"Hanshaw can fight me on my PPV, I'll pay him the same $150,000 they was going to give him and he can be my opponent tomorrow!"

GL: Alright Roy we're on the record, tell us what you'd like to say. "First off, they're 100% right, I wanted $1M more than they were offering and I'm going to tell you why."

Roy Jones Jr: "A tune up fight is a fight to get ready to fight Jermain Taylor in September. For Jermain Taylor's tune up fight, he's fighting Cory Spinks, a welterweight. That sounds like a tune up fight. In my fight they want me to fight a guy 28-0 who is 26 or 27 years old, I mean damn, is that a tune-up?"

GL: Are you asking me if I think Anthony Hanshaw is a tune-up?

Roy Jones Jr: "Yeah, is he a tune-up?"

GL: I don't think he's a tune-up...

RJJ: (cutting in) "My point exactly."

GL: (continuing) "But at the same time, with the whole Taylor promotion on the backburner, the fans are going to look at it as something where, if Roy isn't going to fight and beat Anthony Hanshaw, how will he beat Taylor in September?

RJJ: "Okay, let me help you out now and show you where Roy is going. Let's not get there yet, this is Roy looking at it. Roy's looking at it like this, you're supposed to be bringing me a tune-up for the fight and they're bringing me a monster. Jermain got a real tune-up fight and I'm not taking nothing from him. This is what I don't want. I don't want there to be any controversy over me and Hanshaw. If it's a close fight and people who won. Remember Oscar's tune-up before he fought Bernard Hopkins?  Felix Sturm really beat De La Hoya before he fought Hopkins, but they didn't give it to him because it was a close fight. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and they took it from him, which is cool because people want to see the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight and I did too, I ain't going to lie, so it was what it was. My point is if me and Hanshaw have a close fight, fans might want to see a fight with Hanshaw again. I'm trying to clear up my own problems, I have issues with Glen Johnson that I want to clear up and if I'm going to take that kind of fight I might as well fight Glen Johnson you understand where I'm coming from."

GL: So if you're going to fight a tune-up before Taylor, it has to be a tune-up that you feel is a tune-up.

RJJ: "It would have to be a true tune-up. He's fighting a guy that he could beat with both of his hands cut off. He's fighting a welterweight for a tune-up."

GL: Spinks is a junior middleweight champion now.

RJJ: "Oh he does? But he's still really a welterweight and he didn't have power there. Cory is a good boxer and he's aggressive, but he's way out of his league at that weight class. He's not truly a legit junior middleweight and I can't blame him, I would have taken that opportunity too and he might get lucky. I'm telling you once again, I myself will fight Anthony Hanshaw right now. I have a fight set up right now, I'm going to get me an opponent and we can fight on June 9. If they're really that interested I'll move Hanshaw to my PPV on June 9. I'll move him to my show and I'll fight him, it's just that I'm not going to fight him for the kind of money they're offering and then they're going to make Gary Shaw be my promoter. I'm cool and I ain't got no problem with nobody but you can't force me into a situation I don't feel comfortable being in. If they think I'm so worried about Anthony Hanshaw they could bring him to my card on JUne 9. I'm going to promote my own self or me and Murad Muhammad are going to set up a fight on the GUlf Coast for June 9. If they think I don't want to fight Anthony Hanshaw, bring him on."

GL: I was hearing that you were going to do your own PPV since the Showtime date fell through.

RJJ: "And they could bring Hanshaw on there. That's on my own time on my show and I can make more money. He can be my June 9 opponent, but on my situation not on Showtime's."

GL: Are you and DiBella still cool, does the Showtime date falling apart effect your potential fight with Jermain Taylor?

