Roy Jones Jr. vs. Hany Atiyo: Preview, Breakdown of Friday's Cruiserweight Bout

Roy Jones Jr. logs the next step on his tour of Eastern Europe on Friday night when he takes on Hany Atiyo.

Most fight fans have stopped viewing Jones as a major star in the sport, but he's found a sweet spot overseas fighting in countries where fans were unable to see him live when he was in his true prime. Starting in 2011, Jones embarked on a trek through Russia, Poland and Latvia.

A win over Atiyo won't do anything to bolster Jones' resume, but the fact that he's still fighting is a testament to his great conditioning over the years and otherworldly talent.

The Book on Roy Jones Jr.

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Jones is unquestionably one of the greatest boxers of the past 20 or 30 years. From the early 1990s up through the mid-'00s, he reigned atop the sport as the pound-for-pound king. Like many once-great athletes before him, Jones has continued his career well past his prime, unable to know when enough is enough.

Following a knockout loss to Denis Lebedev, many wondered aloud if Jones should hang up his gloves. Writing for Fight Network in June 2011, Lou Eisen argued that Jones had ceased being a serious contender and was merely a steppingstone for those looking to build a resume:

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The problem is though that for the past several years, Roy Jones has served as a punching bag for young fighters looking to add a big name to their resume. Sure, he has beaten some lower level fighters but even in those fights he absorbs much more punishment than he did in his prime. What this tells us is that his skills are slipping to the point that he is placing himself in ever increasing danger every time he sets foot in the ring. To make matters worse, whenever he comes up against a fighter that is ranked in the top ten, he usually loses the fight via brutal knockout.

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Since his KO against Lebedev, Jones reeled off four wins in a row, the last of which came against Courtney Fry on July 26. The 45-year-old afforded himself little turnaround time for his bout against Atiyo, but he believes that serves as a benefit rather than a hindrance.

"The good thing about fighting twice back-to-back is it makes me stay in shape," said Jones, per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael. "My body feels a lot better now than that it has in a long time. Being active is important and by being active, I make sure I am in the best shape."

Time has sapped Jones of most of his gifts. Defensively, he can struggle against younger fighters with fast hands. The defeat to Lebedev is a prime example of how Jones has fallen off in recent years. Jones simply couldn't cope with the Russian's power.

His recent stretch of wins proves that Jones has found a way to compensate for his waning skill set, however.

The Book on Hany Atiyo

Atiyo is moving up a weight class for this fight. He's spent his career at the light heavyweight level, but since this is the biggest bout he'll likely ever have, it makes sense for the 30-year-old to exit his comfort zone.

Entering Friday, Atiyo boasts a record of 14-2-0. Both of those losses are courtesy of Joey Vegas, who knocked out Atiyo twice in a space of four fights.

The Egyptian Hurricane is exactly what you picture when you think of a journeyman fighter. Atiyo has never fought anybody of note, and he's almost certainly not going to feature in the main event scene at any point in his career. Don't be surprised if you never hear his name after Friday night.

Atiyo doesn't possess an abundance of talent and will rely heavily on his power. Ten of his 14 wins have come via knockout. He'll hope to capitalize on a Jones error, string a few punches together and end the fight early. That's his only chance of winning.

Atiyo is unlikely to be considered a serious threat to Jones, even if the former pound-for-pound champ is basically on a legends tour by now.

Prediction

It would be a massive surprise to see Atiyo win this fight. Even at 45, Jones is the far superior of the two in this matchup. He's a much more skilled boxer, and he knows better than to leave himself open for a knockout.

The only real drama on Friday is whether Jones will win via KO or decision. His last true knockout came against Omar Sheika in March 2009. Jeff Lacy didn't leave his corner after the 10th round against Jones in September 2009, and neither did Fry after the fifth two months ago.

Jones doesn't have much knockout power anymore, but he could frustrate Atiyo to the extent that he follows in Fry and Lacy's footsteps and decides to sit in his corner and not answer the bell.

More than likely, Jones will get a unanimous-decision victory.