right, is getting set for Otis Grant, but the real prize would be a fight against Evander Holyfield.

OK, Buster is a big man -- 6 foot, 4 inches, 245 pounds -- but how is he going to hit Roy? For one night, given the deterioration of Buster's skills, that's a mismatch regardless of size. That was proven further when Lou Savarese ran Douglas over in one round.

So with Roy making the visit to Friday Night Fights, I had to ask: Why did you back out? Jones said if he was going to risk his svelte self against the big boys, why not take on the champion, the best guy up there?

I followed up by asking, "You mean you want Holyfield?"

Roy said "Yes, why not?"

It was news to me. Holyfield bristled when someone asked him how he thought he would do against Roy Jones. Holyfield snapped, "How do you think I would do?"

He seemed offended that anyone thought the light heavyweight champion could even challenge him. If you don't think it's a legitimate fight, you must have a very high opinion of Vaughn Bean. Bean, by the way, is 6 feet tall. About 1½ inches taller than Jones. Bean challenged Holyfield, won rounds against him, and did it in a physical condition closer to a slow-pitch softball player than a world-class fighter. You don't think a fired up Roy Jones could outfight Vaughn Bean?

Jones said his camp had been in touch with Holyfield's people. The heavyweight champ had other things on his plate. Roy said he respected that, but he had his own agenda and he wasn't going to wait around.

The unfortunate part of this is Holyfield and his current promoter. Neither Holyfield nor Don King want to risk losing the title, and the leverage a loss would have against Holyfield. If they're chasing down Henry Akinwande again, you know they're in the low-risk phase of Evander's career.

If $20 million to $25 million isn't enough to fight Lennox Lewis, I shudder to think of the asking price to walk in against a guy that could possibly embarrass him. It's one thing to go toe-to-toe with the big Brit, that's the type of war Evander relishes. It's another to play search and destroy with the fastest fighter on the planet.

While Holyfield doesn't want it, I would also question Jones' interest. He now seems content to pancake what's left of the light-heavyweights. He fights Otis Grant in Connecticut next month, and can't say enough nice things about the guy. He told me during a commercial break he thought Grant was a good man who deserved the payday -- approximately $500,000 he would get from fighting him. He has stopped complaining about a lack of respect and lack of cash.

Studio analyst Max Kellerman wanted Roy to "call someone out" on the air, suggesting Dariusz Michalczewski. Jones shrugged that off. I couldn't agree more. Michalczewski might be the top contender at 175 pounds, but only guys like Kellerman and I know that. Jones could care less about the matchup and the public shares his lack of enthusiasm. The best fighter in the world needs more. That means moving up, and that means Evander Holyfield.

What will we remember?

Either way, Roy Jones Jr. goes down as one of the most dominant fighters in history. However, the curse of the light heavyweight division is the proximity of the premier weight class.

While waiting for Jones to arrive, Kellerman and I went through our list of great light heavyweights. Ezzard Charles, Billy Conn, and Michael Spinks were all outstanding light heavyweights. But all three are remembered because of their move to heavyweight. If they had remained light heavyweights would we be talking about them now?

Bob Foster, and Dick Tiger were dominant at one point or another in the lighter weight class. At 5 feet, 9 inches Tiger lacked the frame to move up. Foster was sensational at 175 pounds and moved to heavyweight at various points in his career, losing to Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ernie Terrell, and Zora Folley.

As it stands, only Spinks has won both titles. We would've thought no less of him if his best bouts came against Dwight Braxton (Qawi). But we would think of him less often.