Hopkins-Jones is CONFIRMED for April 17

si_19 · Jan 14, 2010

Jones has got to give it up, He's going to get hurt

nastynas · Jan 14, 2010

From a historical perspective this rematch is absolutely meaningless.

Brickhaus · Jan 14, 2010

nastynas said: ↑

From a historical perspective this rematch is absolutely meaningless.
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It's about on par with Hill-Maske II or Nelson-Fenech III.

I hope Jones retires for the sake of his health after this, but I also hope Hopkins retires for the sake of boxing. By continuing to fight, but refusing to fight a light heavyweight with a pulse, he's been holding the light heavyweight division hostage for years. Now that the lineal title has been vacated by Erdei, people could FINALLY try making the fights to make a new champ and to breathe some life back into this dying weight class. Showing Hopkins, Jones, Tarver and Johnson (if he loses to Mack) the door would be a good start.

RSBonos · Jan 14, 2010

Its still going to sell better then Jones-Calzaghe and unfortunately this fight will garner more attention in the US then Hopkins vs Green/Bute/Adamek/Dawson.

Rico Spadafora · Jan 14, 2010

RSBonos said: ↑

Its still going to sell better then Jones-Calzaghe and unfortunately this fight will garner more attention in the US then Hopkins vs Green/Bute/Adamek/Dawson.
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There is no way this fight will do 200k PPV's which is what Calzaghe/Jones did. This fight will be lucky to break 100k PPV buys. It is a joke of a fight.

jumpman441 · Jan 14, 2010

I'm buying it

steele311 · Jan 14, 2010

Hopkins by BRUTAL KO.

link2296 · Jan 14, 2010

Rico Spadafora said: ↑

There is no way this fight will do 200k PPV's which is what Calzaghe/Jones did. This fight will be lucky to break 100k PPV buys. It is a joke of a fight.
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I agree...i don't know why anyone thinks of Hopkins as a ppv draw...he's a boring and ugly fighter to watch. He's very effective, but not very pleasing to watch.

Tyson 2005 · Jan 14, 2010

steele311 said: ↑

Hopkins by BRUTAL KO.
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I agree. Jones is getting hurt for sure. And I'll watch it on youtube when it gets posted there, we all know it'll be under 10 minutes anyway.

link2296 · Jan 14, 2010

Tyson 2005 said: ↑

I agree. Jones is getting hurt for sure. And I'll watch it on youtube when it gets posted there, we all know it'll be under 10 minutes anyway.
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Shocking to most, Roy isn't going to be brutalized by hopkins. He is not as bad as most think...he should have never fought a guy like Danny Green.

The jones versus Hopkins will be a lot more competitive than most realilze. There's a reason why Hopkins isn't fighting Green instead.

Green is a badass with tons of power. In Australia, this is a huge fight and would generate a lot more money for Hops. But, Hopkins would never risk getting knocked out...not saying that he would, but there is a possibility if he fights Danny Green. No possibility with fighting a guy like Roy Jones.

NeckBreaknAiken · Jan 14, 2010

Rico Spadafora said: ↑

There is no way this fight will do 200k PPV's which is what Calzaghe/Jones did. This fight will be lucky to break 100k PPV buys. It is a joke of a fight.
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Would you like to make a bet on that?

Zakman · Jan 14, 2010

Fantastic!! I was hoping this fight would still get made!! The long-awaited rematch is finally happening!!

Riveraboxing · Jan 14, 2010

KOTF said: ↑

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4824611

Two months after the long-anticipated Roy Jones Jr.-Bernard Hopkins rematch was left for dead following Jones' stunning first-round knockout loss in an interim bout, the fight was resurrected on Wednesday -- an early birthday present for the aging stars.

Hopkins, who will be 45 on Friday and still ranks among the best fighters in the world pound-for-pound, and Jones, who turns 41 on Saturday, signed contracts to meet in a scheduled 12-round light heavyweight fight on pay-per-view, representatives for both fighters told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

The fight likely will be April 17 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Hopkins' promoter, said.

"We worked very hard to keep this fight alive and we got it signed on Wednesday," said John Wirt, the CEO of Square Ring, Jones' promotional company. "We're ecstatic that the fight was made and we're looking forward to a great event. There's been a long-standing rivalry between two of the preeminent boxers of our generation. This fight will establish once and for all who is the better fighter between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. This is the fight Roy always wanted."

