Jones demands Trinidad fight

Felix Trinidad (left) is now a wanted man

In his regular look at the US boxing scene, BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo reports on Oscar De La Hoya's latest challenge and a potential Jones-Trinidad superfight.

Roy Jones Jr, the world light heavyweight champion, has issued an ultimatum to Felix Trinidad.

No doubt hoping to steal some of the attention heaped on the Puerto Rican following his impressive victory over William Joppy, Jones demanded a fight with Trinidad as soon as possible.

"I'm not waiting until spring," Jones said. "Fight me at the end of this year or nothing. If he wants to see me, let's go. I'm 32, I'm not getting any younger."

Of course, the chances of Jones getting his wish are slim. Trinidad will fight Bernard Hopkins on 15 September in the final fight of the middleweight unification tournament.

Difficult step

To ask him to turn right around and take on Jones seems unreasonable, even for a fighter with Trinidad's talent.

Trinidad has expressed interest in moving up to super middleweight to meet Jones, but it is unlikely he will do so before next summer.

If Jones really does want Trinidad, he will just have to wait.

De la Hoya is struggling to put on weight

Oscar de la Hoya, taking a page from Trinidad's book, will move up in weight to fight Spanish champion Javier Castillejo for the WBC junior-middleweight belt on 23 June.

But the step up does not seem to be as easy a process for De la Hoya as it has proven to be for Trinidad.

He is eating as many as six meals a day in an effort to make the weight.

"I'm moving up to 154, a weight class I shouldn't probably be in. I'm having trouble making 154 because I have to eat more meals," De la Hoya said.

"I'll probably have to weigh in with rocks in my pockets."

If De la Hoya can take Castillejo's belt, he would join the elite company of Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns as the only fighters to win world titles in five different weight classes.

Revenge

At the press gathering to announce the Castillejo fight, De la Hoya said his plan was to avenge his only two losses, to Trinidad and Shane Mosley.

"I have to get the defeats back. That's in my plans," he said.

"I don't think I can stop until I do so. I feel in my heart that I'm the only one who can beat those guys."

It may be easier said than done.

China Card In Jeopardy?

While a rematch with Mosley is a possibility, Trinidad seems comfortable at 160 and, given De la Hoya's weight struggles, middleweight may be a step too far.

Meanwhile, rumours have begun swirling that the 4 August fight card scheduled for Beijing, China, featuring two heavyweight title fights, may not come to pass.

Don King negotiated the card, featuring Hasim Rahman's first title defence against Brian Nielsen and the third Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz fight.

But the buzz is that his Chinese financial backers are less than stable and may not be able to come up with the $17m (£11.8m) they had promised.