Who do you rate higher: Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones Jr?

Jones by some margin.

 

Hopkins he atleast dint duck punchers

 

If Hopkins fights and beats Adamek, than its a close debate.

but for now its RJJ no question about it IMO

 

This is similar to that Hearns/Tyson poll who was greater. Tyson was a tough guy when he was prime, but Hearns whole career and longevity makes him a much greater fighter than Tyson. Hopkins has a better career than Jones..

 

Jones >>> Hopkins

 

I agree. Ruiz was a guy who could not punch hard so all Jones had to do was fight his usually fight and win with his speed and he did. I think Hopkins has beaten tougher guys. Jones wouldn't have even taken on Pavlik.

 

jones by a very slight margin...you have to say that jones was the longest running p4p king...but bhop is one monumental win away from entering top 20 ATG...maybe against adamek, valuev or dawson...i had both of them in the top 30

 

Resume? Hopkins. Skill level + natural gift? Probably Jones. Overall? Hopkins.

I see these Hopkins-Jones polls changing in years. 2005: Jones ranked higher, polls not even close. 2010: 50/50. 2015: Hopkins ranked higher, not even close. Give it time, and justice will be done.

Jones has a slightly overrated resume as he picked his opposition very carefully for the 2nd half of his career, pre-Tarver (who he was forced to fight to get back his titles), especially the John "Quiet Hug" Ruiz and the 'LHW terror run' gets too much credit (Roy never baceme the undisputed or legitimate linear champ, Dariusz Michalczewski was the lineal champ, who was stripped of the IBF and WBA belts. Other than the WBC, Roy picked up paper titles.)

Hopkins' resume and divisional domination at 160 (all 4 titles, 21 defenses, only debated losses post-Roy) is slightly underrated (especially the pre-Tito era, as well as his performances in losing (Taylor, Calzaghe at LHW). Hopkins beat much more top elite fighter than Roy and never lost a wide decision, the widest was a 116-112-like to Jones. Hopkins clearly has the better resume, and when people will realize that behind the awesomeness of Roy's flashy style and the HBO hype he had (still building a strong ATG resume), there's much less real quality than he's credited for. Hopkins is the opposite: his legend is still growing ever stronger with people realizing that he was a special fighter even in those years when he fought under the radar. It's not the first time the flashy/popular fighter loses a lot of credibility when the hype is over and the less-exciting, hard-working guy is earning his credit step by step. Yes, Roy beat Bernard, whatever version that was. But the counter-argument is that Hopkins knocked out Roy-beater Glen Johnson, absolutely schooled Tarver and came close to beat Calzaghe. These are the guys Roy lost to.

Now speaking about skills and technical side, Roy's edge is becoming smaller and smaller as it's evident now that he always relied on his physical gifts, and when those started to fade, he became an average flashy fighter, bad losses came and he never could change his style to his late-30s physical condition. Hopkins on the other hand, after being a very aggressive pressure fighter, he became a defensive master at his late 30s, and became even better in his early 40s (he landed more shots and took less vs. Pavlik than back in 2001 vs. Tito!). Roy also had steroid issues, which is VERY SERIOUS in my book, especially for a fighter who's absolutely depeding on his physical gifts like speed, mobility and stamina (that's why Mosley lost tons of credit in my book).

 

Hopkins. They are close but there is a clear gap between the two IMO

 

you can make a case that jones was the p4p king from 1996-2001 (some say that dela hoya and mosley is p4p king in the latter part but i go for jones).....that's six years. Longer than the reign of chavez and sweet pea...quite an accomplishment that is hard to duplicate

 

joe calzaghe!! kicked both their arses!!

 

I'd go for Jones. Bhop does have longevity on him though.

 

Good post BigBone. I'll be going with Hopkins too