The next “Comeback Fighter of the Year” may well be Devon Alexander, an ex-champ who envisions a pathway back to relevance in the welterweight division, and now has all-time great Roy Jones Jr. to help him navigate that road.

Consider that Alexander fought twice in 2018, settling for a draw with Victor Ortiz and losing a squeaky-close split decision to Andre Berto. He was leading both fights going into the later rounds, but, by his own assessment, he ran out of gas.

With Roy Jones as his new trainer and cornerman (replacing Kevin Cunningham), Alexander is headed for high altitude – Big Bear, Calif. (6,700 feet above sea level) to get the conditioning he needs and recapture the magic that enabled him to beat Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse, Junior Witter, and other elite fighters earlier in his career.

Alexander also candidly discusses his 2 ½- year battle with prescription painkillers – how he became addicted, what it took to recover, and how he plans to use that experience going forward.

Our in-depth interview with Devon Alexander is preceded by a conversation with expert analysts Rizwaan Zahid and John J. Raspanti on topics like Pacquiao-Spence, why fans inexplicably still crave Pacquiao-Mayweather II, Usyk-Takam, Dirrell-Benavidez, Wilder-Fury II (now targeted for February), Wilder’s rejection of DAZN’s $100 million offer, Canelo-Jacobs (and the disappointing stagnation of the rest of the middleweight division), and more.

Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” an Amazon bestseller.