By Lyle Fitzsimmons

LAS VEGAS – As far as rivalries go, it was more vitriol than violence.

Outside of three Roy Jones Jr. fouls that each crumpled Bernard Hopkins to the canvas, the crowd of 6,792 at Mandalay Bay was treated to little in the way of action as the 45-year-old Philadelphia evened a 17-year-old score with a unanimous decision in their 12-round light heavyweight rematch.

On the short end of a unanimous verdict in Washington, D.C. back in 1993, Hopkins was a one-sided winner at least on paper the second time around, sweeping the cards with two counts of 117-110 and one of 118-109 in a fight that featured as much angst outside the ring as in it.

BoxingScene.com also scored it 117-110 for Hopkins.

“Yes, it was worth it,” Hopkins said. “It was sweet revenge.

“It was really rough in there. I respect Roy. He’s a good fighter, but he tried to rough me up.”

Largely back and forth while consistently non-interesting in the first five rounds, the fight livened up in the sixth only when Jones landed a blow behind Hopkins’ head that drove him to the campus and earned a point deduction from referee Tony Weeks after a several-minute delay.

“I was throwing soft punches so I could get inside and throw my harder punches,” Hopkins said, “but when I got inside, he hit me on the back of the head, my legs went and I went down and started seeing spots. My head is killing me still.”

A skirmish broke out at the bell to end the round, when a member of the Jones entourage charged the ring to get at Hopkins and was subsequently removed by security officers.

“I was just really mad,” Hopkins said. “I think Weeks did a good job to keep the fight under control. (Jones) was trying the whole night to get me to retaliate, but I kept pressing.  I’m a scrappy Philly fighter.

I might not please everyone, but that’s the way I know how to fight.”

The action waned again until Jones’ next foul, another blow behind the head that again sent Hopkins down – to the displeasure of the crowd who saw little cause – in the eighth round, though no points were taken for the infraction.

“He’s a defensive fighter and he fought a smart fight,” Jones said. “I had to chase him the whole time. He was head-butting me, too, but the ref never saw anything. Every time I did something, I was getting a warning. When he went down, it wasn’t even a hard punch. He was trying to take a rest and get a break.”

A low blow from Jones to Hopkins prompted the third would-be “knockdown,” before Hopkins rallied late in the round with a solid legal flurry to Jones in 41-year-old’s corner.

Hopkins took control of what action existed in the fight’s latter half, ending the majority of the exchanges by bullying Jones to the ropes and scoring occasionally clean shots to the head and body.

Jones, who was nicked alongside the left eye early in the fight, was unable to mount a sustained attack, instead landing only single jabs and right hands before extended grappling and holding.

The biggest cheer of the night, in fact, came at the indication that the final round had just 10 seconds remaining.

Hopkins was taken to a local hospital after the fight, after Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said he collapsed to his knees in the dressing room while trying to sit down onto a bench. Schaefer said he was able to recover quickly enough to reach the ambulance under his own power.

“You’re going to think it’s because I got hit on the back of the head too many times, but I want David Haye for the heavyweight championship of the world,” Hopkins said.

Jones was also taken to the hospital for treatment.

“I’m going to go home and talk to the team, and if they decide to call it a day we’ll call it a day,” Jones said. “But it’s not my decision. I’ll talk to my coaches. I’ve had a wonderful career. You can’t have too much better than what I had.”