Roy Jones Jr.'s Glad His Kid Picked Hoops ... Boxing's Too Dangerous

Roy Jones Jr. says he's super stoked his kid is an elite athlete ... and even happier it's not in boxing ... 'cause according to Roy the sweet science is too dangerous and cutthroat for his boy.

Roy and his kid, Roy III, came on "TMZ Sports" (Thursday at 8:30 PM PT on FS1) when the guys asked why RIII -- who's a high school hoops star ... didn't pick up the boxing gloves like his old man.

Roy answers ... and we gotta say ... it's a pretty good one.

BTW -- stick around for some AWESOME father/son smack talk when we ask who'd win in a one-on-one game.