Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has talked up a switch to boxing, hoping to take on either Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder.
Jones is close to completing a 15-month ban for a doping violation, but rather than return to the Octagon ‘Bones’ is considering following Conor McGregor’s footsteps by trying his hand at boxing.
The 31-year-old wants to test himself against WBA, IBF and WBO champion Joshua as well as fellow American Deontay Wilder, who holds the WBC belt.
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Jones told RT: “Right now my mindset is more about making money. I watched Conor McGregor fight Floyd Mayweather, and it was high risk-high reward.”
He added, “There’s a saying, ‘scared money don’t make money’. I gotta be brave when I get back in the game, and start challenging guys that I could possibly lose to, because that’s what people want to see.
“They want to see Jones versus [Cain] Velasquez, they want to see Jones versus [Francis] Ngannou, that’s what people want to see.
“That’s where my mindset is – Jones versus Anthony Joshua, or Deontay Wilder – that’s what people want to see.”
Before defeating Daniel Cormier in their UFC 214 clash, Jones was alleged to have taken the banned steroid Turanibol. He believes a return to the UFC doesn’t make sense as his next career move.
Jones explained: “I just knocked out Daniel Cormier in my last fight, and some people consider him to be the best fighter that ever lived, so I don’t really feel like I have that much to prove, as far as being a light heavyweight champion and defending that belt.
“I’m kind of in this space now where I feel like I don’t really have things to prove in the cage.”
