Ex-sparring partner gets next shot at Jones
Posted: Wednesday June 17, 1998 09:17 PM
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"I never intend to fight any of my sparring partners," says Jones (Holly Stein/Allsport) |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Three years ago, Roy Jones Jr. brought in a young and raw Lou Del Valle as a sparring partner.
Next month, Jones and Del Valle fight again, this time as rival champions in a light heavyweight title unification bout at Madison Square Garden.
It is a bout that Jones, the WBC champion, never expected to take place.
"I never intend to fight any of my sparring partners," said Jones, who is 36-1 with 31 knockouts.
In fact, Jones was a little perturbed that the July 18 HBO show against WBA champ Del Valle is taking place.
"If he told me from day one that one day I want to fight you, I would have still sparred with him, still would have tried to help him, but at least I would have known where he was coming from," Jones said. "Instead he played it cool, laid low until the time came when he said, `I want Roy Jones.' I don't have any respect for that."
Del Valle says that it was always his intention to fight Jones, considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
"I always knew it was going to happen," said Del Valle, 27-1 with 19 KOs. "I'm the type of person that I go to bed and dream. I always dream about certain fights and they always happen; I have that power. I had this dream about Roy Jones, that I was going to fight him and beat him."
Now that he has his chance, the 29-year-old Del Valle believes that the 38 rounds of sparring he did with Jones in 1995 will give him the edge he needs to pull off a major upset.
"I think I figured him out more than he figured me out," said Del Valle. "I really believe that I gave him problems the whole [training] camp."
Jones dismisses that.
"It's like, A, he wasn't winning the sparring," Jones said. "B, I'm different when I'm mad, I'm totally different when there is a crowd there. I'm not near as fast when I spar, I'm not as near as dangerous, I don't have that killer instinct when I spar.
"So it is a totally different thing," said Jones, who stopped Virgil Hill in the fourth round in April.
Even if the lessons he taught Del Valle in the gym come back to haunt him, Jones doesn't regret what he did.
"I'm the type of guy I have a good heart and I always try to help guys do better and help them get to where I am," Jones said.
"But he doesn't know enough to beat me, so I'm not worried about it."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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