Rematch after 17 years....Roy Jones jr. vs Bernard Hopkins [April 17th]

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2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#21
May 13, 2002
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#21
lmao bernard hopkins and roy jones in new york debating like politicians funny video on boxingtalk.com





Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr. Trade Words at NYC Presser


New York City - Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins and Roy "The Terminator" Jones stayed true to their reputations as two of the most outspoken boxers in the history of the sport as they announced The Rivals: Hopkins vs. Jones II, which will take place April 3 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. and will be broadcast live on pay-per-view. The debate style format of the press conference was the perfect setting for these two living legends to prove why their nearly two-decade long rivalry is stronger than ever. Below please find a sampling of their bold statements, setting the stage for what will surely be a great night for boxing and a hotly contested fight.

BERNARD HOPKINS

"To not watch this fight would be a disservice because we will be making history.

"Roy Jones Jr. had nothing to do with my legacy and career up until now, but I will be the final chapter [of his]. We probably would have been here earlier if he would have taken the fight when we were debating through the media.

"My statement is simple. This fight is very important to me because it is personal. We have 17 plus years of on and off history. I want to show the world that when our legacy is put together and analyzed, this fight will be the reason. So to me, not only am I a better fighter today, I will prove my legacy on April 3. I have a lot of incentive to win. I have waited 10 plus years to come to this debate.

"Everyone has it in their spirit to get somebody back. Whether it is justified or unjustified. This fight is redemption in a lot of ways - to finish him once and for all.

"I can't speak for Roy, but my name is 'The Executioner.' I execute. I am going for his head.

"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. Come April 3, Roy Jones Jr is going to realize that his worst nightmare has come true.

"It is important to get the knockout. There is a financial incentive. I want to finally close a chapter personally. This is a 17 year rivalry.

"I am going to kick his ass."

ROY JONES

"Now, 'Big Head' (Hopkins) has got to get it in his mind. We both went on to do good things in this sport. Mine was great early. His was great late. The facts wont change I am still going to beat him.

"I only hit with one hand last time. I've got two hands now. With two hands, I'm going to beat the hell out of this old man.

"I never have dodged 'Big Head', and I never will. That is why this fight is so important to me.

"We are long time rivals. We waited a long time to fight again. We went our separate ways. I haven't had a rival as long as I have had 'Big Head' sitting around.

"This is like putting on an old pair of pants that still fit after a bunch of years. They probably look better on me now too.

"Have you ever seen somebody run from somebody who he has already whooped? Does that even make sense? Duh!

"I have been trying to fight the bastard for five years. I know Bernard Hopkins. I know him very well. I have never taken anything lightly [and given him reason] to say he hopes I am ready.

"I don't duck and dodge anyone. 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!

"Like I said I am still me. I can care less about how much better he has gotten. My job is to knock him out on April 3 and that is what I am going to do."

The Rivals: Hopkins vs. Jones IIis set for Saturday, April 3 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The event will be broadcast live on pay-per-view beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $750, $500, $300, $200 and $100 are on sale now at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

The Hopkins vs. Jones II pay-per-view telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and has a suggested retail price of $49.95. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. The main event will begin live immediately following the college basketball semi-finals. For Hopkins vs. Jones II fight week updates, log on to www.goldenboypromotions.com.
 
MOREBASS

MOREBASS

Sicc OG
#28
Dec 9, 2005
11,231
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#28
I actually think Roy will show up for this, just because its Hop. If the undercard looks good enough, I'll buy it.


Better 10 years late than never. I actually think Roy is going to pull of the decision. Don't know why, and it might not even be an educated guess. Haha
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#29
May 13, 2002
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#29

Bernard Hopkins – The Executioner in Winter: Part 1

by Thomas Gerbasi

Over ten years as middleweight champion. 20 title defenses. A resume over 40 that is better than most compiled by fighters ten years his junior. And that’s not counting the fame and the money that Bernard Hopkins now calls his own.

Add in that he achieved all these things while fighting a system designed to keep him quiet and under control, and it makes the accomplishments even more impressive.

So you would expect that it’s about time for Hopkins, at 45 years old, to stop, look around, and take a whiff of the proverbial roses. Then again, that wouldn’t be his style.

“I do reflect, but I don’t reflect long because when I’m running, if I look back that slows me up and they can get me,” he told BoxingScene.com.

“They” can take many forms for ‘The Executioner’. It could be the younger, stronger, faster, but not wiser, opponents lining up to take a shot at the 40-something warrior. It could be an industry that still may be smarting over the statements and stands he has made over the years, or it could be something we don’t even know about. But what we do know is that the idea of “They” coming to get him keeps him sharp and it’s what he thinks about when he does look back at his 22 years in the boxing game.

