“A star was made tonight, and I hope I noticed a split,” Amari said of his win after the fight. He put on a show for the home crowd who drove from nearby Oakland to support Jones. He asked for the opportunity to perform in the Bay and delivered with a dominating performance.
He has been on a steady progression, remaining undefeated and looking impressive in the process, with an 88.2 percent strikeout percentage.
“I made a statement that needed to be made. I wanted to show that stopping Arias wasn’t a fluke and tonight I proved that against a well…well seasoned champion,” Jones told Chris Mannix after being asked to describe his performance Friday night.
His promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, reiterated his dominant performance, saying, “Incredible statement, the 160-pound world champions are up, and that world title is going back to Oakland.” De La Hoya expects a championship fight for Jones later this year.
Whether it is for the IBF title or possibly against the other divisional champions remains to be seen. The division currently has no dominant champion and is open to any potential contender.
Erislandy Lara is the WBA middleweight titleholder and currently does not have a fight scheduled. He last defended his title against last-minute substitute Johan Gonzalez. Who interceded for Janibek for PED violations? The match would be a unification match with Lara. Alimkhanuly still holds the WBO title for now.
Carlos Adames, the WBC middleweight title holder, made it known after his fight against Austin Williams that he intends to move up to super middleweight, but he has yet to vacate the title.
Amari seems to have more than just the IBF option to get a championship fight. When the opportunity comes, he must be ready to capitalize on it. He is fortunate to have legendary trainer Vergil Hunter in his corner, who will ensure he is ready when the time comes.
 went from blue chip prospect to contender Friday night at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, by){kind=link}