MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, Ukrainian lawmaker Anton Gerashchenko stated that Jones was included in the country’s database as a violator of state border after his visit to Crimea earlier this week.
"This nonsense of Ukraine blacklisting me is a transparent attempt to politicize a legitimate business endeavor that we are pursuing with peace in our heart to help restore and build bridges between the East and the West," Jones said, as quoted by The Boxing Scene portal.
On Thursday, Jones applied for a Russian citizenship. The boxer said he wanted to be part of the Russian community, and the country's citizenship would help him to develop sports in Russia.
According to Jones, his decision to become a Russian citizen is not linked to politics, but to strengthening of sport and cultural relations between the two countries.
Roy Jones, Jr., 46, holds numerous world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. The US Boxing Writers Association named Jones "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s.
Crimea split from Ukraine to rejoin Russia in March 2014 following a referendum in which over 96 percent of voters supported the move. Kiev and the West branded the move an illegal annexation.
