McCrory and Jones set for Tyne head-to-head
EX-WORLD CHAMPS READY TO DO BATTLE
THE battle of The Warriors is going ahead – probably in Newcastle.
Two world champions of yesteryear, our own Glenn McCrory and five-weight global superstar Roy Jones Jnr, are to share a ring come April.
And McCrory, who is working with Tuff Promotions in making it happen, is aiming to stage the showdown here on Tyneside.
It’s 27 years since McCrory, one time IBF world cruiserweight champion, quit the roped square and his return at the age of 56 will raise many a cynical eyebrow.
Yet he is deadly serious about the Golden Oldies reunion which follows quickly in the footsteps of Jones Jnr fighting Mike Tyson in America, a spectacle McCrory covered as a commentator on live TV.
The breakthrough groundwork has already been done.
Roy Jones Jnr was aware that
Mc C ro r y had called out Evander Holyfield in the wake of the Tyson set-to which never really got off the ground and, totally out of the blue, he called out Glenn on Christmas Eve.
A surprised and delighted McCrory (below) has quickly accepted the challenge and is already back in the gym working towards regaining fitness and punch sharpness.
He insists this will not mark any sort of serious comeback but is merely a challenge to set his sights on in difficult times with the coronavirus pandemic and mental health problems affecting countless thousands.
The big Geordie himself has fought his demons over the years since quitting the ring and is embarking on a campaign to address such mental problems, and perhaps inspire others afflicted in the same way, just as a current world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has done publicly in recent times. It’s not a question of money or ego, he insists, but the need for an uplifting challenge and focus in testing times.
“I need a personal goal and boxing is my sport so it seems a natural progression,” he told me.
“Roy has been one of the greatest boxers the world has ever seen, a colossus who held global titles at five weights, so it will be a massive occasion.
“We both see it as a festival of boxing, an opportunity to witness two former champions displaying their skills and venture into the unknown.
“We are both proud men who don’t want to tarnish our reputations but we are not stupid, we are not kidding ourselves that we’re chasing world glory again.
“I have been in lots of talks with Simon Whittle and Robin Farrell of Tuff Promotions who have moved heaven and earth to get this on. We hope to go in April and it would be lovely if it was here in Newcastle.”
Jones himself confirmed the impending hostilities when he said: “I knew Glenn wanted to face Holyfield but he has now accepted my challenge and I’m looking forward to fighting in front of my British fans.” Jones will have one significant advantage over McCrory. While Glenn has been out of the ring for best part of three decades, Jones was a professional until as recently as 2018 and broke his retirement to blow away the cobwebs against Tyson.
I’ve worked with Roy Jones Jnr when he has done stage shows here in the North East and he is an articulate man with a unique place in boxing history.
He is the only fighter ever to start his professional career at light middleweight and go on to win a heavyweight title.
Jones is considered by many to be one of the best boxers of all time, pound for pound, and left his mark in the sport’s history when he won the WBA heavyweight title in 2003, becoming the first former middleweight champion to claim a heavyweight title in 106 years.
In 1999 he became the undisputed light heavyweight champion by unifying the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles.
The Boxing Writers Association of America named Jones as the Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s.
Quite a record and quite a challenge for McCrory, even on home soil.