Schaefer said he was in talks with HBO PPV about handling the event, adding that "there are different parties also interested in the fight." HBO's spring pay-per-view schedule is unclear with deals still possible for it to carry fights involving Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

After numerous failed attempts to make a rematch over the past decade, Jones and Hopkins finally came to terms in September to meet again. However, Jones had already signed for a fight on Dec. 2 in Australia against Danny Green.

Jones, who was due $4 million to fight Green, didn't want to withdraw from the fight, so he faced Green and Hopkins took a tuneup fight on the same day in his hometown of Philadelphia. While Hopkins, who ended a 14-month layoff, cruised to a lopsided unanimous decision against Enrique Ornelas, Jones was shockingly knocked out in the first round by Green.

The deal between Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KOs) and Jones (54-6, 40 KOs) was contingent upon both men winning their December bouts, so when Jones lost, it appeared they would not fight, although Hopkins continually mentioned Jones as still being a viable opponent and tried to play up the loss to Green as a quick stoppage.

Hopkins explored a fight with Green, but those talks went nowhere, and he had few other notable options. And Jones, who is protesting the loss to Green over a dispute related to the amount of gauze Green used in his hand wraps, still wanted to face Hopkins.

"The interesting thing is the conversations never died down," Schaefer said. "Even after Bernard won and Roy lost, the talks continued and different options were evaluated. But I just felt from talking to Bernard and from the conversations I had with John that they really wanted to fight each other.
"I think there is so much at stake for these guys. This is an event they have been waiting for for 17 years. They would not let anything get in the way of getting this fight finally done. I believe very strongly that at this point in their careers, after everything they have accomplished, I think this is a well-deserved fight for these two guys to finally get it on April 17. Love 'em or hate em, they are two of the most recognized names in the sport of boxing."

In several previous negotiations, Jones and Hopkins had always been hung up on the revenue split. Under the deal they agreed to in September, the split of the money was to be 50-50, but with a knockout provision. If the fight was decided by a knockout, the winner would get 60 percent with the loser getting 40 percent.

Although terms of the new deal were not disclosed, Wirt said that Jones agreed to "a modification" of the original deal with Jones' percentage potentially increasing depending on how the pay-per-view performed.

The knockout provision, however, is still in the new deal.
"The only thing I can say about the structure of the deal is that there is still a substantial financial benefit to the guy who wins by knockout," Schaefer said.

Before either man became a star, they met for a vacant middleweight title on May 22, 1993. Jones won a clear unanimous decision and would go on to dominate boxing, reigning as the pound-for-for king for about a decade while winning titles in four weight classes from middleweight to heavyweight.

After Jones left the middleweight division, Hopkins claimed the vacant title and went on to make a division-record 20 defenses, including becoming the undisputed champion in 2001. After Hopkins lost the middleweight title to Jermain Taylor in 2005, he moved up in weight and upset Antonio Tarver to win the light heavyweight championship in 2006.

Even though Jones lost his last fight, Schaefer said people would be foolish to write him off.

"Those who write Roy Jones off are making a mistake because he will come in motivated more than ever because this is a personal showdown between these guys," Schaefer said. "They were waiting a long time for this fight and here it is. Bernard, at this point in his career, keeps on defying mother time. For Bernard, after all the accomplishments, for him to get up for a fight, he also needs that personal motivation, and he will have it against Roy Jones.

"Those two guys, after all the talking and the build up, and the ups and downs and the cheers and disappointments, finally, they are going to meet again. Bernard won't be judging Roy on his last performance. He knows that would be a big mistake. I think they will both come at their best because of how important this is to both of them."

Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.
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This isn't anything new... Morales-Pacquaio II went through (after Morales-Raheem) and Cotto-Pacquaio (after Cotto-Clottey).. Everybody involved wants to make a big payday... but I am not buying it

BeReal · Jan 14, 2010

I like Roy, hopefully he's got one good win left in him.

Paulie · Jan 14, 2010

Last rumour : Joe Calzaghe will be the referre...

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Hopkins-Jones is CONFIRMED for April 17

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Hopkins-Jones is CONFIRMED for April 17

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