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Carson Jones on why he turned down Khan; facing Brook; IBF situation

Phil D. Jay 
WBN Editor

American ready to end Briton's unbeaten run

Highly-ranked welterweight Carson Jones has explained to WBN his reasons for choosing a possible IBF title eliminator against Kell Brook in Sheffield, over a 140lb world title tilt against Brook’s rival Amir Khan in Las Vegas.

The 25 year-old, who will travel to Sheffield in the summer to battle Brook on July 7th at the Motorpoint Arena, has never fought at less than 145lbs and will not be attempting cut weight at short notice for any fight in the future.

“There was an offer from Khan’s Team and in a perfect world, it would have been possible,” Jones clarified to World Boxing News.

 “But there was no way I would make 140lbs. It’s a weight I have never ever been anywhere near and to make it in less than 2 weeks would be impossible so I said no.”

The Oklahoma fighter is currently enjoying a run of eight straight stoppages since suffering his eighth career defeat to Rogerio Periera in September 2010 and is ready to upset the odds and gain a shot at the winner of Mike Jones v Randall Bailey on June 9th.

“Kell brook is a decent fighter, but he’s fought no one at all that I am impressed with,” stated Jones.

“His record ‘looks good’ and ‘sounds good’ on paper, but we in the business know better than that. I have no problem fighting in his backyard, that’s the story of my life and it’s what I’ve done my whole career.

“When it comes down to it, if you can fight nothing else matters and I am going into the fight predicting a knockout. That’s what I’ve been doing lately, knocking people out, so I’m not gonna change a thing!”

Jones is unsure at the moment whether the fight will be given official IBF eliminator status, but hopes that the organisation will recognise that the two fighters are ranked in the top five and sanction the fight accordingly.

“No assurances have been made just yet, but I trust the IBF and I believe they will make this fight an eliminator for the #1 spot and mandatory for the champion, whoever that may be after June 9th.

“Only God knows the future, but I believe with hard work and discipline, God will continue to bless me and I will be a world champion by the end of the year,” he added.

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