"Roy Jones Jr. would definitely fight Anderson Silva if there is enough interest," says legendary boxer's trainer
Roy Jones Jr. is still interested in fighting Anderson Silva, as per Jones Jr's trainer, Tom Yankello.
The 51-year-old recently fought Mike Tyson in an exhibition match, which ended in a draw, and according to his trainer, Jones Jr. is keen on running it back with Tyson and also fight Silva.
In a recent interview, Yankello stated that Jones Jr. would do much better against Tyson in a rematch and also added that the 51-year-old is willing to fight Silva if there is enough public interest.
"I think that rematch (against Mike Tyson) and Anderson Silva are the two fights that he's (Roy Jones Jr.) looking at... I know he'd definitely do the Anderson Silva fight if there was enough public interest that wanted to see them fight... Anderson Silva would be the first choice for him as he feels like he could really do what he wants with him and it would be worth his while," said Yankello.
Yankello clarified that he couldn't guarantee that Jones Jr. will fight Tyson once again, but he would be very interested in boxing Silva since the former UFC middleweight champion no longer fights for the promotion.
"He'd (Roy Jones Jr.) definitely contemplate it anyway (rematch against Mike Tyson), in my opinion, I think he'd do it from our conversations. I could use the word 'might'... He's been talking about fighting Anderson Silva for a long time and now he's not in the UFC they can make that happen."
Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight has been in the plans for years
This is not the first time that either Roy Jones Jr. or Anderson Silva have expressed their desire to fight one another.
In 2008, when Silva was at the peak of his career, his manager had claimed that the Brazilian was interested to fight Jones Jr. The boxing legend echoed Silva's thoughts and said that he wouldn't mind facing the UFC champion, however, Silva's UFC contract never let the fight transpire.
After Jones Jr. defeated Scott Sigmon in 2018, he once again called out Silva for a boxing match, but to no avail.
Dana White, however, is not too excited about the prospect. The UFC President had recently stated that he is not sure if he would like to be involved in the Jones Jr. vs. Silva fight, if it ever comes to fruition.
"Anderson Silva had his day. Roy Jones Jr. had his day. Today is not their day. It’s just not, these young guys that you saw fight tonight are the future. These are the guys that are up and coming, and this is what I’m interested in. This is what I love to do," said White.
Now that the 45-year-old Brazilian has been released by UFC, there is a possibility that the combat sports fans may witness a super-fight between the two legends of boxing and MMA.