Who is greater: Roy Jones or B-Hop?

Now, when it comes to ability, at his peak Roy Jones tops most fighters that have ever lived. An amazing blend of foot-based elusiveness, defensive reflexes, unbelievable handspeed that transcended weightclasses, and the ability to score relative shut outs against decent-to-quality opposition.

B-Hop has got better with time, and adapted his skillset in a way that Roy, a physical phenom, was not able to. Without amateur accolades, and with a relatively poor start to the pro game, Hopkins didn't jump up weights terrorising anyone that dared challenge him, but used canny and experience to stamp his authority on the middleweight division, being a long-reigning champion, and eventually moving up two weight classes and facing the best 175lbers of recent years.

In terms of resume, neither man has a Ray Leonard-esque slate. There are quite a few 'contender' types on there for both men, with Roy getting credit for weight jumping and his sheer talent (whilst possibly damaging his overall legacy by fighting on far too long and losing to inferior opposition, which confirms the fact his success was based on his physical gifts) and Hopkins for achieving accolades at an advanced age and consistency as one of the greatest 160lbers of all time.

Who is greater?

-Best single win? Toney>>>>>Trinidad?

-Better overall resume?

-Better achievment? Roy beating a top five HW at the time in Ruiz, or B-Hop becoming the oldest champion in boxing history (the real no.1, not a ABC titlist)? Best overall achievements?

-Roys weight-jumping or B-Hops long reign at middleweight?

-Does Roys win over a capable, but still in need of vital seasoning, Hopkins hold much bearing when evaluating them alongside each other?

If they both retired tomorrow (hopefully Roy will!!!) who would go down as the greater fighter? Roy for his nearly ten years as the unassailable P4P no.1, or Hopkins for his longevity?

Both masters of the Sweet Science, Roy for all his unorthodoxy, and Hopkins for his mastering of the textbook. this should be fun :good

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPT6E_ouBnM[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akkc7KSGBto[/ame]

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This. Whilst B-Hop wins for longevity, careers aren't just based on longevity.

This is what this thread is about; did what Roy show/achieve in that period of time 'wow' enough to usurp what Hopkins has built well into his 40s?

 

Now this is a good way of putting it.

I am a bit of a twat for striking while the iron is hot, post-fight night analysis is usually fairly gushing to the winning fighter (deservedly so in this case?)

Fair play to Hops, away from home again as well.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong, a Peak Roy Jones is probably the greatest H2H fighter of all time. As I don't rank this under fair criteria for ranking someone, skillset and attributes are what that qualifies under. And as I said, he doesn't score high for longevity but what Roy did at his peak was special enough to see him attain a lofty position in the mid-range of ATGs. In terms of H2H against the best middleweights of all time, I think Roy has the perfect style to beat Monzon, whereas Hop agrees that he wouldn't beat him. They'd both have varied level of success against ATG 175lbers, although Roy would do better. But that's not something I'd use in my own arguments when discussing each fighters greater merits. But it would be something I'd look at when figuring out how great their respective skillset was.

-How did they deal with their best opponents?
-Were lesser opponents competitive with them?
-What was their output?
-Were any elements of their skilltest severely tested by a dangerous enough opponent? How did they deal with them? (adaptability, for Roy this was rarely an issue, hence why he gets massive props for deployment of his skillset)
-Attributes displayed in a loss. For/against.

So I do take performance into account. But not hypothetical performance:good

But last nights achievement was a very special one indeed. B-Hops longevity is a sufficient enough plus point to put him on equal standing with Roy in the intangibles section.

In this instance, when ranking these guys, I think it comes down to pure resume.

Now this should be fun :good