NEW YORK -- David Telesco was asked if he thinks Roy Jones Jr. is the best fighter in the world.

Pause.

"Next question," said Telesco, who can blemish or polish Jones' reputation when he challenges the undisputed light heavyweight champion Saturday night on the first fight card held in the home of the Rockettes -- the landmark Radio City Music Hall.

Before Jones and Telesco go on stage before a sellout crowd of 5,700, Whitney Houston will sing the national anthem.

The 12-round bout will be part of an HBO-televised doubleheader with a 10-round heavyweight fight between Derrick Jefferson and David Izon. The telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET, with the title match set for about 11 p.m.

"It's like a pit bull against a cat," Telesco said. "A cat can scratch and run and a pit bull ain't going nowhere. He's a cat, and I'm a dog."

Jones can be a wildcat when aroused. Nineteen of the 33 knockouts on Jones' 40-1 record have come within the first three rounds.

One of his seven first-round knockouts came when he regained the WBC title from the very capable Montell Griffin on Aug. 7, 1997. A little more than five months earlier, Jones lost the title on a ninth-round disqualification for twice hitting Griffin when he was down.

"He's got to play my game," Jones said. "He can't upset me."

The question is what game the champion from Pensacola, Fla., wants to play in a show biz setting on the eve of his 31st birthday.

With his fast hands and quick feet, Jones can put on a boxing clinic as he did when outpointed Reggie Johnson in his last fight June 5.

Or he can turn tiger as he did against Griffin. Or he can go through the motions as he did when he outpointed Lou Del Valle in a 1998 fight in which got careless and got knocked down for the only time in his career.

Jones won the WBA 175-pound title by beating Del Valle, and he added the IBF championship with his victory over Johnson. He also has held the IBF middleweight and super middleweight titles.

The 31-year-old Telesco, of Port Chester, has 19 knockouts on a 23-2 record in a career that began in 1991. He served three years in prison for selling cocaine and did not fight in 1994-96.

The heavyweight bout figures to be an action match. Jefferson, of Detroit, has a 22-0-1 record, with 18 knockouts. Izon, a Nigerian living in Pensacola, has a 24-3 mark, with 19 knockouts.