Keyword
BOXING
Champions
Schedule
SPORT SECTIONS
Friday, September 8
 
Jones plans a 'boxing lesson'

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- Roy Jones Jr. is ready to give another boxing lesson Saturday night. The question for the undisputed light heavyweight champion is, will enough people want to watch to make it worthwhile?

Jones is a heavy favorite to beat Eric Harding (19-0-1, 6 KOs). Whether Harding can put up enough of a challenge to make it interesting has been a big topic of discussion this week, to Jones' annoyance.

"He's a good fighter," said Jones (42-1, 34 KOs). "He's tough, he steps up to the challenge, and he's hungry. It's going to be a good fight."

Jones weighed in at 173½ pounds Friday. Harding was 173¾ pounds.

Harding, whose career was interrupted for 3½ years while he was in and out of jail, has come up with victories against Montell Griffin and Ray Berry. He beat Antonio Tarver in June for the right to fight Jones, breaking Tarver's jaw and two ribs in the second half of the fight to win a convincing 12-round decision.

"Nobody is unbeatable," Harding said. "He's human. He's got two hands and two feet just like me. I've been the other guy all my life. It doesn't bother me."

Jones' opponents are frequently belittled, simply because he has trouble finding worthy rivals in his division. The lack of challengers has even prompted him to say he'd move up to fight a heavyweight if the purse was right.

Jones isn't bemoaning the scarcity of fighters that threaten him, however.

"Why should I be disappointed that I'm that much better than all of my competition?" Jones said. "I'm not going to tell you I'm disappointed because nobody can keep up with me. I'm glad."

But Jones doesn't seem worried about Harding. He's spent much of the time before the fight traveling the country and hyping the fight. This week, he has been commuting four hours between his home in Pensacola, Fla., and New Orleans.

The biggest challenge for Jones might be to persuade fight fans to tune into the pay-per-view event.

Jones has worked out a unique arrangement for his final bout of his HBO contract. Although Harding is guaranteed $600,000 for the fight, Jones opted to take a percentage of the profits.

Promoter Murad Muhammad said the expenses, including Harding's purse, will be about $3.5 million.

Jones will get between $15 and $17 of each $34.95 pay-per-view purchase. It's estimated that the fight will have to attract a minimum of 60,000 for Jones to break even.

Promoters said that at midweek about 10,000 tickets to the event had been sold, leaving about 7,000 seats empty.

At Friday's weigh-in, Muhammad touted the presence of Michael Jordan and several rap groups, including Master P, who are performing at the event, as more reason to attend.

"I'm a champion and I do what a champion does, I defend my title from whoever's there," Jones said. "People are going to see a boxing lesson. They're going to see a great fighter doing what he does better than anyone else. Roy Jones will be the show."




 More from ESPN...
Jones already in shape for bout vs. Harding
Boxing promoter Murad ...

Harding to take on toughest of tough guys in Jones

 ESPN Tools
Email story
 
Most sent
 
Print story