Its reasonable to say that Bernard Hopkins was still a work in progress against Jones, but in all fairness the same could be said about Jones. He had 21 fights, with many of his best moments still to come.
Don't forget Roy had an injured hand. Effectively he beat Hopkins 1-handed. And it was an easy win, hardly a life-or-death struggle or come-from-behind miracle. Basically it was two fighters with similar levels of experience, and one of them was not fully fighting fit - but still cruised to victory.
I didn't realize that Jones was fighting injured. I don't believe I've ever seen the fight, and even if I have, then it's been nearly two decades. Still, your point only solidifies the quality of the win.
Yes but Pac had losses and draws during that time, Hopkins didnt lose again for what 12 years at the comparable level of competition?
Not at all. Both inexperienced, with Jones fresh out of the Olympics fighting at the highest possible level in the amateurs, and bringing his already extraordinary athletic ability into the ring. Hopkins had to brush up his technical skills over a number of years, and for that reason, I don't hold the victory as high as most others do.
I've had to post this many times on here and I'm convinced nobody I've directed it towards has actually watched it. Bare in mind his chin is hanging out most of the time there aswell. It wasn't granite, but it was solid enough.
I am surprised that Roy Jones Jr. is as low-ranked as some suggest though, seeing how he was viewed just 10 years ago. He was RIDICULOUSLY GREAT in his prime. And some of the men he was outclassing (and I dont used that word lightly) were very good fighters. And he made them look ordinary, seemingly without much effort. Having said that, at 175 historically there are too many great fighters for RJJ to get a look in at the top 5 of all-time. And of course at 160 he's unworthy on accomplishments to really mount a challenge to the all-time rankings. He straddled 160, 168 and 175 and perhaps in a general list of great fighters across the board, pound-for-pound, he'd merit a higher ranking than in any one particular division.
The thing is Jones wins at 160-168 don't get counted, which is fair but you need to apply the same rules to other fighters: Tunney - take away his last Greb fight and his Dempsey win, whats he left with? 2-2 with Greb, Carpenier, a pre-prime Loughran draw, Levinski. Its not emphatic Conn - take away his Apostoli wins (below 168), he only has Bettina and Lesnevich of note Then people complain about Jones competition, while ignoring the likes of Foster had just as weak if not weaker competition
Yeah, but Foster was beaten up by Ali and Frazier. The skinny mofo scores points there for pure cojones.
I wasn't making any kind of direct comparison, I was just pointing out that even fighters who are fighting in the world class are still learning loads of crucial skills over protracted periods.