Roy Jones Jr. To Bernard Hopkins: Step Up, Or Step Off!!!

MIAMI- Recently there have been a number of articles from a countless amount of sources speculating on a possible showdown between long time nemesis Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins. It would seem as if all the preliminary work was done and that this showdown would happen mid-summer at the latest but new word coming out makes all the speculation of the past seem like all ‘smokes and mirrors’, to quote by Dennis Rappaport, promoter for Heavyweight Champion Oleg Maskaev, a fighter Hopkins was also leading the public to believe he was gonna face. According to a statement Roy Jones Jr. Hopkins is just using his name, like he has with many others recently, to keep himself in the minds of the boxing public. Roy Jones Jr. reportedly stated to a Philadelphia Boxing reporter that he “offered Hopkins a 60% to 40% deal, with the winner taking the 60%, and the loser taking the 40%”. Jones would then add that “a deal is there, but Hopkins won’t take be because he will lose, and he know’s it”. Seems as if my initial speculation about this match, (See previous article titled: “The Executioner’s Last Meal?”), was right on point about potential matchup between the two. Hopkins, as great as he is, has made a reputation for himself by beating a number of guys who aren’t tremendously quicker than him. The one guy who was, (Jermaine Taylor), defeated him twice, albeit in a somewhat questionable fashion. I’ll stop short of any predictions if this match does materialize, but one thing for sure, Roy Jones’ strengths (Speed/Reflexes/Power), are more appealing in comparison to Bernard’s weaknesses (Lack of Speed/Aging Stamina), as opposed to Bernard’s strengths (Defense/Ring Smarts) in comparison to perceived weaknesses of Roy (Possible Weak Chin). Perhaps we may never know unless Hopkins stops the smokescreens and decides to simply put out a few fires. Developments will be reported as they happen.

About Tim Starks

Tim is the founder of The Queensberry Rules and co-founder of The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (http://www.tbrb.org). He lives in Washington, D.C. He has written for the Guardian, Economist, New Republic, Chicago Tribune and more.

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