“You know what I reflect on?” he asks. “Fighting Clinton Mitchell in May of 1988 and losing a four round decision. 22 years later, as of right now, I have my faculties and some of my memory, and to still be in the mentality of even though I’m financially set and my family is set, I haven’t made that become my God to the point where I forgot. I will be that same guy out there, hollering and screaming about something I believe is wrong.”

It’s almost hard to believe, that after earning multi-million dollar paydays, taking an ownership stake in Golden Boy Promotions, and getting a level of respect from his peers and from fans that few could hope for, Hopkins still has the fire to fight back. Of course, then he opens his mouth and it’s clear that whatever is on his mind will soon be fired out into the world, making him not only boxing’s best soundbite, but a lightning rod for controversy. Not what you would expect from someone who is one of the sport’s power brokers.

“I have people that I respect and who are close to me in my camp, and they gotta be kinda careful about saying things to me because I know I’ll turn on them in a minute,” he said. “So it’s more like ‘Bernard, you’re in corporate America now, you’re with Golden Boy…’”

You can hear the answer coming…

“No, no, no, no,” he blurts. “Once I become one hundred percent corporate and I still consider myself a fighter, I’m dead in the water. I’m done. Not only as a sell-out, but on the athletic tip, it would take away 80 percent of my psyche, of what’s been motivating me for many, many years – to be against the establishment. So to become part of the establishment, I would not have that fire in my belly as I have right now.”

That fire has carried him to wins over Howard Eastman, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, Kelly Pavlik, and Enrique Ornelas – all taking place after he turned 40 years old. Three losses also dot his 40+ record, but each one – two against Jermain Taylor and one against Joe Calzaghe – were controversial verdicts which many people believed should have gone in Hopkins’ favor.

On April 3rd, he will climb the mountain once again to take on the man who beat him in his first world middleweight title fight in 1993, Roy Jones Jr. Back before his ninth round knockout of Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, 11 years after the first bout with Jones, I asked him about that defeat and he told me, “I made a vow to myself which I’ve held up for 11 years now, that I’ll never lose on my feet again. I train that way, I think that way, and it’s been 11 years. Some people don’t think that’s important. I think it’s very important to make a statement and to work hard to live by it.”

Judging by that statement, you could say that Roy Jones – in a roundabout way – has contributed to Hopkins’ eventual success. But when reminded of the quote last week, Hopkins says that my interpretation of what he said then is way off.

“I believe a lot of that had to do with Bernard Hopkins’ history with the boxing powers and the mob – M-O-B – in the business that I deal with,” he explains. “And I say that with sincerity from my heart. It had nothing to do with any particular fighter, especially Roy Jones Jr. And when I use the word ‘mob’, I don’t mean the old days of the 50’s and 40’s. To me, it’s a group of people with power to be able to use what you don’t do in the ring – win, win, win – to bury you and to monopolize you and to not give you an opportunity to be able to show that fighters who became great came from adversity.”

“That statement, I remember it as clear as if I said it yesterday or an hour ago,” Hopkins continues, “because I understood all the way back to 1999, when I stood up at the senate hearings talking about boxing, talking about the corruption, talking about the double standards, about the conflicts of interest that run from the top to the bottom of boxing. And once I made that statement, I realized, pertaining to some of the phone calls I got, that it won’t be in my best interests if I go down there to New York City to speak in front of Eliot Spitzer, the ex-attorney general, and Senator McCain. I haven’t been robbed of that memory, and I thank God that I can reflect on that in 2010. That’s why I made that statement and a couple of other statements because I know, even to today, and believe it or not even more today, Bernard Hopkins must go into the ring knowing that my lifeline is always to go in there to win on my feet. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to always get the win politically, and not getting it politically proves me right all the time – the Jermain Taylor fight, the Joe Calzaghe fight. There always seems to be a mystery or a doubt – other than the Roy Jones fight in ’93 – of who won or who didn’t win. When you’ve got those intangibles wrapped up in it, it’s not considered a clear victory on their end. And so I’ve realized that it made me even more popular in some cases, and it’s made me more of a target in some cases. It really had nothing to do with Roy Jones.”

Point taken.

Yet while the losses to Taylor and Calzaghe were controversial, odds are that they were just part and parcel with life in the fight game. No one’s saying lightweight contender Ali Funeka was stiffed in his 2009 fight against Joan Guzman because it was political – it was just a bad decision.

Hopkins isn’t buying that rationale though, and believing what he does has made him who he is – not only as a fighter, but as a man. And if you’re looking for the magic formula as to why he’s become boxing’s version of Benjamin Button, seemingly getting younger with each passing year, it’s because he has never changed his mindset.

Most fighters, when they find success and get secure in life outside the ring, get softer as they get older. It’s the old Marvin Hagler line “it’s hard to get up and train when you’re sleeping on silk sheets.” Hopkins, judging by the way he talks, thinks, and performs, is sleeping on a bed of nails as he prepares for Jones in Miami. Would you call it paranoia? Hopkins would.

