Roy Jones Says Kovalev’s Power Won’t Be an Issue for Pascal

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    Roy-Jones-Jr-001Jean Pascal quietly has one of the good resumes in boxing. He has beaten Lucian Bute, Chad Dawson, and the rugged Darnell Boone. He has taken on the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Carl Froch, and is now set for another challenge.

    After months of lobbying for a fight against countrymen Adonis Stevenson to no avail, he will take on what many consider the best light heavyweight in the world, Sergey Kovalev. Pascal has a legend in his corner in Roy Jones, Jr. Both were on hand in New York to announce their fight in the United States. Now while Jones is proven to be one of the greatest fighters of the last two generations, the jury is still out on him as a trainer. But Jones says it’s not about him.

    “Nothing about me at all, it’s all about him, what happens, happens,” Jones told ThaBoxingVoice.com. “They’re both fighters, I can’t fight for him. It’s not proving anything. I can prove that I can help better him which I’ve already proved. I don’t have nothing to prove. It’s him vs. him. If I was fighting then it’d be something for me to prove. But I’m training I can’t fight for him. He has to prove it. If he follows the plan and wins, it gives me credibility.”

    According to Jones, he wanted Pascal to be more of a grinder and not to rely too much on his natural gifts.

    “He depended on his athleticism a little too much. He needed to learn how to deal with the real nitty- gritty on a professional level.”

    A lot of questions still surround Pascal’s stamina, which under Jones has really yet to be tested. But Jones feels that’s more of a mental than a physical thing.

    “Stamina issue is a mental state, it’s not about running an extra mile,” explained Jones. “ You find marathon runners that run 26 miles, they can’t do 30 seconds in the ring. It’s not about how many miles you run, it’s a mental state. It’s about preparing muscles and body parts to do the proper thing. Running extra miles has nothing to do with stamina.”

    Jones said Kovalev is more than power and will take a long look on how to defeat a man that is a boxer and a bomber.

    “The power is not an issue,” stated Jones. “We looking more at Chris Algieri-Ruslan Provodnikov type of stuff. We got a Russian and a boxer. Right now we’re thinking boxing terms. As the fight nears we’ll probably start thinking of the fighter and power. “

    While Jones was very open about Kovalev-Pascal, he shut down once the Mayweather-Pacquiao questions arose.

    “I don’t want to talk about it,” stated Jones on Mayweather and Pacquiao possibly happening this year. “When is Floyd going to sign his contract? I don’t want to talk about it. When Floyd signs his, we could talk. Until Floyd signs his contract, I’m not talking about it. There could be a contract but until Floyd signs his contract I don’t want to talk about it.”