Roy Jones, Jr. Vs. Bernard Hopkins II: Better Never Than Late

Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins first locked horns 17 years ago on the undercard of a heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Jesse Ferguson. The history books will record that Jones defeated Hopkins via unanimous decision. But what is more easily forgotten over the ensuing years is that he almost sent the audience to sleep in the process.

Both men's careers enjoyed upward trajectories in the aftermath of this fight. Jones went on to establish himself as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world courtesy of winning his next 13 fights. His unbeaten run only came to an end in a controversial disqualification loss to Montell Griffin in 1997, a loss which Jones would go on to immediately avenge.

Jones's career probably peaked in 2003, when he defeated John Ruiz by unanimous decision to claim the WBA Heavyweight title, a remarkable feat for a man who had spent much of his career campaigning as a middleweight.

When Roy Jones fought John Ruiz he was 34 years old and, in hindsight, he will probably look as this win as marking the pinnacle of his career. His subsequent fall from grace was rapid— a majority decision win over Antonio Tarver was followed by a damaging second round knockout loss to the same opponent.

Jones was stopped again in his next fight by Glen Johnson in the ninth round before dropping another decision in the rematch with Antonio Tarver. That was 2005, and the overwhelming consensus was that Jones was finished. As is so often the case, the fighter felt differently, and Jones would go on to fight another eight times, winning five.

Hopkins' ascension was a little less rapid, but he would not lose again until a 2005 split decision loss to Jermain Taylor. After losing twice to Taylor, Hopkins came back for 'just one more fight,' defeating Antonio Tarver to claim his first ever Light Heavyweight Title.

Hopkins received worldwide acclaim for winning his retirement fight in such emphatic style, and appeared all set to walk away from the sport with his head held high.

A year later The Executioner was back, winning a unanimous decision against Winky Wright, which was by no means a classic. His next fight, a split-decision loss to Joe Calzaghe that Hopkins complained bitterly about, at least offered more by way of entertainment.

By this stage Hopkins was becoming well and truly saddled with a reputation for being a 'boring' fighter, not an asset when it comes to selling pay-per-view fights. However, he did go a long way toward answering his critics when he put on a boxing master class against previously undefeated middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, winning almost every round.

There is no doubt that as Hopkins has grown older he has developed a more defensive style. His last knockout was against none other than his promotional partner Oscar De La Hoya in 2004. Enrique Ornelas was not expected to trouble Hopkins unduly in his most recent bout last December, but again Hopkins failed to find the elusive KO.

Unlike Jones, Hopkins has remained reasonably consistent throughout his career, and he has never fallen from grace to quite the same extent as his opponent did. The tactics may have changed slightly, but the results have not, and a Hopkins loss is still a relative rarity. Jones' stock, by contrast, has fallen rapidly. Like Hopkins, he managed to knock Calzaghe down in the very first round. But unlike Hopkins, he went on to lose every one of the next 11 rounds.

Subsequent stoppage wins against Omar Sheika and, more significantly, Jeff Lacy suggested his career might be back on the right track. Unfortunately all this good work was undone when Jones was knocked out in the very first round by Australian Danny Green.

The loss left Jones' career in disarray and scuppered plans for a potential rematch with Bernard Hopkins. Except the fight between Jones and Hopkins is going ahead anyway.

Not only that, but it will be on pay-per-view. How could Jones go from being knocked out in the very first round by a fighter who is good, but far from great, to headlining a pay-per-view show at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas?

For me, age is not the issue. Hopkins may be 45 years old, but why should it matter when he is still fighting and beating the best? Jones is 42 years old, but his age becomes more significant when you take into consideration that he has lost five of his past 10 fights. In his prime, Jones would have won 50 consecutive fights had it not been for the disqualification loss to Griffin.

Hopkins is still going strong, and good luck to him. Jones, by contrast, is past his prime and has no business headlining a pay per view show. I will happily watch a fight between Jones and Hopkins, but I would definitely not be prepared to pay for the privilege. It will be interesting to see whether the viewing public feel the same way.