NYF Prospect Update: Malcolm Jones–He Fights TONIGHT

UPDATE: Tonight is fight night for Malcolm Jones of Marblehead (and Indianapolis before that).

We checked in with the super middleweight Malcolm Jones, of Reyes Boxing Promotions, to get a sense of his mindset before stepping to the line against Cleotis Pendarvis in Massachusetts in Danvers.

Was he feeling fired up, morning of the fight night?

“Yes, I am,” he told me. “Currently relaxing. This is starting to feel familiar.”

Jones chopped down hard in weight, and says he's all ready to continue the climb up the ranks.

In a good way?

“Yes,” he responded. “I feel good. Clear mind, body feels strong. I've fought my last three fights while fighting a battle outside the ring that I never thought would end. I talked to my son yesterday, and we had a great conversation on a video call. He was so happy….I lost him for over two years, lost myself, and felt like my career was over.

“I feel like today I'm picking up where I left off in 2019 before all the choas in my life happened. This is the start of an opportunity to take my boxing career somewhere. 

So, by familiar, I say that as I feel like a winner, and the way my fans back home are reaching out makes me feel like their champ again. I feel good because I lost a belief in myself, and my fans back home didn't! It's all familiar!”

Wow. That was such a stellar answer, much ore fleshed out than I expected. It makes me that much more curious to see how Jones fares against the 22-17-2 “Mookie,” who comes to Mass. from Cali at 37 years old. He's a journeyman, but one who bested a 20-0 guy two fights ago, so Jones has to be mindful.

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The answer was the right one, from this perspective: Prospect Malcolm Jones is 190 pounds and on Friday, Oct 27, he will be fighting in the super middleweight class on the Reyes Boxing Promotions “Down & Dirty” show at Danversport, in Danvers, Mass.

Super middle max is 168 pounds.

Malcolm Jones looks to impress on the Friday, Oct 27 Reyes Boxing Promotions event in Danvers, Mass.

I asked Malcolm what he thought of the North Shore of Massachusetts, being that this was his second day in Marblehead. Did he find a good restaurant yet, I wondered?

Prospect Malcolm Jones Learning Mass. Traditions

No time for that as yet, said the Indianapolis man, who holds a 16-3 record. “I’ve been chilling in my room,” he said, while driving to training with promoter Michael Reyes. “The apples are good!”

Must’ve been music to the ears of Reyes, age 44, a promoter on the rise in the region and beyond.

Yes, I will make weight, was the basic message from prospect Jones, who’s been introduced to you before.

Jones has done a few spins on the circuit. He’s poised to make a run to bigger bouts, it looks like

NYF asked about his 10-27-23 foe, Cleotis Pendarvis.

“He’s had like 50 fights? I took a look at some tape, it looks like he’ll fight.”

Indeed, BoxRec tells us that Pendarvis on 8-19-23 beat a foe with a 20-0-1 record, so caution is advisable.

Jones shouldn’t be and sounds like he isn’t assuming he gets a gimme test in Danvers, in Massachusetts, where fight fans respect Rocky Marciano, Marvin Hagler, Peter McNeeley, and Micky Ward.

“Two weeks out I’ll be 175, then do water cut (to the finish line),” Jones shared.

Prospect Malcolm  Jones Will Be Hunting For Win No 17 in Danvers

Jones said he’s soaking up the local traditions and vibes, including the region’s white-hot addiction to their pro sports teams.

He describes Marblehead thusly: “it’s like a small town, not busy, calm, quiet.”

Conducive, probably, to getting his body and mind in shape to make a run at his divisions’ top tier.

Reyes is helping with the acclimation process for the 168 prospect.

On 10-27, Rodrigo Coria defends his WBO 154 pound Latino crown, with Jones seeking to steal spotlight on the undercard

During the “apples” part of the chat, we chuckled at the classic “them apples” bit from “Good Will Hunting,” a Matt Damon-Ben Affleck-Robin Williams film classic from 1997.

From there, it went into a discussion of jerseys, and Lyndon Byers.

If you wanna show off your Beantown accent to prospect Jones, and check out some fierce prize-fighting at a sweet venue amid a Halloween vibe, click here for tix info.