RJJ: "Me and DiBella are cool and it ain't got nothing to do with DiBella. I know this is a Gary Shaw fighter and I know this is going to be a Gary Shaw promotion because that's how Showtime rolls, which is cool. That's their business. I feel comfortable working with people I've worked with before. I feel more comfortable working my own PPV with Murad Muhammad because the situation will be in my hands as opposed to dealing with Gary Shaw where I'm not going to know what's going on. I feel better dealing with Murad than Gary Shaw. If Showtime doesn't want to deal with Murad that's fine, that's why I purposely priced myself out of range. If they wanted it that bad they would have paid, but they don't want it that bad. If they're that interestd and they want me to fight Anthony Hanshaw, bring him on and I'll fight him. Call Murad tell him you want Hanshaw in and he's in. It's easy."

GL: Is the gameplan still Jermain Taylor in September?

RJJ: "That's my gamplan."

GL: Is DiBella on that same page?

RJJ: "I still got to win my next fight and I'm not concerned about that. Hanshaw is a good fighter and I take nothing from him, but it's going to happen on my terms. Showtime's offer was cool but I don't know Gary Shaw like that. He seems to be cool, but I don't know him like that. That deal that they offered me, I'll take it on PPV because I get the chance to cash in on some of my fans viewership and the people who have appeciated me over the years. That's only fair, to get what you're worth in the ring. If 200 watch me fight that's fine. If 2,000 watch me fight that's fine. If two million watch me fight, that's fine. I want to be paid for how many people watch me fight. This is how I roll, Hanshaw can be my opponent and I'll give him the same $150,000 Gary Shaw was fitting to give him and I'll fight him on my own card. It ain't no thing to me, he could call Murad and become my opponent tomorrow."

GL: June 9 on the Gulf Coast...

RJJ: (cutting in) "Yes sir, my people on the Gulf Coast want me and need me and that's where I'm going."

GL: Will it be Square Ring leading the way?

RJJ: "Yes in conjunction with M&M Sports. And let them know that Hanshaw can still be the opponent. He just has to come on my field, I'm not going to fight on his field. I'm the legend I got nothing to prove against him."

GL: If Showtime had been willing to deal with Murad or another one of your associates would have accepted Showtime's deal?

RJJ: "Most definitely. Lou DiBella I'm cool with, but I don't know Gary Shaw like that. I understand Lou and Lou understands me. Like Lou said we're going to make the Jermain Taylor fight, I just need to get another win first and that sounds good to me so that's what it's going to be. Tell them right now they could bring Anthony Hanshaw down here to the Gulf Coast and we'll make that right now."

GL: There has to be something going on with you and HBO becauase the ideal situation would have been to put you on the same card with Jermain Taylor to advertise the PPV.

RJJ: "Let me explain something to you, I don't deal with all that. People can hate me and they can have whatever type of beef with me they want, I don't care. I'm not that kind of person and I really couldn't give a care. My job is to do what I gotta do to get where I gotta get and that's what God is for. God will guide me where I need to go so I don't worry about nothing else. That would have been ideal, but they didn't want to do it and that's fine with me. When they see Roy Jones Jr on PPV on June 9 they're going to know that Roy Jones Jr is still for real, still where he's supposed to be at and still ready to perform against anybody who comes my way. After June 9 it don't make a difference who I fight or where I fight them at because the world is going to be able to tell. When I fought Badi last year, he didn't come there to lose the fight but he came to the wrong arena and so will everybody else. If Hanshaw wants it, bring it on. Call Murad and you'll the same $150,000 you was fitting to get to fight on Showtime and we'll fight on PPV. I'm 100% cool with that."

"I'm going to tell you one more thing, they want to know why Don King has such longevity, he has that longevity because Don King knows how the system is and he goes to the guys who have their backs turned on them and gives them a second chance. Yeah, he might do a little bit to the man on top like they say he do, but he still helps the man on the bottom. So if they're still wondering how he's living, it's because he helps the man on the bottom and that means a whole lot and that will carry you a long way. That's why he's been one of the best at what he does, he takes it on one end, but gives it back on the other and that says a a lot about a person. I know nobody probably feels that way about him but I do and I've been feeling that way for a long time."

M

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