It was back in 1993 when the great Roy Jones Jr issued the first test to Bernard Hopkins. B Hop would come up short in that test, he would not pass it. Since that fight, both men have moved forward to Hall of Fame careers.
Roy Jones Jr has been testing father time for quite awhile now. His career took a hit in 2004 and 2005 with three losses in a row. He would lose to Antonio Tarver in 2004, and lose badly. Roy suffered the first knockout loss of his career. Many say that since suffering that knockout he’s never been the same. Roy would go on and suffer two more losses all in a row, one to Glen Johnson, and another in a rematch to Tarver.
Jones resurrected his career by stringing together three wins in a row. The first being a 12 round UD over Prince Badi Ajamu, followed up by two additional unanimous decisions over Anthony Hanshaw and Felix Trinidad. In 2008 Jones would get the big fight against the undefeated Joe Calzaghe. Jones looked good early, he even scored a knockdown. Calzaghe would regain his footing, and go on to an impressive UD. Roy would take a re-group match against Omar Sheika where he stopped him in 5, and in 2009 Roy would show signs of the great Roy Jones of the past, with a dominating performance over former world champion Jeff Lacy.
His next big fight would come against the hard hitting Australian, Danny Green. Jones would travel down under to take on Green, and unfortunately the ugly side of boxing would emerge once again. Roy was hit behind the ear and was unable to recover. He later would accuse Green of using too much tape on his hands. Jones had this to say on the hand wrap issues, “They let the guy have 5 layers of hand wraps, illegally. You can’t use that much in a boxing match and he knows it. There were a lot of things that he did that was illegal with his hand wraps. If he’s going to use a cast, then let me use one too. I don’t mind a cast, but let me have one too.”
The Roy Jones camp would file an appeal and protested the Green hand wrap incident. Next up? Bernard Hopkins. Jones went on the record with http://www.8countnews.com and talked about this fight as being a new test for Hopkins, “It’s a wonderful fight that people want to see. It’s a wonderful time for this fight, and it’s a wonderful opportunity for him to try to retake the test and see if he can pass it. It’s my job to see to it that he does not pass the test, and it’s his job to try and pass the test”
This writer has had the great honor to have been ringside for two of his fights. The first fight was against Anthony Hanshaw down in Biloxi, Mississippi. The second time was against Jeff Lacy at the Coast Coliseum, also in Mississippi, where he dazzled the crowd with speed and showmanship. So what Bernard Hopkins does Roy expect to see?, “A very motivated Bernard Hopkins. One that has something to prove. He hates that he lost against me, so he’s really motivated by that. He wants the world to know what he thinks, he thinks that he’s better than me. He is going to be totally motivated for this fight”
The Roy Jones Jr vs. Bernard Hopkins rematch has finally arrived. Some say that it is way too late, but nevertheless it’s going to happen. Jones feels as if Hopkins still has a thorn in his side due to losing to him in 1993, “He wants to get some of that get back. And I understand that, anybody wants that.”
Roy Jones Jr vs Bernard Hopkins two will take place on April 3rd, at the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
