jones easily. he destroyed prime Hopkins.A great victory. no win over a 40something can be considered very good, but its still pretty good because ko4clev shut Hopkins out and really was stopping him, the first to do so.
I'd say both about equal given the circumstances. Hopkins wasn't in his prime against Jones and he wasn't in his prime against Kovalev.
Taking into account age and manner of performance the fighters with the best wins over Hopkins go in this order: Jones Taylor Kovalev Dawson Calzaghe
Thats like asking,who banged a female at a better time, the one who hit at 24 or when she was 49...sure she had more experience at 49 but the kitty kat was far from prime and had way more miles on it
Hopkins was 28 btw, not 24. Your math is a bit off. It's a known fact that Hopkins was a late bloomer, he was definitely a much better fighter during his late 30s-mid 40s than he was at 28, and i'd argue that was the case with the 49 year old Hopkins as well. In terms of ranking, and the fact that he had TWO versions of the world title at the time definitely helps my case.
Jones easily. People act like Hopkins was incompetent early in his career. Yes, he was relatively inexperienced as a pro, but he was a hungry, undefeated, fighter. He was in his physical prime then too. It just so happens his prime lasted for 20+ years.
Jones after that fight he didn't lose for a decade When Kovalev faced him he already had losses to Jones ,Taylor ,Calzaghe and Dawson