What does time and fate prescribe for every individual out there? That’s a question which has as many opinions as there are people. Many say that every man is in charge of their own fate. Albert Einstein had a very interesting quote about time, saying: “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Maybe that’s exactly what happened 17 years ago on May 22, 1993 when Roy Jones Jr. won a UD over Bernard Hopkins. Sure it was a victory for one, and a loss for the other, nonetheless both fighters ended up having tremendous careers, worthy of making both of them “legendary.” Roy Jones went on to beat names such as Mike McCallum, Virgil Hill, Clinton Woods, John Ruiz (Heavyweight Debut), Felix Trinidad, and Jeff Lacy. Bernard Hopkins also placed some W’s on his record via Glen Johnson, Robert Allen, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Tarver, Ronald “Winky” Wright, and Kelly Pavlik. Both fighters did well, making a bigger name for them as time allowed. Now after 17 years, on April 3rd at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Bernard Hopkins will get a chance to fix that loss to his career-long rival Roy Jones Jr.
At their press conference in NYC, both fighters had some fire to spit, making their dislike for each other easily available for the press. Jones was cocky like always, saying “The facts won’t change; I am still going to beat him. I’m going to beat the hell out of this old man. I have been trying to fight the bastard for five years. I know Bernard Hopkins. I know him very well. I was the test he had to pass to get out of high school. He didn’t pass that test. Now he wants to retake the test!”
Bernard Hopkins is a character, and is never at a loss for carefully formulated statements: “Roy Jones Jr. had nothing to do with my legacy and career up until now, but I will be the final chapter of his. He (Jones) won that fight. I have watched that tape a million times. What Roy has to understand is that I got better. I have a resume to show that I have gotten better. That is the difference between then and now. It is important to get the knockout.”
Both fighters are getting to a point in time, where they need that one big win to announce and stick to their retirement. This fight should be able to provide that. Roy Jones had a d?j? vu fight with Danny Green, which likely brought up the painful memory of his 2nd round loss to Antonio Tarver in 2004. That loss said a lot, something along the lines of: Jones, you are too old and can no longer hang in there with younger hungrier fighters. Sure Jones was able to beat the younger Jeff Lacy, but speculations point to the fact that Lacy was never the same after suffering a loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2006 and Jermain Taylor in 2008. In my opinion, Jones is not getting old for this sport, he already is.
Hopkins, while showing consistency in his fights, is also hanging by a thread. A Danny Green type of fighter will sooner rather than later give Hopkins a run for his money. Hopkins is slow, boring, and shows less and less offense as the time flows by. Thus, Bernard needs to get paid, and leave the sport while still on top, and I think he knows that very well.
As far as my own prediction goes, simple: Hopkins via late round K.O. Jones is quick in the first round, and the quick in running and defending for the remainder of the fight. He doesn’t have the stamina to go the distance against an active fighter, and it seems that he lost his trigger pulling ability. Hopkins still possesses that creativity and adaptively in the ring, and can counter all night long. I can see him slowly pressuring Jones for the first eight rounds, and then really laying it down on him for the remainder of the rounds, or until catching Jones flush. I cannot imagine how Roy would cause any kind of damage to a defensive Hopkins, while only risking a dangerous counter every time he tries. Sorry Jones, time can take some and give some, but in boxing it’s how much it takes and when.
This fight will spark a lot if interest from many generations of boxing fans. It will make money both via ticket sales and PPV numbers. There are millions of Hopkins fans as well as even more Jones Jr. fans who are waiting for this fight like no other. “The Rivals” is the name given to this event, and while very simple, it says it all. After so many years, columns in newspapers and magazines on this topic, so many post fight conversations and fantasies, predictions and speculations, this fight is finally alive. I know it is not as dominant and explosive as the Ali vs. Frazier rematches, but I think that this bout has the potential to become not only a great fight, but even a slight possibility for a trilogy to come.
