Classic Forum's take on Jones vs Hopkins II

Yeah. Some people just do n't get it,do they ? This kind of crap is not boxing.

 

This entire fight destabilized how I view Roy and Bernard.

- I hated watching it for one. I paid $20 at my local movie theater to watch this and I found from the 1st fight to the horrible headliner the whole event went from promising to nightmarish.

- Sillakh vs. Judah was a great display of potential talent. Seeing the Gomez debut was also great.

- Watching Sergio Mora vs. Calvin Green was fun, but after the reality set in that Green wore himself out, the fight got frustrating as Mora struggled to convincingly get the stubborn Green out of the ring. It was an awkward stoppage.

- Seeing Ray Narh fight wiped that awkward feeling away till Jason Litzau and Rocky Juarez stepped in the ring. The feeling was reinstalled and amplified. Then I dozed off for a few rounds to wake up with Juarez slowly coming alive with Litzau panicking about widening gash on his face.Then came the stoppage.

- Finally, I was tired but ready for the main event. This was a travesty. It wasn't Holmes vs. Ali, but it never should have happened. The fight would have been more exciting to speculate the winner on this message board then to have to watch it live. I don't know who to draw as a true victor. The Roy that struggled to do his thing? Or the Bernard that I can't tell if he's faking it or not? B-Hop won, but looked like a total dick with the fouls. Roy lost, but looks like a victim because of Hopkins.

The next day I saw the message board lit up with accusations, nut huggers, true fans, and armchair historians all trying to desperately get their point across. Looking at that board and all it's conflicting thread topics reminded me of how I felt right after watching the fight. That fight created more of a mess then a final answer. I pray they don't try a 3rd match, but B-Hop likes to viscerally prove himself in any situation (considering he gets his way) and Roy thinks he's got something left (I hope he retires soon). I thought we learned from the Hagler vs. Leonard debacle. Just let it go man. Let it go.

Roy might have won years ago, but he left a cheap legacy. Bernard might have lost in '93, but look what he built after that. He didn't need to fight Roy again to prove anything and now look what happened.

 

When you have a strong affection for a fighter and watched them their entire career, you want to see them. I mean Ive bought some crazy boxing PPV's in my time for this reason as Im sure most people have. The difference is putting their current state in the proper perspective. I dont think anyone thought Jones was going to be like he was in his prime, but some people want to see their favorites regardless of their condition. Most great fighters through time have done it, and most deserve to do it, because they built a career going through the trenches and building their loyal following. People will buy Evander Holyfield vs Francois Botha fight this weekend as well, not because they expect Evander to perform like he did in in 1992, but because of all the great memories he gave them.
I know your a younger guy, and you probably havent followed a fighter live his entire career yet, but Im sure if Barrera came back and fought someone he had virtually no chance with, you would tune in just to see how he does. You can watch and enjoy a fight if you watch it in the proper perspective. I dont think it promotes for bad boxing cards to be made, because its been this way forever, sometimes you get a good scrap or an upset, and the only way one of these fights can be made is with cooperation from the loyal fans and the fighters themselves and I dont think this fight was ever expected to be anything more than two old legends getting some redemption on each other. HBO wanted no part of the fight, Hopkins wanted the fight, and the fans supported it for Hopkins and Jones. It doesnt make you any less or more of an expert for tuning into a fight that may not be competitive. Remember one of the biggest promoted mismatches in history is still pretty close to being the most watched PPV in history, Tyson Holyfield.