"I stay in shape. I'm ready to fight tomorrow...Ah man, look out for me coming up soon. This year, I'm definitely gonna get back in the ring because I have already made the phone call saying, "Listen, I'll take whatever you giving. I gotta put my name back out there and show the world that I am the best." So I can't wait to get back out there. I'm gonna be fighting real soon and you will see me really, really soon," stated welterweight contender Mike Jones, who talked about his long hiatus from the ring, his eagerness to get a fight, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Man, a lot of people wondering where Mike Jones has been. What's been up with you my man? How have you been?
MJ: (Laughing) I've been great, man. I've been training; been training everyday and getting some quality sparring with a Gold medalist from Japan. I have been sparring with him and getting some good sparring with him, and some guy from Germany came by and I sparred with him a few times. But I'm just getting better, man, and staying in shape until I'm able to get back in that ring and show everybody that I am the best.
PC: It's gotta be frustrating for you to suffer your first career defeat and not be able to get right back in there and kind of erase that memory, or at the very least, show people that you're back and you haven't been able to do that.
MJ: Yeah, most definitely, but you know, going through it with my manager and promoter and these cats that I have been dealing with... pretty much I haven't fought because I haven't been proposed a fight where as though I was gonna get paid the money that I was looking for. But it's been almost 2 years now and I'm gonna have to go ahead and bite the bullet and take a fight. But I really didn't want to deal with the people that I was dealing with, but I guess I'm gonna have to.
PC: Are you still in Las Vegas or did you go back to Philly to do your training?
MJ: I'm in Vegas.
PC: Are you still with Eddie Mustafa?
MJ: No, I'm not with Eddie actually. Man, I learned so much coming down here to Vegas. I worked with guys like Floyd Mayweather Sr. for a few months and I worked with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad for a few months and I worked with Roy Jones Jr. for a couple of weeks. He showed me a lot also. And I don't know if you know Coach Solis, who has trained in Japan. He used to train Rigondeaux and Gamboa. I worked out with him. He trained the Japanese middleweight Gold medalist. He also trains the guy named...he just won a world title, Jorge Linares. so I pick his brain as well. I'm just so much of a better fighter; I just can't wait to get back in there and show everybody what's up.
PC: It sounds like you just haven't been sitting around, but really focusing on getting better and surrounding yourself with some great boxing minds.
MJ: Exactly. I have just been staying in the gym. Unfortunately, I gotta stay with the same promoter and fight out of that situation, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Most importantly is there is no negativity within myself, so none of that can bother me.
PC: You have been off for a long time. Will you still be a welterweight or will you move up?
MJ: I'm a welterweight my man. I walk around at 152 pounds. Yeah, I walk around at 152 pounds and I stay in shape. I'm ready to fight tomorrow.
PC: I'm sure you have a timetable in your mind where you would like to get back in there this year. What is that timetable?
MJ: I reached out to Russell Peltz. I would have liked to reach out to Top Rank, but see, with Top Rank and Russell Peltz, they actually quote 50/50 on my contract, so if I talk with Top Rank, they tell me I gotta talk with Russell Peltz. But I would have liked to talk with Top Rank and asked them to put me on a card out here in Vegas because they do a lot of cards out here. There is no give. They don't want to negotiate at all. So then I talk to Russell Peltz and Russell Peltz, there is no give there as well. He don't want to give me no extra money because I haven't fought in so long. It's like, "Okay, give me a little bit of training money," but there is no give. They don't want to give at all. I only lost one fight. I just feel that it was wrong for them to treat me the way that they treated me for losing one fight, and the one fight I lost was for a world title.
PC: A fight in which you was dominating to a degree.
MJ: Yeah, and I understand I gotta work my way back up, but you give me the bare minimum and on top of that, you don't give me no training expenses or nothing; I just think it was wrong to treat a promising fighter like myself like that. But within all of that struggle, I have gotten so much stronger, so much wiser, and so much better as a fighter and as a person, I can't wait to get back out there and show people what I got.
PC: Some people will never understand what goes on behind the scene and outside of those ropes, but it's good to hear that you are putting a positive spin on all of this.
MJ: Too many people are quick to judge and that's the wrong thing to do is to judge. You gotta go inside and dig up what's really going on. More than likely, there is something really going on if you haven't seen that guy in a long time.
PC: I look forward to your comeback. It's been way too long and I hope everything works out for you. Is there anything else you want to add before you go?
MJ: Ah man, look out for me coming up soon. This year, I'm definitely gonna get back in the ring because I have already made the phone call saying, "Listen, I'll take whatever you giving. I gotta put my name back out there and show the world that I am the best." So I can't wait to get back out there. I'm gonna be fighting real soon and you will see me really, really soon.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]