Hopkins vs. Jones II: Is it too late for this fight?
January 15th, 2010
By William Mackay: 17 years after the two of them last faced each other, Roy Jones Jr. (54-6, 40 KO’s) and Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KO’s) will finally meet up again for a light heavyweight bout on April 17th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It appears that the two fighters have waited 17 years too long for this fight to occur, because now that both Hopkins and Jones are in their 40s, this fight is more like an old timer’s fight than a bout with any kind of relevance whatsoever.
In Jones’ last fight against International Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion Danny Green on December 2nd, Jones was dropped with a big right hand early in the 1st round. Jones then covered up and took a barrage of punches from Green that last 20 seconds until the bout was finally halted by the referee Howard John Foster when it became clear that Jones wasn’t in the position to throw anything back at Green.
That fight took pretty much all the air out of the Hopkins-Jones fight. Jones was supposed to fight Green as a tune-up for the Hopkins bout, but after Jones was beaten by Green, it made a bout between Jones and Hopkins kind of meaningless. Green attempted to line up a fight with Hopkins, but he was unable to put together a fight because Hopkins wanted a bigger pay cut than him.
The fight that many boxing fans want to see if Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson, and it’s hard not to see why because these two fighters are the best in the division. Hopkins, however, has been reluctant to taking this fight for some reason. It’s hard to see why not, because Dawson is considered by many to be the best fighter in the light heavyweight division, better even than Hopkins.
By facing Dawson, Hopkins would be proving himself against another younger fighter and would really be able to help cement his legacy if he were able to beat the younger Dawson. Hopkins defeated middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik by a 12 round decision in late 2008. It was a great win, but the fight was held at a catch weight and Pavlik didn’t look good fighting out of the middleweight division. But at least if Hopkins faced Dawson, he would be facing someone from his own weight class.
Strangely enough, Jones still remains ranked high in the light heavyweight division, even after the loss to Green. Jones is currently ranked number #1 WBO, #3 WBC, #3 IBF and #4 WBA. Those rankings seem almost insane given how bad Jones looked in the Green fight, and with the mostly limited opposition that Jones has been getting his wins against in the past four years.
Tags: 18 Responses to “Hopkins vs. Jones II: Is it too late for this fight?”
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Roy by decision… then a Roy vs Calzage rematch!
Roy jones is a steroid cheat,they should blood test him.
Bhop will probably ko him anyway
Maybe the winner to fight Calzaghe?
Seriously, who cares? I think Boxing can do without the macabre spectacle of 2 OAPs tapping each other up.
Danny Green did us all a favour by giving Roy an absolute beating and I’m sure he would have beaten Hopkins too.
Still, I’m sure that enough Yanks would watch an RJJ v BHop fight to make it worth putting on.
Way too late but I will still watch it lol ! To me Roy Jones is still one of the best fighters out there,here’s why,when Roy was at the top of his game he won on foot and hand speed,he still has the hand speed but when it comes to foot speed Father time has caught up with him or he’s just a lil bit lazy. There’s not one fighter today that can out box Roy in the center of the ring,everytime Roy gets knocked out is when he’s backing up headed for the ropes to cover up,if Roy went back to using his legs(running)as people call it to not get hit and stop laying on the ropes,he is as dominate as any fighter in the game today,hands down. Prediction,Roy wins by decision because Bernard will not throw a flurry of punches to take Jones out when he’s on the ropes,ugly fight but Jones by decision !
lol how is this even a question? of course it’s too late. If bhop wins wil they fight the rubber match in 2027?
@kelel and pacific fist ya really hit it on the nail, I dont think i could have said it better my self but let me elaborate a little. Many people are counting jones down which i dont blame them i mean in the past few years bhop has had more success than jones and dam bhop for an old man has been in tremendous shape fighting a few young guys and sending them back to school. But i think just like jones bhops time in boxing is pretty much done and roy might put the nail in the coffin and finish him.
to kalel well said i agree jones will win on points easy. hopkins had no hope against green and he knows that even his trainer said that. just another american with no heart hopkins would have made more money fighting green.HOPKINS VERY SAD FOR AMERICA BOXING FANS. AMERICANS SHOULD ALL PRAISE JONES BECAUSE HE CHALLENGED GREEN. AT THAT WAS A RISK FOR JONES,BUT JONES SHOWN HEART BECAUSE HE WANTS THE BEST FIGHTERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. AMERICANS HAVE BEEN CHEATED FROM NOT WATCHING GOOD BOXERS WHO DONT FIGHT IN AMERICA.
This mess will be a boo fest… Roy will win by decision. BHop is not busy enough nor quick enough to catch Roy. Roy will pot shot him all night and win a boring decision…
im still interested in this fight but not pay per view. hopkins has a low punch out put, so does jones. jones just cant take a hit any more, and he still fights with his hands down and hes not quick enough to do that anymore. so this fight will be boring and short but for some reason im still interested.
Man… Nobody wants to see this garbage now. The fight is 7yrs too late. Roy never should have came back down after winning the Heavyweight title. He should have fought Tyson when he had the chance or just retired and went out as being an unbeatable legend…
8 years to late
People are forgetting that Hopkins didn’t look very good at all versus Ornelas, who is quite inferior to Green. I personally had Ornelas winning 4 rounds in that fight. When you consider the fact that Hopkins hasn’t scored a knockout since 2004 (against an overblown DLH), I think this has the makings of a very close fight which could go either wat. Jones should have never picked a tune-up fight against Danny Green, who despite his limitations has genuine KO power.
I see Jones winning a close one in an upset, which will certainly tarnish Hopkins’ legacy.
roy is a joke now he should leave the game of boxing before its too late… b-hop is always dangerous but got schooled by calzage…but then beat down pavlik always dangerous…..
fight should have happened after hopkins vs trinadad sometime in 2002.
I believe its way to late..if Roy got knockout in the 1st by green what makes you think he can hang with b-hop
correct two late hopkins has maintained a level and jones hasnt . i see hopkins dominating jones maybe even ko him.
Yes its too late! Jones has been getting knocked out over the past few years so at this point, if Hopkins win, its no big deal! Hopkins has more to lose than gain. For some reason I think Jones will pull it out. Jones can be very good when he’s motivated and I think he will really be motivated for Hopkins. I don’t think there’s two fighters who hate each other more than Hopkins & Jones.
yes its too late ..hopkins will win be k.o. roy passed his prime already. def too late. i still will watch and pay to see this fight. to future hall of famers. its amazing to see hopkins still top p4p fighters.