Roy Jones Jr.: ‘A pity’ UFC won’t allow Silva to box

Anderson Silva may be the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time. But that hasn’t stopped the former middleweight champion from flirting with the idea of trying his hand at professional boxing.

“The Spider” has expressed his desire to fight legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr. on multiple occasions, but because he is under an exclusive contract with the UFC, the proposed boxing match will likely never come to fruition.

Roy Jones Jr. recently spoke with Fight Corner about his desire to fight the MMA legend:

“Anderson Silva is one of the best human beings I’ve ever met. He’s a wonderful friend, a wonderful person. A person, who like myself, when we succeed at something we want to try something else if we can. We want to see how far we can go. We want to test the skies to see if the sky the limit,” Jones, Jr. said.

“But on his downside, the UFC won’t allow him to fulfill his dream and get in the ring and enjoy a night of sharing the ring with the great Roy Jones, Jr. It’s such a pity. It’s such a shame because it’s a night that I’m sure people from both worlds would really admire, and would love to see, and would get a lot from because of two legends in the ring at once. Although it’s boxing, we could share the ring together because Anderson can box. He’s a professional fighter too, and he’s an entertainer just as myself.

“I feel really solid that [the UFC] won’t allow him to do that. But as a fighter, I think he’s a phenomenal fighter and I think he’s probably going to be one of the best UFC fighters to ever touch the planet.”

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