Bhop would have beaten Roy in a rematch

I clearly remember that fight. Roy was certainly tired and affected by the weight loss in that first fight, but guess what? He went 12 rounds. All of sudden, 6 months later and more than a year after the Ruiz fight; the weight loss is too much and he gets knocked out. How long does it take to adjust to the weight loss? How come the weight loss didn't cause him to get stopped 8 months after the Ruiz fight, but became such a big problem over a year after the Ruiz fight?

The answer to all of this is simple. Roy couldn't get out of the way and got sparked by a punch he didn't see coming. If Roy dropped the decision in that first fight with Tarver, I would accept the weight loss excuse. It doesn't fly when you've already fought a fight after coming down in weight and after you've had over a year to adjust to the weight loss. I know you're probably a big Roy fan, but let's use some common sense and stop restorting to childish name calling. I'm not some chump who hates Roy and started watching the sport a few years ago. I've been watching the sport since I was a little kid. I've watched pretty much all of Roy's career and am fan of his. However, that doesn't stop me from using logic and common sense.

 

Anyone that says hopkins did'nt want any part of the remath is delusional. Hopkins fought taylor twice the guy that ko'ed jones, and is the only man to ever stop johnson. Roy won because he was more exsperienced if they had equal exsperience hopkins wins every time.

 

What made the rematch talk so pointless is that when it first started getting brought up which was 2002 or so, Roy was at 175 and Hopkins at 160. Roy was the more recognizable name and had a win over Hopkins, so the 60/40 split was more than fair. Hopkins wanted no parts of Jones and for good reason because he would have received an ass whooping even if the fight was made at a catchweight of 168.

 

delusion is relative my friend

 

No. Roy fanatics claim he was knocked out because of the weight loss. Not true. If you want to say he got old, and the reflexes weren't there, that's fine. However, the weight loss excuse is gargabe.

 

based on what?

jones and mayweather have one thing in common.

they re-write the book on boxing.

hopkins was a terrific and a very smart fighter but to compare him to the skills of a jones or mayweather is a different level imo.

 

Benny, what were Roy's ppv numbers like back then? What about the ratings for the HBO telecasts? Are you familiar with the Roycott? Purse splits are all about marketablility. Roy was a big name that did poor numbers. The biggest reason was because of the fact that people were sick of his one sided matchups against civil servants and no name mandos. A Roy/Hopkins fight would've done big numbers due to the fact that Hopkins had a surge in popularity and would've been viewed as a legit threat to Roy. I don't know how you can say 60/40 was fair without mentioning these things. No one cared about Roy's win over Hopkins 8 years earlier. And Roy's star had started to fall which was evident from the poor numbers and the Roycott.

 

They were both green! Hopkins is one of my favorite fighters, I like Roy more, but I don't see why people act as if Hopkins was being beaten by a prime fighter, Roy got better too!

There is nothing I see that Hopkins at his best stage would ever beat Roy at his best.

Also, not taking the fight with Roy, really makes me doubt Hopkins' confidence of beating Roy.:deal

 

Co-sign, one must note that Roy was green as well in this fight

 

No he doesn't.

As much of a fan of B-Hop as I am, this is just a bad stylistic match-up for him. It would remain close throughout. I don't put too much meaning on their actual fight. Both men were a bit experienced, although Roy was certainly closer to his prime. The best win of his career was only a year later and RJJ of that time only looks a shade less impressive than the version a few years later, where as Hopkins best performances came inside the '97-'02 range.

But back to the point, Hopkins never was the fighter to beat prime Jones. Hopkins never really was going to do any better being entirely aggressive as he did in their fight, he didn't have the speed to keep up with Jones, nor the punch to do serious damage with one shot or catch him cold. Hopkins' best attributes were his footwork, timing, counter-punching skills, defense, ring generalship, and versatility. He of course had other things going for him in his prime, but these were always the best traits of prime B-Hop. Therefore it would serve him better to move, try and set a pace and control distance against Jones, look to make RJJ be aggressive and time him coming in, etc. However, with Jones' speed edge he first of all could win even if the fight played out that way, and would more than likely control the pace and range because he could move quicker than Hopkins, hit him first and avoid being hit himself, Roy was/is very smart himself and would know that being aggressive would only serve to Hopkins' advantages. Bernard would always keep it close, he was too complete and too intelligent to ever be outclassed in his prime, but he would lose almost every time barring a poor showing by Jones. I've said this before and will say it again, I am a bigger fan of Hopkins than Jones, but this is a style match-up that will always favor Jones, and Hopkins did not have that one very special attribute to turn the stylistic match-up around.

 

..... thanks, that's all you needed to say to start backpeddling from your previous post, where you stated RJJ fans will believe what they want to believe re: his weight loss affecting him, like it didn't play a part. Hey, you're right, Roy got caught with a punch in the second fight. That can happen to any fighter, at any time, just like it did to Hopkins . But I fail to see your logic as to what past-prime, weight-drained, reflex-dulled Roy getting caught with a punch has to do with bernard hopkins beating a Prime Roy jones in a rematch.

But hey, I see in your subsequent posts you're nothing more than a Roy hater with an agenda trying to slam his resume. Truth is, do you have any idea how many of those "Civil servants" on his resume went on to become legit champions in their own right?

 

Now that one is ALWAYS an interesting point for the Jones haters to answer, can't wait to hear the bull**** that comes now :yep

 

Hopkins beats Roy today

 

They were both athletically more gifted than Hopkins, but in terms of the techniques of the sport, Hopkins was clearly a more well-schooled and skilled fighter than either one. Jones and Mayweather made plenty of technical mistakes, but they had the athleticism to compensate for those mistakes. Technically speaking Hopkins in his prime was better than both, he wasn't really spectacular at anything, but he certainly had the best technique when it comes to every aspect of the game of any fighter of the generation.