There's trouble brewing in Australia, and it would not shock me if the Danny Green-Roy Jones Jr. fight on December 2 is close to being called off. Jones' sparring partners were denied entry into the country, and the Daily Telegraph says the situation isn't pretty:
Several of Jones's sparring partners flew into Australia yesterday ahead of next Wednesday's blockbuster at Acer Arena, but were denied entry when Australian immigration officials discovered they had not disclosed their full criminal histories.
Shortly after, Green's manager Justin Manolikos received a frantic call from Jones' camp to "sort it out".
Manolikos had a simple message for the Americans: "It's not my problem."
Instead, he called the Jones camp a "bunch of cowboys". "What do they want us to do?" Manolikos asked.
"Call the Prime Minister and say 'Let these nice guys in'? Surely they should have done it the proper way."
Every time Green has talked about Jones being such a professional in the lead-up to this fight, I don't know, it seemed like he was biting his tongue a bit. This is a massive money fight for him, and a win would do big things for his career. But with this latest incident, Green is speaking out:
"Justin is a boxing promoter, he's not a foreign affairs minister, and his hands are tied up dealing with enough of their bulls**t without having to wipe their backside," Green said.
Jones has hinted that he would have preferred to not have this fight prior to a 2010 rematch with Bernard Hopkins, and if Jones decides to pull out late, just don't be surprised. Roy has been better in recent years about promoting his fights and being a pro, but don't forget that there was a large portion of his career where he was considered a pain to deal with by other fighters, promoters, TV networks, etc., and it was no secret then. This is to be Jones' first fight off of US soil.
Still, if he can't get sparring, why would he risk a potential big money fight with Hopkins on fighting a perfectly dangerous Green when not properly prepared? Yes, Jones and his camp should have taken the proper steps to get these guys into Australia (or arranged for sparring partners that could get in), but they didn't, and now Jones is in a tough spot. It's his team's fault, and it'd be a move worth criticizing, but he's got to be considering canceling.