MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Former undisputed boxing champion and Russian citizen Roy Jones Jr. has issued a challenge to Russia’s world-renowned mixed martial arts (MMA) heavyweight veteran Fedor Emelianenko to meet in the boxing ring, Jones told TASS on Friday.

Earlier in the week, Emelianenko said in an interview with the MMAFighting.com sports website that he would like to take on legendary ex-heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson of the United States in a boxing match.

Emelianenko, 46, boasts an official MMA record of 40 wins (16 by KO/TKO; 15 by submission and nine by decision) and seven defeats (six by KO/TKO; one by submission).

"Fedor doesn’t need to box Mike Tyson. It’s high time he had a fight with me," Jones said. "I’m sure that it will be an incredibly big event."

"We are both Russian athletes and it would be very interesting," the former US boxer added.

Roy Jones Jr.

In September 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to grant Russian citizenship to Roy Jones Jr. The professional career of the US-born boxer began in 1989 and he has won world titles in four weight classes.

At one point, he was considered the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer. He is also a unique sporting figure as he is the only fighter to win belts in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.

Jones Jr. had 66 wins over his professional career, including 47 knockouts, and lost nine fights. In 1988, he won a silver medal at the Seoul Olympics.

In November 2020, Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., who were 54 and 51 years old, respectively, at the time, squared off in the ring, but referees called it a draw after the bout went the full eight rounds.

'The Last Emperor': Fedor Emelianenko

The MMA star had temporarily retired between 2012 and 2015. During that hiatus, Emelianenko held the post of president of the Russian MMA Union and also served from November 2012 as an advisor to then-Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.

Following his 2015 comeback, Emelianenko had eight bouts, defeating India’s Jaideep Singh, then clinching another victory over Brazil’s Fabio Maldonado. In June 2017, he lost by TKO to US fighter Matt Mitrione. In April 2018, he defeated US heavyweight Frank Mir with a KO win in the first round, and in October 2018 he enjoyed a TKO triumph over American fighter Chael Sonnen. In January 2019, he lost by TKO (punches) to Ryan "Darth" Bader of the United States and then knocked out US fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in December 2019.

In September 2022, Emelianenko defeated 35-year-old Timothy Johnson of the United States with a KO win in the opening round of their Bellator 269 tournament fight in Moscow.

Born on September 28, 1976, in Rubezhnoye, Ukraine, Emelianenko fought his way to the top, earning numerous titles throughout his career.

He was the MMA Pride Fighting Championships Heavyweight Champion (2003-2007), FIAS World Combat Sambo Championship Heavyweight Champion 2002, 2005, 2007, and the Russian Judo Federation National Championship bronze medalist (1998, 1999).

In 2009, the esteemed American sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, named him "the top MMA fighter of the decade."