“There’s no magic rabbit’s foot that I have,” he said of his success after 40. “If it was something legal that I was drinking, if it was something that I was cooking, or watching, looking at or reading, I would actually sell that on EBay. I would reel in millions of dollars hopefully with a good agent behind it. It’s that mentality. Whenever somebody might want to say that Bernard is paranoid – I am. I’m a hundred percent paranoid. But even being paranoid, you must have – at least if you’re smart – control enough where you don't become overly paranoid. There is a difference. Paranoid is the definition of awareness. But when you become too much of anything, it’s called an overdose. You can have an overdose of sex if you’re Tiger Woods. You can have an overdose of an interview if you’re interviewing me.”

Never.

But there is more to come from this story…
 
RM211

RM211

Sicc OG
#31
Feb 10, 2006
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#31
Big b hop fan been a while since hes fought tho, i wanna c a good fight jus wished it happened a lil sooner, go b hop tho
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#32
May 13, 2002
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#32
Bernard Hopkins Says: "I Want Haye-Ruiz Winner Next"

By Rick Reeno

Bernard Hopkins has confirmed the next move for his career. The final chapter will not take place next Saturday in Las Vegas. Over the course of his long career, the 45-year-old veteran has picked up championships in two divisions. He plans to make one final championship run - at heavyweight. Provided he beats Roy Jones Jr., Hopkins wants to fight the winner of David Haye vs. John Ruiz, who clash for the WBA heavyweight title next Saturday in Manchester.

Both Haye and Ruiz are under contract with Golden Boy Promotions, where Hopkins is a partner. He believes the negotiations will be easy regardless of the winner. Haye is the bigger and more marketable fight. If the choice was presented, Hopkins would prefer to fight Haye for the title. Both of them have to win their fights on April 3.

"I have to come through April 3rd, and John Ruiz doesn't spoil nothing because I've seen John Ruiz pull a rabbit out of his hat a couple of times. Let me tell you, I've seen John Ruiz pull a rabbit out of his hat a couple of times that wasn't good for the next big thing," Hopkins said. "That style he has is real funky. I have my fingers crossed."

"I want to fight the winner of that fight and they are both under Golden Boy Promotions, [but] John Ruiz is a problem for anybody."
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#33
May 13, 2002
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#33
Seriously, half of ya'll don't understand that this is going to be something special. Forget the records, the age, the rankings, forget all that and consider these are two legends of the game in a rematch. And they are polar opposites in almost every way.

For 17 years hate has been brewing between them. 17 years. That's all time to hold a grudge.

Roy Jones said, "if there is ever a time to get up you get up for your rival. And Bernard is my rival."

If you think roy is simply in this fight for a paycheck you're mistaken, he's coming to win.

His style would never allow hopkins to knock him out early, nor is hopkins a big puncher, so you can cross that idea out right now.

His style would never allow hopkins to simply bully him and rough him up all night long, he's too quick and he can still catch bernard cleanly. Hopkins, no matter who he fights, will always be cautious, smart and defensive and if nothing else, those are reasons that this will be competitive. Styles make fights, don't ever forget that.

We're going to see a lot of shit talking, a lot of showboating and a fight to remember. If nothing else it will be entertaining and I bet a whole lot of animated gifs will be made in the following days of the fight.

Don't believe, just watch the fight

 
T

Tony

Sicc OG
#36
May 15, 2002
13,165
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#36
This won't mean nothing for Hopkins' career because if he does win he'll end up beating a "shot" Roy Jones and he couldn't beat him when he wasn't shot. He should've beat him before everyone started beating him. Now that he's shot, Bernard wants a shot... pathetic!!
 
T-Rip

T-Rip

T Camp
#39
Jan 18, 2006
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#39
Its gonna be nice to see Bernard end Jones career. Benard is a way better fighter at his age then Roy at his age.
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#40
May 13, 2002
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#40
Tony said:
This won't mean nothing for Hopkins' career because if he does win he'll end up beating a "shot" Roy Jones and he couldn't beat him when he wasn't shot. He should've beat him before everyone started beating him. Now that he's shot, Bernard wants a shot... pathetic!!
Click to expand...
Don't twist it homie bernard has always wanted a shot. The perfect time was in 2001, after Hopkins beat trinidad, since the plan was trinidad was going to beat hopkins then fight roy jones in a mega fight.

Jones & hopkins would never agree on the split. Jones wanted 60/40, hopkins wanted 50/50 with the winner taking 60. Jones wouldn't have it.

Eventually hopkins agreed to do 60/40 but once it was time to sign the contract it actually come out to about 70/30 in jones favor. Now after Jones loses and is old he's finally willing to do 50/50.
 
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