Hopkins vs Jones amounts to a glorified seniors tour in the ring

18 October 2009

By Mark Staniforth

BERNARD Hopkins made a promise to his late mother that he would retire before his 41st birthday. He turns 45 in January, and this week added a second fight to his ever-busy schedule.

Not that his mother would have done anything but approve: in his last fight in October 2008 – two-and-a-half years after the supposed cut-off point – Hopkins rolled back the years to hand middleweight king Kelly Pavlik a boxing lesson. Next up for Hopkins is a fight which doubles as a tune-up and a homecoming: he fights Enrique Ornelas on 2 December in Philadelphia, his first fight in his home city since he beat Morrade Hakkar in 2003.

Coincidentally or otherwise, on the same night Down Under Roy Jones takes on Danny Green in a bid to claim the IBO cruiserweight title and thus make the most spurious of claims to being a five-division world champion. That's fine, provided you are also prepared to accept the likes of Lionel Butler, Danell Nicholson, Tony LaRosa and Brian Nielsen as legitimate historical holders of the world heavyweight title, but it's beside the point.

The big plan, of course, is for Hopkins and Jones to meet early in 2010 in the latest pay-per-view so-called "super-fight" – injected with extra spice by the fact Jones won their previous meeting on points way back in 1993. Their respective trajectories subsequent to that night undoubtedly underline what all-time great champions these fighters are. Jones, who claimed the IBF light- middleweight title that night, would not lose again – barring a quickly-avenged disqualification against Montell Griffin – until he was knocked out by Antonio Tarver in May 2004. Hopkins regrouped to go on and make a remarkable 20 straight defences of his IBF middleweight title until he was finally beaten by Jermain Taylor in 2005. After losing to Joe Calzaghe, his rebound win over Pavlik was all the more impressive.

So Hopkins versus Jones is a fight with all the marketing hooks it needs. But in this testing economic era, is it really the right route for the sport to choose the instant big bucks of what really amounts to a glorified seniors' tour? Far better, surely, to invest in the future: for the boxing purist, that means the light-heavyweight No.1, unbeaten 27-year-old Chad Dawson, who has a rematch of his own against Glen Johnson in December.

Beating Jones might make Hopkins more headlines, but after beating Pavlik so convincingly surely even he ought to know that nothing does wonders for your credibility more than ruining the reputation of one from the next generation.

Jones, who turns 41 in January, has long been regarded as a spent force. After losing to Calzaghe, successive wins over also-faded one-time prospects Omar Sheika and Jeff Lacy convinced the PPV barons he had more to give. They will be sweating on 2 December, because while one cannot realistically expect Ornelas to trouble Hopkins, Jones is taking a significant gamble in venturing Down Under to take on the big-hitting Green.

Green is approaching veteran status himself – he is 36, and recently returned from a one-and-a-half year lay-off – but he can certainly bang, and the real question which swirls about Jones is his ability or otherwise to take a shot. "I beat Hopkins with one hand and it's nothing new," Jones said of the so-called gamble of going Down Under. "Why should I be concerned about Hopkins? That's not even the issue right now."

One might venture the argument that if Jones does dispose of Green convincingly then he has earned what will surely be a final big pay-day against Hopkins, whose recent form is unquestioned. But there will no doubt be others who secretly hold out hope that Jones will fail to keep his side of the bargain – propelling Hopkins into what is surely his only remaining option – the fight with Dawson the boxing world would love to see.

Without a doubt this fight is nothing more than a money spinner. It means nothing whatsoever to Boxing and it only means two things to the Boxers. a) money and b) bragging rights.

This is a great fight for HBO (or whoever buys the fight) becuase it will do big PPV numbers. Ive said many times before that its not us who make money for TV networks but its the causual fans that tune in on the basis of star power. HBO are always gonna get the hardcore fight fans. Its what they can get on top of that (the casuals) that shows how succesful theyve been at selling it. Both RJJ & B-Hop are well established names, theyve got history with each other. Competitive or not its going to do big amounts of money for all involved.

As for the fight itself, I am actually really interested in it. It goes against everything I look for in a fight but I cant help but be swayed by the fact that its finally an RJJ/B-Hop rematch. Its like a guilty pleasure. I expect B-Hop to win and I expect the rematch clause (which hasnt been mentioned but almost certainly has been written in to the contract) will set up a third and final fight late in 2010. RJJ will retire after his second loss and B-Hop will probably fight on till he hits 100!

Dont buy in to the hype for the fight and just take it for what it is.

One thing that is for certain, the smack talk is gonna be absolutely hilarious!

They both have to win their fights first. It wouldn't surprise me or bother me at all if Jones lost his next fight.

i cant wait for it tbh

I agree, it's obviously for the money, and I've said it too... casual fans for every sport is what really makes the sale.

I think Jones may actually be able to win this (I'm hoping not though). He sitll has handspeed and although he doesn't throw much it's hte speed that bothers Hopkins nowadays. Hopkins will do his typical counterpunching, but the speed is what'll win Jones rounds I think. I'm hoping Hopkins catches him with that sneaky right hand.

I'm rooting for Hopkins because I think he deserves it. For years, probably up to 2003/2004, many would always have Jones as the better all time fighter, but Hopkins continues to fight the best, that's what makes him impressive. To this day he has not been dominated really in any of his losses, and the same can't be said of Jones.

Hopkins has lost to Calzaghe, and although I thought Joe won by some margin, he really had to do a number to beat Hopkins.

Love him or hate him, Hopkins has proved he's a great fighter, and I personally never thought he was until the last couple of years. His two biggest wins were against Trinidad and De La Hoya at that point, not legit 160 pound fighters. but then he mopped the floor with Tarver, beat Winky, but his win over Pavlik was what really said a lot. Sure, Pavlik may definitely be beatable, but the way Hopkins won really spoke out to me. He didn't run land a punch here and there, he dominated every second of that fight.

He has earned my respect.

Why has it taken 15 years for these two to have a rematch??

They had to wait till they had nothing to lose.

and nowhere else to make easy money.

i stopped reading after the first line. hopkins has 'an ever-busy schedule?' really? let's see. one fight in 2006. one fight in 2007. two in 2008. he's now not fought in a year and ornelas is nothing more than a light warm-up.

five fights in four years.

I think Hopkins has something to lose... just compared to Jones. He really wants to win this, it'll be bad for his career if he had a better career, but then after all that loses to Jones again.

True, but Hop has craved this fight for the past 16 yrs, since the first encounter. He knows that the fight doesn´t mean much but it is a decent payday and he can avenge the loss. On paper down the years it will look better if Hopkins wins. But yes, a loss for Hopkins would be damaging for his legarcy.

Jones looked bad against Calzaghe that I would have though HBO would have refused this on medical grounds.There is 0 chance of KOing Hopkins so his only marginal chance of winning these days is down the drain.

To be fair I dont mind watching the fight and would pay for it over shite like Khan v Salita all day long. Both guys are legends and if they want a final payday I really dont see the problem, theyve given us fans some crackers over the years, Jones in his prime was fantastic to watch so i dont begrudge him one last fight on the bigstage, i just hope he bows out win or lose.

Do people seriously think that Hopkins has had a better career than RJJ? IMO Jones has had that better career by far

I'd agree with RJJ having the better career, but Hopkins' entire path can be said to be infinately more credible.

Meh... looking much more forward to the 24/7 than the fight tbh ^^.

In all honesty Doc, some could argue that Hop has had the better career on the basis that it has been clean. No steroid assistance.