U.S. Boxer Roy Jones Asks Putin For Russian Citizenship

Aug. 20, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with U.S. boxer Roy Jones, Jr. in Sevastopol, Crimea, Aug. 19, 2015.

U.S. boxer Roy Jones Jr. asked President Vladimir Putin for Russian citizenship in Crimea on Wednesday, according to a transcript of the meeting published on the Kremlin's website Thursday.

“I want to ask you about maybe having a passport to go back and forth so that I can do business here. Because all the people here seem to love Roy Jones Jr., and I love when people love me,” Jones said, according to an English-language transcript on the Kremlin website.

Putin, himself a judo aficionado, said Jones was a popular figure among Russian sports fans, and “if you plan to spend a significant part of your life working in Russia, we would certainly be happy to fulfill your request to receive a Russian passport.”

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