Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
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.