Roy Jones Jr. AFP FILE PHOTO
Boxing great Roy Jones Jr. responded to his recent ban to enter Ukraine saying it was politics getting in the way of his business endeavors.
FightNews.com reported Jones is in Crimea when he responded to the ban that the Ukrainian Minister on Internal Affairs imposed on him.
Jones said the Ukraine ban was also a way the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, used to call him out.
“I know the Klitschko brothers have been itching to fight me, and it could be that this is their way of calling me out. So hey, if Vitali or Wlad want to settle this over a friendly sparring session for 12 rounds for the world heavyweight title anywhere in the world outside of Ukraine, including Crimea, they know how to reach me,” Jones said as per FightBews.com.
“Otherwise, this nonsense of Ukraine blacklisting me is a transparent attempt to politicize a legitimate business endeavor that we are pursuing with peace in our heart to help restore and build bridges between the East and the West.”
Vitali retired from boxing and is now the mayor of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, but his younger brother Wladimir is the top heavyweight in the world.
Jones said he has been coming to Russia for the past four years and his recent visit, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was for a business trip.
“I came to Russia with peace in mind as I have been doing regularly for the past four years. I didn’t come here to offend nobody. I’ve boxed here, I’ve performed my music here, and my company, Square Ring Promotions, promotes or co-promotes fights and fighters here, including current IBO Champion Eduard Troyanovski. And over this time, I have seen how these people love Roy Jones and I love it when people love me,” said Jones.
Kiev listed Jones as a “traitor,” “separatist,” and “terrorist” with the Ukrainian capital threatening to file a criminal case against the 46-year-old, RT.com reported.
Anton Geraschenko, a close adviser to the Ukrainian Internal Minister, announced on his Facebook page that Jones is barred from entering Ukraine.
“American boxer Roy Levesta Jones was included into the ‘Peacemaker’ database as a violator of the state border,” Geraschenko posted.
“Our friend, Vlad Hrunov, who we do a lot of boxing business with, said he had a boxing event this weekend and asked if I would come and perform some of my music at his show. I have a new album that just came out on iTunes so it made sense to me because Russia is a huge market for my music. He also said that there might be the chance to meet President Putin which was a huge honor for me,” Jones said.
“I asked President Putin for a Russian passport so that it would be easier for me to travel back and forth and also it would help me and my company businesswise. But this is nothing new. I have been talking about getting a Russia Passport now for a couple of years.”