Carson Jones takes it on the chin: Lee Purdy has balls, I’ll await rescheduling

Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor

American ready to battle replacement Dean Byrne

Road warrior Carson Jones is no too disappointed at the demise of his IBF fringe title bout with former British champion Lee Purdy and has told WBN that he hopes the fight is rearranged for early next year.

The 26 year-old from Oklahoma touched down in London earlier this week only to find out that his twelve rounder with Purdy was off due to his opponent contracting a virus and Jones will now face Irishman Dean Byrne over eight rounds.

“Well you know at first I joked around about the whole situation saying ‘Purdy must have had a runny nose’ - just trying to make light of the whole situation because it was such a let-down,” Jones told World Boxing News.

“But things like this happen in boxing and to be honest, it takes more balls to actually pull out of a fight, especially the week of it, and not to mention this close to Christmas - so u know, I take my hat off to Purdy in a sense because I don’t think I would have the balls to do the same.

“We have a replacement now in Dean Byrne so I have to focus on him and hopefully Purdy gets better and we can set up a rematch later next year. But no hard feelings and respect to Purdy, stuff like this happens.”

New foe Byrne, 28, has suffered his two losses from 18 in his last three outings and will be desperate to prove that he can still be considered for higher prizes in the future. For Jones though, a chance to fight for the USBA title on January 24 awaits upon his return to home shores and a possible rescheduled bout with Purdy in the spring.

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