Why do people fault Roy Jones Jr for not giving Hopkins and Toney a rematch?

uhm Toney was never relevant after Jones took his soul.

 

That's debatable. Jones may have been earning more money but HBO were losing money on every Jones Jr fight. Jones' ppv figures at that point were between 100-150K, he was hardly a big draw at that time.

 

But Hopkins was not a draw at all, except among the very hard core boxing fan. Tito carried that PPV.

 

True Hopkins wasn't a big draw either at the time hence why he didn't ask for a bigger share of the purse just a 50/50 split.

Jones really only became a big draw after he beat Ruiz. So if neither fighter were proven big draws at the time I find it difficult to see it as being fair that one fighter get a significantly larger share of the purse over the other.

 

The fight was really about legacy. I wish some fighters would try and see the bigger picture. It should of been 50/50

off topic How do you know HBO was losing money on Jones's ppv fights?

 

Yes and no, lol
Toney really derailed his career by sacking Jackie Kallen and Bill Miller. He kind of got back on track, but after the Griffin 2 loss, he really seemed to lose focus and wouldnt be relevant again until 2003

 

You're conflating here.

Whether you think Jones was/wasn't a 'big draw', Jones had waaaay more leverage and was by far the bigger name than Hopkins at the time.

Period.

He was on an HBO deal, considered the P4P #1 fighter in the world, and already had a victory over Hopkins. On top of that, Hopkins wanted Jones to come down from 175 (even though Hop could have EASILY moved up at any time).

Hopkins had no claim to a 50/50 split. None.

 

I will agree Jones was a bigger name, and even more highly regarded at that time. But nobody can say he was definitely the bigger draw after Hopkins beat Tito. Nobody can show me figures saying that Jones could bring in serious PPV numbers prior to the win over Ruiz because they don't exist.

Jones was being asked to drop down in weight which he himself said would not be an issue just as Hopkins was being asked to move up in weight which I also think would not have had a negative impact on Hopkins. I can't see how you deem this to be unfair to Jones as both were jumping weight and in both cases it would not have had a negative impact upon their respective performances.

Hopkins had more options than Jones in terms of big fights so had just as much leverage. Who else other than Hopkins could Jones fight that would earn him as much money? Jones had to jump all the way up to heavyweight to find a big money fight. Hopkins had De La Hoya and a rematch with Tito that could earn him big purses.

You can claim Hopkins had no claim to a 50/50 spit but it doesn't make it true. Jones may have already beaten Hopkins years before but we have seen other rematches where the loser still earned the bigger share in the rematch. Just because you won the previous fight doesn't automatically mean you should get the bigger share.