“I invited him as a sparring partner to prepare for a fight with the UFC champion,” the WBC heavyweight boxing champion, who is set to share the ring with Francis Ngannou on October 28, told TNT Sports. “He’s a good fighter and probably could have been a professional boxer. I was confident that he would become a world champion soon, but he was slowed down by a knee injury. Now he’s back and I still think he can do it. He’s big enough, he has power, and he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu.”
“Jon Jones is the Tyson Fury of the MMA world. People can’t beat him. Even though Tom is my friend, Jon Jones is probably the greatest fighter of all time, so it’s a tough question. It’s probably similar to the question, ‘can anyone beat Wladimir Klitschko?’ which was asked before Tyson Fury did. The answer was, ‘probably not’, but then Tyson Fury came in and beat him. If there’s anyone who can beat Jon Jones, it’s Tom Aspinall. Nobody else.”
Jon Jones, who won the vacant title against Cyril Gawn in March, will make his title defense on Nov. 11 at UFC 295 in New York, and his opponent will be former division champion Stipe Miocic. With this fight, Jones can end his professional career, but “The Gypsy King” hopes that after the fight with “The Predator” he will be able to negotiate a boxing match with the American.