(Anderson working the hands.)

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Ben Fowlkes

Roy Jones Jr. refuses to let go of the idea of a boxing match with Anderson Silva. Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, says that he spoke with Jones personally on Easter Sunday and Jones expressed serious interest in the fight.

“He told me that he thought that this was a good fight and he wanted to make it happen,” said Soares. “I restated the situation we’re in, that at this moment we have a contract with the UFC, an MMA fight contract, but if there’s a way to make this happen we would love to.”

Now that it’s clear both Silva and Jones want the fight, there’s just one question: What does the UFC think? Turns out, they’re not so crazy about it. Not yet, anyway.

“We’ve spoken about it,” Soares said. “At first, I think there was a lot of resistance. They don’t seem too into it, to be honest with you. We’ve heard from certain people that there’s just no way that this can happen. But never say never, you know.”

Recently the jokesters over at Bodog went ahead and handicapped the bout, despite the fact that it’s only talk at this point, and they pegged Jones as a heavy favorite with a -2800 line. Silva is going off at +1400, which is understandable since he’s never had a real pro boxing match and Jones, you know, has had a few.

Soares, who may well be biased, warns us against underestimating Silva.

“I think Anderson would be able to put up a good fight against Roy Jones. That’s my opinion. Maybe it’s unrealistic. When you talk to some people and read some of these threads, there’s people who swear up and down that it’s the stupidest thing to believe Anderson would do it, but I don’t know. Maybe I’m tainted. I’m not saying that Anderson’s going to go in there and knock him out, but I think Anderson is that skilled that he could make it a fight.”

Soares is also of the opinion that if the fight is going to happen, now is the time.

“At this point in [Silva’s] life, people are saying, ‘Oh, he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.’ From a business standpoint, this is when it seems to make the most sense for it to happen. What an accomplishment to be able to fight a legend like Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match.”

Though in past interviews Jones seemed to know very little about who Anderson Silva was, once even blanking on his first name, he appears to have a pretty good idea now that he’s calling Silva’s manager to talk it over.

“I think he’s starting to know more [about Silva], for sure,” said Soares. “But I don’t think he completely knows. He definitely spoke about him with some respect.”

It’s a long way from a signed contract, sure. But ask yourself, does Roy Jones Jr. seem like the type to call on Easter Sunday if he isn’t serious about making a deal? With that kind of ‘can-do’ attitude and whole bunch of money, who knows what could happen?