By Brent Matteo Alderson (photo by Tom Casino)
Bernard Hopkins has iced his hall of fame career with a sweet glaze topping with his victory over Antonio Tarver who before hand was perceived as the best in a division two categories above the one in which Hopkins had fought in for the last sixteen years. This significant victory which catapulted Hopkins along the side of such greats as Dick Tiger and Bob Fitzsimmons further cements his status as an all time great and raises the questions, “How great is Bernard Hopkins?” and “Should he be ranked higher than Roy Jones?”
Statistically the two are very similar. In title bouts Hopkins is 21-3-1 with one no-contest while Roy Jones is 23-4. Bernard won titles in two divisions and unified the Middleweight title while Jones won titles in four different weight classes, including a Heavyweight title belt and unified the Light Heavyweight title. The similarities end there.
Jones turned professional with a lot of hoopla after the 1988 Olympics where he garnered a Silver medal as well as the Val Barker award for being chosen as the best boxer to have competed in those games while Bernard turned pro in 88 with the help of some construction buddies he was working with. Bernard lost his pro debut, but after that he would only lose once more during the course of the next 17 years.
After his loss to Roy Jones, Hopkins’s performances and Middleweight title reign left an indelible mark on the sport’s storied history. He is the only fighter in history to have won all four major title bouts in a single division, he’s one of only four fighters in history to make at least 20 defenses of a world title (Ricardo Lopez, Larry Holmes, Joe Louis) and he’s the oldest fighter to ever successfully defend the Middleweight crown.
To add to his long list of accomplishments, he dotted his resume with stoppage victories over Oscar De La Hoya and a then undefeated Felix Trinidad. And now at the age of 41 he has won the World Light Heavyweight title from the man that knocked Roy Jones off the throne. Plus Hopkins has never been beaten up in the ring like Jones was in his fights with Tarver and Johnson. Hell even his losses to Jermaine Taylor were razor thin and so controversial that Taylor thought he lost the first fight, at least that’s what it looked like if you saw the expression on his face before the decision was announced. Guys that win their first world championship against a hall of famer don’t usually look grim and dejected.
There are still some negatives surrounding Bernard’s place as possibly one of the twenty greatest fighters in history. First off, the quality of his title challengers was rather weak. With the exceptions of Antwun Echols, Keith Holmes, Joe Lipsey, and Robert Allen most of the men he defended against weren’t ranked in Ring Magazine at the time of their challenges. Simon Brown was way past his prime, Steve Frank’s record was so dubious that it was hard to verify and Morrade Hakkar’s number one ranking illustrated the incompetence of the sanctioning bodies. Bo James was a fireman and Carl Daniels was a middle aged ring worn fighter.
Secondly Hopkins claim to the Middleweight crown prior to his involvement in the unification series wasn’t legitimate since he had won the vacant IBF title in a bout against the ordinary Segundo Mercado. During the time up until he unified, Bernard’s only bouts against fighters who weren’t prohibitive underdogs were against Robert Allen, Joe Lipsey and Antwun Echols. Still at the end of the day he cleaned out the entire division just as Marvin Hagler did in the 80’s and established a historical legacy based on longevity and impressive wins over the sport’s premiere stars who had established themselves at lower weights much the same way that Hagler did with his victories over Duran and Hearns.
Even though wins over Trinidad and De La Hoya were dominant stoppage victories, those two warriors will be remembered for their fights that took place south of the 160 pound division. Trinidad looked devastating against William Joppy, but the Puerto Rican great was 39-0 fighting below the middleweight division and 3-2 fighting in it. To Bernard’s credit the win over a 32-0 Glen Johnnson is considerably more impressive today considering the waves he made in the aftermath.
In terms of quality of opposition, Roy Jones’s career can also be scrutinized. His detractors say that he never beat a great fighter in his prime and that he selectively chose his opponents, maneuvering around potentially risky fights such as the often-proposed match-up with Dariusz Michalczewski.
