A BORED JONES ATTEMPTS ORIGINAL ONE-TWO PUNCH.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writer

With a frustrating lack of competition in and around his weight class, International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion Roy Jones Jr. is looking for ways to entertain himself.

Today, he'll try something new: pro basketball and pro boxing on the same day.

Jones, the latest incarnation of the two-sport athlete, expects to play 10-15 minutes for the Jacksonville Barracudas of the United States Basketball League and then defend his title against lightly regarded Canadian Eric Lucas in Jacksonville.

The basketball game begins at 1:30 p.m. (EDT), while the fight is expected to go off around 10 p.m.

``I want to show people boxers can do more than just box,'' Jones said.

Jones, widely recognized as the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world, insists this is no mere publicity stunt.

He's serious about his basketball ``career.'' Jones, a point guard, played some in the Continental basketball Association last season and has averaged about 20 minutes a game in the USBL, a summer league composed mainly of CBA players. Jones averages around 6 points but is most adept at the less-appreciated aspects of the game and believes he is improving.

And he loves the game, in good part, because it provides the challenge that boxing doesn't and is far less dangerous.

It also gives him a fresh perspective of boxing, as baseball did for basketball star Michael Jordan.

``I'm not as good in basketball,'' he said. ``That's the thing. The way I deal with frustration is I try to make it happen better the next time. I want the same mentality in boxing, to keep reaching to get better.

``Because I'm playing basketball, I have the idea of bettering myself and it's carrying over into boxing.''

Don't be fooled, however: Boxing remains his game.

Today, Jones doesn't expect to play quite as many minutes as he normally would and will not try to steal the ball from behind for fear of getting an elbow in the face, which could result in a cut.

And although Jones (31-0) insists Lucas (19-2-2) is a credible opponent - ``I wouldn't care who I was fighting, I'd do it anyway,'' he said - the challenger is the perfect partner in the unusual two-sport feat: Basically, he doesn't have the skills to win.

Jones said he expects to fight for about two more years.

``I have the (boxing) fans built up,'' he said. ``I'm not going to turn my back on them.''

Or the money yet to be made in boxing.

Before he's through, one would expect him to move up to the light heavyweight division and face legitimate opposition, such as Virgil Hill, Montell Griffin, Frankie Liles or Henry Maske - and possibly even a heavyweight or two - and make a lot of money in the process.

In the meantime, he has ways of staying busy.

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Photo: ROY JONES JR.

Will play pro basketball in the day an d then fight Eric Lucas tonight.