Roy Jones Jr. has a way of getting on people’s nerves.

He’s been doing that ever since he was a young boy growing up in Pensacola, Fla., and that’s one of the reasons he got into boxing.

“Everybody seemed like they always wanted to fight with me,” he said during a Red Cross benefit at Chilton County High School Saturday. “It didn’t matter because they couldn’t touch me.”

Jones is now preparing for an additional fight, as he will face Welsh fighter Joe Calzaghe in famed Madison Square Garden in New York. Jones says he doesn’t like the kind of fighter Calzaghe is.

“He’s tall, and I don’t like that. He’s undefeated, and I don’t like that too much, either,” Jones said. “He says this is going to be his last fight. I don’t think so. He’ll be back for a rematch.”

Jones might sound like he’s cocky, but he’s just confident. He knows what his abilities are, and he knows his training. He uses his skills and quickness to defeat his opponents.

“I’m a student of boxing. I’ve probably forgotten more about boxing than most of today’s boxers ever knew,” Jones said.

That knowledge of the sport has made him a good commentator for boxing, but his style has not always been what the sports networks wanted. Jones tells it like it is no matter what he’s been told by the promoters to say.

“That has gotten me in trouble a few times, but I am who I am. I speak the truth. When I see something, I say what I think,” Jones said.

That caused him to be fired from commentating on HBO matches.

“However, I think they are beginning to see that I have great insight into what’s going on,” Jones said.

Jones said he has been able to achieve all of the accomplishments in his life through God.

“If you don’t have God, then you don’t have anything,” Jones said.

Because of this, he has had to make sacrifices in his life. He’s never smoked or even drank alcohol. Instead of spending time taking trips, he has spent time working out in the gyms.

“You don’t need to make potholes in your life,” Jones said. “I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of things to get where I am. If you ever want to succeed at doing anything, you have to sacrifice.”

One of the best and worst times of Jones’ life was when we went to the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was excited about making the Olympics to represent the U.S., but he was also disappointed because he didn’t win the gold.

“They robbed me of the gold in the Olympics,” Jones said, “but instead of feeling sorry for myself, I got back up and went after it harder.”

Because of that, Jones was able to not only win the light heavyweight title, but also hold the heavyweight title at the same time.

“It just shows you what God can do with a bad situation,” Jones said.