On the other hand, his fans feel that he was never beaten in his prime and that his ten-year pound for pound reign of terror solidifies his status as one of the five or ten greatest fighters of all time. All in all I lean more towards the opinion held by his supporters and feel that he is one of the best 20 fighters to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
He won championships in four different weight classes; beat a 28-year old Bernard Hopkins and a 44-0 James Toney. And during the course of his prime, he dazzled us with his natural skill and surreal speed. Who can forget the 52-punch combination he threw in his fight against Toney Thorton or his punch from behind the back to knock out Australian Glen Kelly.
Without a doubt my most vivid memory of Jones was his knockout of Art Serwano on the under card of Mancini-Haugen in 1992. Roy hit Serwano with an overhand right so hard that he went flying sideways and went into momentary convulsions while his eyes rolled back behind his head.
To me those spectacular performances epitomize the fighter who is Roy Jones in that he was so much better than everybody else, that his perfection and utter domination of the world’s best fighters stopped him from being considered one of the true greats like a Duran, Ali, or Robinson because in order to be great you have to overcome adversity and upset the odds like Leonard did with Hagler or Ali with Foreman.
Roy Jones was so good that he never had to dig down deep and pull out a fight with sheer will and courage like Sugar Ray did in his epic battle with Hearns. That’s why I don’t consider Roy to be one of the ten greatest fighters of all time because I never got a chance to see that extra little something that all the greats possess.
In a way it’s not fair, why should we penalize Jones for being too good. Would we rate Jones higher if the Toney fight had been a war? We’ve always judged Roy by another standard, the Roy standard. When Toney defended his IBF 168 pound title against Tony Thorton, all the experts called Toney a craftsman, an old school fighter for winning a decision, but when Roy Jones fought him, the experts downgraded the Mailman and criticized Roy's quality of competition. That’s how it has always been for Roy, he would make these world class fighters look like chumps then they would go on to do big things.
After losing to Roy, Jorge Castro won the WBA Middleweight title, Vinny Pazienza knocked out an undefeated Dana Rosenblatt, Eric Lucas became a fixture in the 168 pound ranks for almost ten years, Sugar Boy Malinga upset Nigel Benn, Clinton Woods became a 175 pound title holder, John Ruiz regained the WBA heavyweight title, Julio Gonzalez upset Dariusz Michalczewski, Virgil Hill won two more titles at cruiserweight, James Toney ended up winning a cruiserweight and a heavyweight title, and Bernard Hopkins established himself as one of the five or six greatest Middleweights of all time.
Today a lot of detractors point to Roy’s knockout losses to Glencoffe Johnnson and Antonio Tarver to validate their negative opinions of Roy, but the Jones they fought was a shell of his former self and wasn’t the same fighter that dazzled us in his prime and there is conclusive evidence to support this belief.
First compare Roy’s and Tarver’s performances against common opponents prior to Roy’s move to heavyweight. Tarver beat an old Reggie Johnson in 2002 and one of the judges scored it for Reggie while Roy easily handled the slick southpaw, knocking him down twice and winning every second of every round en route to a three card 120-106 decision shut out.
Also compare their performances against Eric Harding and Montell Griffin. A lot of people like to say that Griffin was beating Roy in the first fight, but come on, Roy was about to stop Montell and had him on shaky legs right before he fouled him. Montell wasn’t going to win that fight. That loss is about as shady as Pernell Whitaker's loss to Jose Luis Ramirez and Jones rectified it when he knocked Griffin out in a Tyson-Spinks like manner. Tarver lost the first fight to Harding and went the distance with an over the hill Griffin.
Also take a look at Glencoffe Johnson’s performances in comparison to a prime Roy Jones’s. The Jamaican went 24 hard rounds with Clinton Woods, a fighter that Jones played with like a Barbie doll. I could go on and on, but the point that I want to make is that Roy Jones has been a shot fighter since the Ruiz fight. His move from heavyweight back down to light heavyweight took its toll on his body and dramatically exasperated the speed of his physical decline. The Jones that got beat up by Tarver and Johnson was a shell of his former self and if you can’t see that you’re biased in your evaluation of him as a fighter.
