Bernard Hopkins said Roy Jones is a 1-dimensional fighter!

His reflexes "declined" largely because he challanged himself to become Heavyweght Champion of the World, something Hopkins never did.

Roy went back down to Light Heavyweight after going up and winning the Heavyweight title, in his mid-30s, which was tough on the body. As a result, he slowed down. He managed to beat Tarver still, and then got KTFO by Tarver and Glen Johnson. Since then, Roy has shown the ability to adapt with age, he's had a better record than Hopkins since then, and scored 8 KO's in that time. Hopkins hasn't had a single KO in that time. Roy's been stopped 3 times since then, all vs tough opposition outside of America. The only time Hopkins stepped outside of USA was in Canada vs Jean Pascal and had his ass handed to him in the first fight.

More importantly, when Roy Jones fought Hopkins in 2010, though Hopkins got the decision, Hopkins hit the deck 3 times all on borderline stuff, and was complaining and fouling all night. If Roy was such a 1 dimensional fighter, Hopkins would have made easy work with the supposedly washed up Jones who gave Hopkins all sorts of trouble. After the fight Hopkins said he was seeing spots and said he was gonna go up to Heavyweight to challenge David Haye. Once again, Hopkins was trying to do what Roy Jones did, but couldn't.

When Roy came back down to Light Heavyweight after winning the Heavyweight Title, he slowed down enough so that highly motivated opponents (to knock him out) were able to find him and drop him. It didn't have anything to do with him being or becoming 1 dimensional. I can see the argument that Hopkins adapted to age better than Roy, by not getting stopped like Roy did. But that doesn't make Roy a 1 dimensional fighter.

It's important to point out that none of Hopkins opponents were motivated to stop Hopkins like Roy's opponents were. Roy was at the top of the sport for so long in the 90s and early 2000s, that fighters like Tarver and Glen Johnson wanted desperately to drop Roy. In Hopkins last fight, Kovalev could have easily stopped Hopkins but had too much respect for him and let him survive 12 rounds. Hopkins managed zero offense in that fight. Fighting into your 40s (and 50s in Hopkins case) is incredibly impressive. Floyd Mayweather can't even do what Roy Jones and Hopkins did. Floyd's body already gave out on him, and he hasn't even turned 40 yet. Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins are legendary in their quest to fight competatively deep into their 40s. Neither RJJ or Hopkins is 1 dimensional, but compared to Roy Jones, Hopkins is way more ordinary as a defensive boxer. A highly skilled defensive boxer, who adapted to age well, but certainly not the dynamic 3 dimensional virtuoso that Roy Jones was in his prime and still is to a large extent.

Hopkins has been trying to play catchup to Roy Jones his entire career, and to some extent he's closed the gap by adapting to age better and getting some solid wins over the last decade. But that doesn't make Roy Jones a 1 dimensional fighter. I know what Hopkins was trying to get at, but it came out wrong, and it's ridiculous for him to say that RJJ is 1 dimensional.

RJJ is the furthest thing from 1 dimensional I can possibly think of. And I don't buy the argument that Hopkins style is superior to Roy because he hasn't been stopped. Roy's style is more high risk - high reward. Roy's more exciting, more fan friendly, more entertaining. You can say Hopkins is harder to hit, but Roy (still) is far more gifted offensively than Hopkins ever was. And prime-for-prime, Roy in fact was a better defensive fighter than Hopkins because he literally couldn't be touched. That had a lot to do with his superior athleticsm, but once again that's "3 dimensional athleticism". Hopkins was an ordinary boxer puncher in comparison. An ordinary boxer puncher who excelled and adapted very well with age and arguably became better as he aged.

But once again that doesn't make Roy Jones a 1 dimensional fighter LOL. Not now, not ever. It's ridiculous to say that.