VIDEO: Roy Jones vs Bernard Hopkins | The 17 Year Rivalry

Roy Jones Jr and Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins were both first ballot Hall of Famers, and they are both rightly viewed as two of the greatest to ever lace’em up. But strangely enough, neither of their two fights against each other were especially memorable.

For whatever reason, this particular clash of styles did not produce much in terms of crowd pleasing action. Neither fight was a classic. Quite the contrary, both of them are viewed as rather dull affairs, largely lacking in both action and drama. All the same, these two fights both hold some historical significance.

Jones had an unorthodox approach, but he was such a supreme operator that, in conjunction with all of his elite level attributes, he made it all work exceptionally well. Roy won championships at middleweight, super middle, light heavyweight, and also heavyweight. When Jones was at his best during his peak form, he was almost universally recognized as the greatest pound for pound boxer in the world.

Hopkins may never have been viewed as the best of the best, and certainly never for a spell as long as Roy’s, but Hopkins made up for that by having a much longer run as an elite prizefighter. Hopkins was a modern day Ageless Warrior in the mold of Archie Moore, The Old Mongoose himself. Hopkins won championships at both middleweight and light heavyweight, and he is both the oldest boxer to ever win a major world championship at age 48, and also the oldest to ever win a unification bout at age 49.

Their first fight happened in May 1993, and Roy won a unanimous decision in that one. All three judges scored their first fight 116-112 in favor of Jones. Amazingly, their rematch happened almost 17 full years later in April 2010. This time around, Hopkins was awarded a unanimous decision, where one judge scored it 118-109 and the other two both had it 117-110. Unfortunately, negotiations for a Jones-Hopkins rematch fell apart in 2002. That was the period in time that was almost exactly halfway in between the two fights they had. At that time in 2002, Jones and Hopkins were universally recognized as the two greatest pound for pound boxers in the world, and it is a shame they could not agree on terms then, because that would have likely produced a better fight than either of the two fights they had against each other.

This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a definitive review of the 17 year rivalry between two of the greatest boxers of All Time, Roy Jones Jr and Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins. Please watch and enjoy the video. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).