Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones II and Other Weekend Boxing Predictions

It's unfortunate that you can't help but think how awesome a Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones rematch would have been in 1998, 2003, or possibly even 2008. Unfortunately, it's now 2010, 17 years after the two bitter rivals first met, and we're pretty much stuck with whatever both men have left in the tank this Saturday.

Recent history would suggest that it's Hopkins who has declined the least since his prime, and it's not particularly close. The Executioner is only 5-3 over the past five years, but most of those fights were against top competition, and even at age 45 it's hard to name a light heavyweight other than Chad Dawson who would be favored to beat him.

Jones has had his moments in recent years, but outside of a quick knockdown in the first round of his loss to Joe Calzaghe, they've mostly come against fighters even more faded than him (see Jeff Lacy and Felix Trinidad).

His air of invincibility has been gone since at least 2004, and his first round KO at the hands of Danny Green last December made it seem like his retirement may have been imminent.

Instead, he's got to figure out a way to harness what remains of his physical gifts to upset a master technician. Hopkins remains one of the very best at dictating the tempo and spacing of a boxing match, though his outing against Enrique Ornelas four months ago made it appear he may have (finally) been slowing down a step.

Roy has to hope that with each month, B-Hop is slowing even more. The hand speed advantage should go to Jones, but Hopkins has the edge pretty much everywhere else.

I don't think this fight is the farce some are making it out to be, and the legitimate dislike both men have for each other should ensure they give it their all.

It's just that no matter what goes down, it's going to make boxing fans wistful that this bout didn't happen years ago.

Jones could always summon greatness one more time, but I just don't see it happening. His arch-enemy will be game, but I envision Hopkins breaking Jones down en route to a mid-round stoppage .

The Hopkins-Jones undercard is as barren as you might expect, but the super featherweight bout between Rocky Juarez and Jason Litzau is at least somewhat intriguing.

Juarez has a well-deserved reputation as a guy who's only lost to the best, while Litzau was once an up-and-comer whose career seems to have stalled.

Rocky has been in the ring with Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Chris John a total of five times and gone the distance in all of them. He's a good boxer with a little pop whose skills fall just short of those possessed by the best in the sport.

If nothing else, Litzau usually provides viewers with an exciting conclusion.

He has KO wins in 21 of his 26 pro bouts and has also been knocked out twice. He'll enjoy big height and reach advantages, but it's not real likely he'll feel inclined to use them in the way one might expect.

There could be some fireworks here unless Juarez figures out how to control things early on with his boxing.

Either way, I like Rocky to win by late TKO .

Lest we forget, there's also a heavyweight title fight happening on Saturday in the U.K.

David Haye may have annoyed both Klitschko brothers to the point where they may trip over each other trying to shut him up, but he first has to get by former titleholder John Ruiz.

It's easy to criticize Ruiz for his unexciting style and so-so results, but he really did spend the last decade fighting the best heavyweights around other than the Klitschkos. It's tough to know exactly what he's going to look like at age 38, especially since he's fought just once in the last 17 months.

Haye is younger, more powerful and (one would hope, anyway) hungrier. He knows he can't afford to stumble here if he wants to start unifying some of the heavyweight belts, and it will be hard for anyone to take him seriously if he loses to Ruiz.

One great thing in Haye's favor is that he won't be looking up at his opponent as he was against Nikolai Valuev—or how he would against either Klitschko.

He's likely to want Ruiz to trade with him, but he did show that he's capable of putting in more patient, if not terribly thrilling, work when he outpointed Valuev last November.

I want to believe in Haye even though he has some defensive flaws that are easy to spot. I just don't think Ruiz will be able to exploit them, so I think Haye will prevail by either unanimous decision or late KO .

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com , where this piece originally appeared. Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers .