The Ramblings of a Guy Called Lee 08.13.09: Jones Jr. and Hopkins' Legacies

Posted by David M. Lee on 08.13.2009

In this week's edition I discuss the legacy of Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr and why history will prove B-Hop as the superior boxer.



Does History Favor B-Hop Over RJ?

Whilst trawling through the boxing forums last week, I came across a rather interesting thread that posed the question: "Has Hopkins Outshone Jones?". In effect, the author of the article was asking if Bernard Hopkins will be remembered as a superior boxer to Roy Jones Jr. Naturally enough, the initial reaction from most of the posters was "of course not. Jones Jr. is twice the boxer that Hopkins is. Jones comprehensively defeated Hopkins for goodness sake, so why's this question even being asked." Well let me address the first point. Yes in terms of natural ability, Jones was in a different league to Bernard and most fighters of the last twenty years. In his prime, Jones was simply a phenomenal athlete. He did things in the ring that most boxers wouldn't even dream of doing.

Hopkins wasn't blessed with the incredible, God-given talent that Roy possessed. Instead, Bernard had to learn his craft over the years. Mastering every boxing technique and facet in the game, ultimately becoming one of the most complete boxers of the modern era. Which leads me on to the second point that was made on the forum. No doubt about it, when they fought back in 1993 Jones truly was superior to Hopkins at this stage. But don't fool yourself Jones fans, this was not the same master tactician that took Felix Trinidad and Kelly Pavlik to school. This was a wet-behind-the-ears version of B-Hop who was far from the finished article. If we were to rate Jones ahead of Hopkins in the all-time rankings solely on this result, then we must rate Medgoen Singsurat ahead of Manny Pacquiao and Ross Puritty over Wladimir Klitschko also. Of course, this would be absurd but that's the logic many Jones Jr. fans want us to follow. Obviously they don't believe that some boxers improve over time and get better with age.

This annoyed me, particularly back in '01 and '02 when talk of a rematch was red-hot. Many of Jones' fans used the weak argument, "well we've already seen that fight and Jones whopped him. What's the point of a rematch?". The point that these deluded fans missed entirely was that B-Hop was at the height of his powers and coming off a thrashing of the seemingly untouchable Tito. He was also easily the biggest threat to Roy at the time. Well, aside from the true linear light-heavyweight champion Daruisz Michalczewski, who Jones simply would not fight. I know, I know, Michalczewski was fairly unreasonable in not coming over to the States to challenge Roy, but it was Roy's legacy on the line, not Michalczewski's. Nobody was calling the Pole "the greatest fighter that ever lived". Those plaudits were reserved for Roy and it was up to him to prove that those kind of accolades were not the result of hyperbole. He didn't and therefore he can never be recognised as the undisputed best at light-heavyweight.

Sure, he probably would have smashed Michalczewski to bits, but "probably" just don't cut it in the history books I'm afraid. Jones still had to go into the ring and prove his superiority over Michalczewski, which would have left no room for doubt as to who was the true king at light-heavy. But alas, Jones seemed to be more interested in making third-rate "gangsta" rap albums than proving his worth as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. But if he didn't feel like flying, then there was only one worthwhile fight out there for him and that was Hopkins. Unfortunately, Roy didn't appear too keen on facing Bernard, seemingly content with defending his alphabet titles against unworthy, over matched mandatories. This was not a good period for Jones.

Let me get one thing out of the way before I'm accused of being anti-Roy. From the early to mid 90's I was a total Roy mark. I was simply in awe of what the man could do. The one-punch body shot that knocked out Virgil Hill was a thing of beauty. But towards the end of the 90's and early 00's, it seemed as though Jones had settled into a comfort zone. Defending his titles against 40-year-old police officers and Australian garbage men, while stinking up arenas all over America in the process (Jones was viciously booed for his tedious points victory over Julio Gonzalez in LA). It was clear that Jones was bored and needed a challenge. The kind of challenge that Hopkins would easily have provided him.

However, the Hopkins rematch never materialized and the only challenge that Roy aimed for was a short trip to heavyweight to face one of the worst heavyweight title-holders of all time in John Ruiz. Jones easily outpointed the slow, lumbering Ruiz. It was a great performance, I will not take that away from Roy. I do not class Jones as a heavyweight champion however and nor should anyone else. The only reason Ruiz held the WBA title was because the real champion, Lennox Lewis, could not be bothered wasting his time with his unmarketable and unremarkable mandatory and promptly vacated the title allowing Ruiz to win the title, at the second time of asking, against an ancient Evander Holyfield.

Sadly, the Ruiz victory was to be Jones' last great performance. Several months later, Jones returned to light-heavyweight and received a gift split-decision victory over the competent but unexceptional Antonio Tarver. Jones, by his own standards, was abysmal in that fight and it looked as though shedding all the weight that he had put on for the Ruiz fight had drained Jones of all his energy. He looked a shell of the great fighter we had seen previously. It was assumed that the weight problem would be rectified for the rematch. It was not to be. The rematch was an even bigger disaster for Roy, as he was blown away by Tarver in the second round. Another knockout defeat at the hands of Glen Johnson (where he was worryingly out cold for several minutes) and a unanimous points defeat to Antonio Tarver confirmed that Jones days as an elite level fighter were over. Wins over the mediocre Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw proved absolutely nothing, as did his exhibition style victory over the embarrassingly undersized and faded Felix Trinidad.

