Roy Jones Jr. to Fight Denis Lebedev on May 22 in Moscow

As reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com and as mentioned last night on Fightnews.com, Roy Jones Jr. (54-7, 40 KOs) has signed a contract to fight on May 22 in Moscow, Russia against cruiserweight and No. 1 ranked contender by the WBO, 31-year old Denis Lebedev (21-1, 16 KOs) of Chekhov, Russia.

John Wirt, CEO of Square Ring Promotions, who Jones owns told ESPN.com that the fight would be scheduled for 10 rounds at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds.

A boxing legend and former pound-for-pound champion for over a decade, Jones Jr. is now 42-years old.

In his illustrious prime boxing career, which started in 1989, he has beaten the likes of  Bernard Hopkins (1993), James Toney (1994), Vinny Pazienza (1995), Montell Griffin (1997), Virgil Hill (1998), Clinton Woods (2002), John Ruiz (2003), Antonio Tarver (2003), Felix Trinidad (2008) and, in his last victory, Jeff Lacy (2009).

He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

On March 1, 2003, Jones Jr. defeated John Ruiz to capture the WBA World Heavyweight title, becoming the first middleweight champion in 100 years to also win a heavyweight title.

Recently, in his last two matches, he has been beaten by unanimous decision—once in April 2010 by Bernard Hopkins, as well as by Danny Green in December 2009, where he was beaten by TKO in the first round.

Jones Jr. is now looking to rebound and silence his doubters that feel he has lost a step or two. Against Lebedev, he will be coming in as the underdog. Wirt admits that having the fight at 200 pounds will be in Jones Jr.'s favor, as it's hard for him to make weight at 175 pounds.

Lebedev's only defeat was a split decision loss last December to WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck in a close fight that many had thought he had won.

Wirt admits that there were other offers to fight Jones Jr. in the United States and Canada, but the best and "most attractive" offer was to fight Lebedev in Russia.

Wirt stated that, "Roy has no problem and no issue with going to Russia. We'll have fair judges and a fair referee. We've already been in contact with the Russian federation to make sure we know all the rules."

As of now, no American television contract has been signed, but is in the works, Wirt admits.

It will be interesting to see and hear more about the bout on Saturday night when Roy Jones Jr. will be part of the HBO Boxing After Dark broadcast team televising Gamboa vs. Solis.