Boxingtalk.com reached out to former pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr. to discuss his unanimous decision loss to light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver, his future plans and much more. In this must read exclusive interview that can ONLY be found on Boxingtalk Jones makes it perfectly clear that he will NOT retire, he's targeting a January return and he "definitely" wants to fight Antonio Tarver for a fourth time before he retires. You don't want to miss what Jones had to say and how he answered ALL of the questions boxing fans wanted answers to.


GL: What's popping Jones?

Roy Jones Jr: "I'm good man. Just chilling."

GL: I'm just calling you to see how you're doing. I know when someone dominates a sport for so long, you could be getting down after another setback, I just wanted to make sure my dude was all good.

Roy Jones Jr: "I'm good. You see I don't really take that as a set-back. With me being as dominant as I was, they weren't going to let me take no tune up fight no way. I took a year off and didn't take no tune-up. I came back knowing what I had to do, I know I had to come back and fight the best. And I don't mind, and I'm not mad at my performance, I know I could have been a bit more busier, but sometimes when you ain't been in there for a while it takes a little time before you're able to come back and do that."

GL: I think you could have came back against anybody you wanted to.

Roy Jones Jr: "No. They was going to give me a hard time against anybody. Plus, I'm competitive, so I wanted to come back and fight the best. I know I probably should have taken a tune-up, but HBO ain't want nobody else, you know what I'm saying? And that's the closest that I've been to right in a long time. That's what really motivating me is that I'm close to getting back to myself. I felt good with that and I feel like I've got something to build on."

GL: Brother I'm going to keep it real with you, there's no need for you to fight anymore. You're legacy is already intact and you came back against Tarver for redemption. I still think you could beat a lot of fighters out there, but for what? I'm not trying to be disrespectful Roy, but it's kind of like watching Jordan in a Wizards uniform. Did you expect to go in there and be so gun-shy?

Roy Jones Jr: "I wasn't really gunshy. My thing was, I was going to make sure I was going out again. I was going to make sure he didn't catch me with another bullshit stupid ass shit no more. My dad was like don't take no chances and I just stayed back and it made me be more laid back than I should have been, but it was my first time back in the corner with my dad and I was trying to listen to him and see how it went. I know I could have worked more, but I just wanted to do it the way he said to do it because I didn't want to run into nothing crazy or nothing foolish because that may not have been my last fight right there."

GL: In the fourth and fifth round you looked like your old-self. Had you maintained that level of intensity throughout the fight you would have been a lot more successful.

Roy Jones Jr: "Probably. In four and five, that's what made me realize that I'm getting back to form and I got myself something. I was shocked that I was able to get back like that. I ain't felt that good in the ring in a long time."

GL: When you became the heavyweight champion, do you regret not fighting Evander Holyfield instead of coming back down?

Roy Jones Jr: "I didn't want to stay in that weight division because that wasn't my weight division. I don't regret nothing and God lets things happen for a reason. I enjoyed myself, I've enjoyed everything I've been doing, I've enjoyed how my boxing career went. I didn't want money or anything else drive me to stay in that division. I just wanted to win a heavyweight title and that's all."

GL: You told Larry Merchant that you didn't want to go out off of two KO losses and you feel you did better. Obviously no great champions want to go out on a losing note. Can we expect to see you back in the ring in a send off type fight versus something with very little chance of defeating you?

Roy Jones Jr: "I ain't going to do it like that. I'm going to do it against someone that's some sort of challenge to me, I don't want to fight no bums. That's like robbing the people and I wouldn't do that to my fans. I'd fight someone that has a legitimate chance, I don't want to fight no nobody.

GL: Based on the fact that you and Antonio haven't been the best of friends over the years..

Roy Jones: (cutting in) "Tarver? He's cool. I mean, Tarver idolizes me. How can I not like him? Man let me tell you something, I know now more than before...I knew how to beat him last time it's just that I wanted to do my thing the way I had to do my thing. People don't understand half of what I had going on before this fight. I felt like I was going to go in there and win the fight. I felt good going in. I wasn't as busy as I wanted to be but that could be from not being in the ring for a while. I don't know. But I know I got back to some of my old self and that's what I was looking for. I know I can fight again now. If they want me to go, they're going to have to put me out. That's just how I feel. Now more than ever, I know that  I can still rule this division if I wanted to for a little while. Not for long, but for a little while. I felt good early, but then I got a little off track later on."

GL: Have you seen the fight on tape yet?

Roy Jones Jr: "I don't need to see the fight on tape because I know what I had and I'm just going to build on that."

GL: Are you torn between retirement and staying active? Is there a battle within going on?

Roy Jones Jr: "Ain't no battling at all, I already know what I want to do."

GL: And what's that?

Roy Jones Jr: "Shit, I got to have me at least one or two more! That's just me, I can't help it."

GL: You don't need to though.

Roy Jones Jr: "It ain't that I need to it's that I want to. When I say I want to comeback I was coming back all the way. It wasn't going to be no one time thing."

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