A lot of fans and numerous writers tell me that Jones was finally exposed and that he couldn’t take a punch. Well Sugar Ray Leonard, probably the best fighter of the last 25 years suffered a terrible beating at the hands of Terry Norris at the tender age of 34. Does that mean that the Sugar man had finally been exposed?
Father time really has been kinder to Hopkins than to Jones, matter of fact he’s aged better than almost any fighter in history with the possible exception of the great Archie Moore. Does his surreal longevity make his greatness eclipse the greatness of Jones? No. Because both of them had wildly successful careers which included ten year reigns as two of boxing’s best and when it comes down to the wire you have to credit Roy for beating Bernard in their bout for the vacant IBF title in 1993. Hopkins may not have quite been in his prime yet, but neither was Roy, and the Executioner wasn’t a ten fight novice.
He was 28 years old, 22-1 and had already established himself as a world class fighter with televised victories over Gilbert Baptist, Wayne Powell, and Dennis Milton, and Jones easily out boxed Hopkins. I have never spoken with anybody who thought Hopkins won that fight so there is no point of contention, Roy Jones out boxed Bernard Hopkins.
Thus at the end of the day you can rank Hopkins higher than Jones at Middleweight, but in terms of overall greatness you have to rank Jones ahead of the Executioner because he won the head to head match up.
Notes:
I’m looking forward to seeing Shannon Briggs test Wladimir Klitschko’s chin. Shannon has more first round knockouts than any other active fighter in the heavyweight division and if he tags Wladimir like he tagged Lennox Lewis in their 98 scuffle, the Ukranian won’t get up. I just hope Briggs comes in under 255 and goes after him because if it goes past three, Wladimir will break him down and knock him out.
First fight card I ever went to, was Bobby Czyz’s defense against Donny Lalonde at the Riviera in Las Vegas. Riddick Bowe fought Bigfoot Martin on the under card and signed a picture of Holyfield for me after crossing out his face with an X. It was a big fight weekend in Vegas and the very next night I watched Terry Norris dispatch Meldrick Taylor in four rounds at the Mirage. Afterwards I jumped over about ten rows of seats and jumped in the ring and asked Shelly Finkel something about Holyfield and he looked at me and said, “How did you get in the ring?” Then I strutted over to where Larry Merchant was interviewing Mills Lane and got my mug on HBO for a few seconds. I still have the tape. I was a sophomore in high school.
Who named the Val Barker award? Why is this award which is given to the best fighter in the Olympics called that? Let me know if you do.
During the course of the past two weeks, I read both Tapia’s as well as Atlas’s biographies and both were fascinating and highly recommended. Both those guys are crazy tough guys.
Golden Boy Promotions is making a huge mistake with Barrera, they should be angling in on a big money bout against the Pacquiao instead of taking risky fights against talented opponents with average marketability. Usually I would say give the young kid another chance, but Barrera’s days as a fighter are numbered and he should make them count and there’s not a bigger fight out there than a fight with the Filipino juggernaut. Big mistake!
Joe Mesi sure does have a lot of ring rust. I’m starting to think that maybe it’s not rust, just the ill affects of the behind the head punches he took from Vassiliy Jirov.
Robert Guerrero looked real good in avenging his lone defeat. I always thought the Ghost was overrated, but he sure looked like the goods the other night.
Check out the latest edition of the Ring, I have an article in there on Jorge Arce & Rosendo Alvarez.
A lot of other guys won Middleweight and Light-Heavyweight titles, but they were always splintered. Tommy Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike McCallum won title belts at both weights, but to the best of my knowledge Bob Fitzsimmons and Dick Tiger are the only fighters to have won undisputed linear championships at those weights.
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