Incredibly and undeservedly, Jones was afforded one last shot at the big time. This time against unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe, who had just won the Ring light-heavyweight title with a disputed points victory over Bernard Hopkins. There was nothing disputed about Calzaghe's win over Jones. Despite being floored in the first round, the Welshman completely dominated the washed-up former champion. Unfortunately, Jones decided to continue his career. He may still be active, but make no mistake about it, Jones for all intents and purposes is finished. In contrast, Bernard Hopkins remarkably seems to be better than ever. He's coming off arguably a career best win over the unbeaten Kelly Pavlik and most boxing outlets have him ranked in the top five of the pound-for-pound rankings. Considering he's 44 years of age, that is simply astonishing. The key to B-Hop's longevity, aside from the obvious fact that he's hardly ever out of the gym and treats his body as a temple, is due to the point I made earlier. Hopkins has mastered every aspect of the sport. What the man doesn't know about boxing simply isn't worth knowing.

The same cannot be said of Jones. Because he was so incredibly gifted, Jones never really learned the fundamentals of boxing, relying more on his natural athletic gifts. But when his reflexes started to go, Jones had nothing to fall back on due to the fact that he never bothered learning the basics. Over the years, Hopkins has proven to be the more versatile boxer of the two. When looking back on the two fighters' career history, it's worth noting that Hopkins has never been decisively beaten outside of his early career defeat to Jones and his debut loss to Clinton Mitchell, when Hopkins was far from the finished article. Although I thought Jermain Taylor narrowly beat him twice, their two fights could easily have gone either way and I am of the opinion that Taylor has never been quite the same since receiving a pretty heavy beat down from Bernard in the latter stages of their first meeting.

I also thought he was unlucky not to get the nod over Calzaghe when they fought. While I was not impressed with some of his antics in that fight, I thought B-Hop had done enough in the early stages to hang onto his Ring light-heavyweight title. Hopkins has never been blown out like Jones has, especially against average boxers like Tarver and Johnson (two men who Hopkins trounced by the way). While Jones' fans will point to the fact that he was dead at the weight during those defeats, it must be noted that James Toney was badly weight drained when he was comprehensively defeated by Jones (the night before his fight with Jones, Toney was in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV drip due to severe dehydration) . If you're going to discredit Tarver and Johnson's wins by saying that Jones was weakened by weight making, then you must also discredit Jones' victory over Toney. You can't have it both ways.

Hopkins historic twenty title defenses at middleweight is a remarkable achievement, especially in an age where fighters skip through several divisions without proving their dominance in any of them. Hopkins was hardly in a glorious era of middleweights, but apart from the disputed losses to Taylor, he beat the best that was around at the time and that's all you can ask. He also holds two victories over two future Hall of Famers in Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. While it's popular to say that both Tito and Oscar were undersized, the facts are that Tito was a heavy favorite going into his fight with Hopkins, both with the bookies and the boxing experts. And try telling William Joppy that Trinidad was never a middleweight. I'm sure he would differ with you. It is true to say De La Hoya was never a middleweight, which is why the fight WASN'T at middleweight. The fight was made at an agreed weight of 156. That's only two pounds above the light-middleweight limit, a division where Oscar was sensational. The truth is Hopkins was far too disciplined for De La Hoya and he effectively made the Golden Boy quit with a body shot in the ninth round. I'm sure the body shot was devastating, but if Oscar had enough energy to theatrically pound the canvas after the ten count, then he should have had enough energy to get to his feet and fight on. And I'm a huge De La Hoya fan by the way.

Hopkins has some turkeys on his resume, no doubt. His fight with Morrade Hakkar was a deplorable mismatch, as was his fight with the badly faded William Joppy. But there was not one middleweight around at the time who B-Hop actively avoided. He was the true king of his division, something Jones could never say at light-heavyweight. He was the one who wanted to settle the score with Jones, but Roy was never too keen. Weighing everything up, I think history will remember Hopkins as the better boxer. Yes, Jones was the more naturally gifted of the two, but Riddick Bowe was the most naturally talented heavyweight of the 90's. Will he be remembered as the best heavyweight of the 90's? Of course not, as he didn't maximize his talent like he should have.

Don't get me wrong. Jones had a hell of a career by anyone's standards. But from the late 90's onwards, Jones lost hunger for the sport that made him a millionaire. Playing basketball on the day of his fights, spending more time in the recording studio than the boxing gym and boring everybody to tears when he finally did get in the ring. For somebody with Jones' talent, I just feel he short-changed himself in the end. By contrast, Hopkins' legacy is still growing, even at the age off 44. Many people feared for his safety when he got into the ring with unbeaten power puncher Kelly Pavlik. Yet it wasn't even close. Hopkins produced a virtuoso display and completely outboxed the Youngstown hero. The most poignant moment in that contest for me came at the end of the bout. Hopkins, with tears in his eyes, looked at the press row (many of whom had written Hopkins off) and said "I'm tired of proving myself."

You don't need to prove yourself to me Bernard. For my money, you are the most complete boxing of your era and I feel privileged to have been around during your prime.

Something To Ponder

While it's not something I like talking about, it must be stated that Jones tested positive for a banned substance following his fight with Richard Hall in 2000. Of course there is no way of proving that Jones was a frequent user of performing enhancing drugs, but this must leave a question mark on his career. Whatever you think of Hopkins on a personal level, you must recognize that the man has been a consummate professional all throughout his career and has been a fine example to young boxers on how they should keep themselves in optimum shape. The Richard Hall fiasco left a sour taste in the mouths of most boxing fans and surely leaves a bit of a stain on Jones' legacy.

Now that I've given my view, I'd like to hear from you. Has Hopkins proven himself to be the superior boxer? Or was Jones' exceptional prime enough to rank him above B-Hop.

See you next week!