By Jim Dower: After laboring to a dull 12 round unanimous decision against 41-year-old Roy Jones Jr. last night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins said “I still want to fight David Haye.” As bad as Hopkins looked against Jones, and believe me he looked bad, I think Haye would literally make mincemeat of the 45-year-old Hopkins.
Hopkins vs. Jones
Hopkins Wins Foul-Filled Brawl
By Alexander Fugate: The fight started out with same set of actions repeating themselves. Hopkins leading with a jab, then jumping in close with his head down, and throwing a quick combo before wrapping Jones up. The first four round went this way with Hopkins jumping in, throwing a few shots and then both wrapping each other up. In the fifth, both fought on the inside, literally inches apart. Both threw and landed some shots and didn’t clinch. Jones may have stole the round, but Hopkins still seemed to land the cleaner, harder shots.
Hopkins somewhat evens the score against Jones
By Brian Kenneth Blackwell: This will be a horribly written article, simply because I cannot find it in me to write an article about what was an absolutely horrible fight. Tonight, two fighters in their 40s attempted to turn back the clock and looked everything that they were not. In the end, both fighters looked every bit their age, and at some points, after full minutes of only faints and zero punches, it appeared as if both Bernard and Roy felt in their minds that they still looked good in their movements. Truth be told, both looked incredibly off balance, slow, and clumsy.
Hopkins-Jones: Bernard looking for revenge against Roy
By Peter Wells: It has been 17 years since we saw these two fighters stepping into the ring with each other. The two old dogs of the sport have both been so close to each other, but there was never a rematch. But now it finally happens, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Roy Jones Jr may be the younger fighting (41) by 4 years but he’s the closest to the end of the road.
Hopkins-Jones: Winding Back and Winding Down
By Niko Tricarico: Every fighter for every fight seems to claim that they are in the best shape of their careers. Every hanger on, every minion and sycophantic handler boasts the supernatural conditioning and superiority of their boxer and the imminent destruction of their opponent. By the time the prefight commentary is over I expect to see both haloed fighters fly into the ring on feathered wings laying to waste any and everything that challenges their divinity. The fight begins and then someone gets knocked out because in boxing your best is sometimes just not good enough.
Jones: “I guarantee I’ll stop him [Hopkins], you watch”
By Sean McDaniel: Roy Jones Jr. sounded as confident as usual at the press conference before Saturday night’s bout against 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones, now 41, is coming off a technical knockout loss against Danny Green last December. However, even with the 1st round destruction against Green, Jones foresees himself beating Hopkins this Saturday night. Jones says “I know after this one, if Bernard Hopkins can hurt me, cause Bernard Hopkins is not that big of a puncher. If he can hurt me after this one, maybe it’s time to hang it up. I won’t give you my secrets, but I guarantee I’ll stop him, you watch.”
Hopkins-Jones: Two old counter punchers mix it up on Saturday night
By Chris Williams: Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. will be fighting this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Hopkins and Jones are over 40-years-old, and have seen better days. We have a case of two counter punchers that don’t like to throw a lot of punches going up against each other. And in the case of the 41-year-old Jones, his punch resistance appears to be almost completely gone. Jones was stopped in the 1st round in December.
Would Calzaghe be tempted to fight the winner of Hopkins-Jones?
By Sean McDaniel: In looking at the old timer’s fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins that takes place on April 3rd, one wonders whether former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO’s) might be tempted to come out of retirement to fight the winner of this fight. It’s unclear how Calzaghe’s finances are set up right now, but a fight against the winner of Jones vs. Hopkins certainly wouldn’t hurt matters all that much. Calzahge, 37, has wins against both fighters two years ago in 2008, and he probably would still have enough left to beat the winner if he was interested.
Hopkins says he’ll fight Dawson after he cleans up the light heavyweight division
By Jim Dower: 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KO’s) said to ESPN analyst Brian Kenny on Friday night that he plans on cleaning up the light heavyweight division after Bernard gets through with his fight on April 3rd against 41-year-old Roy Jones Jr. Hopkins, who has only fought once in the past two years, said “I’m just going to clean up the light heavyweight division after Roy Jones Jr. And then I’m going to go after all the other champions who have a title, and then I’m going to unify the titles. The Chad Dawson fight will be even bigger, if he still has title. When the time comes, it [Hopkins-Dawson] will be bigger money. People will know who Chad Dawson is by them. That will be a good way to exit out of the light heavyweight division and go on with Golden Boy Promotions.”
Hopkins says that Roy Jones Jr. will leave boxing after April 3rd
By Jim Slattengren: You got to like Bernard Hopkins. He really knows how to come up with some good sound bites to sell a fight, even one that a lot of boxing cans could really care less about at this point. The 45-year-old Hopkins will be facing 41-year-old Roy Jones Jr. (54-6, 40 KO’s) on April 3rd at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hopkins is trying his best to hype the Jones fight and make it seem that the bout has relevance to boxing fans.