Roy Jones Jr. - "Who is Greater? Me or Bernard Hopkins?"

[The Gully Gad]

B-hop has the better record
Jones is the better fighter

[Dambala]

B-hop has the better record
Jones is the better fighter

Agreed! With Roy's career we'll always have a big "IF".

[fightfan2007]

ok i kno Ill probably have a screaming riot of jones fans wanting to kill me after this but should the use of performance enhancing drugs be factored into this question ??

imo it should

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=2888

lets not it twisted tho - Roy was amazing but doesnt this issue raise the question as to where RJJ stopped and the little stuff in the syringe started ??

[Terry A]

Good topic

If Bernard Hokins hadn't lost those two fights to Jermain Taylor, his case would be a lot stronger. And lately, B-Hop has still been shocking peole with him beating Pavlik and Winky at his advanced age. Bernard's best wins have been over Keith Holmes, Glen Johnson, Felix Trinidad, William Joppy, Oscar, Howard Eastman, Antonio Tarver, Winky and Kelly.

As for RJ...his best wins were over Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Mike McCallum, Montell Griffin, Virgil Hill, Reggie Johnson, Eric Harding, Clinton Woods, John Ruiz, Tarver and Felix Trinidad.

Bernard has been a steady force at 160 and lately, he knocked off 3 big names at around 170. But those two losses to Jermain Taylor stand out to me. I have no idea how he could have lost to him after beating all them super-stars before and since.

Roy has been, in my opinion, one of the most dominant fighters of this generation. Before Tarver and Johnson iced him, he wasn't losing rounds, let alone fights. I agree with Brassangel that the large weight loss had a big part of him getting creamed. And you can say that that was Roy's own fault for accepting the fights in the order that he did. Nonetheless, I think that as great as these two champs are, more people outside of mainstream boxing would recognize and know who Roy Jones Jr is than those who know who Bernard Hopkins is. And that came from the way he so dominated the guys he fought.

Personally, I would say that Bernard got every ounce and then some out of his talent and great work ethic. Jones was the more naturally gifted athlete.
I give Roy the edge in power, speed and intensity. I give Bernard the edge in
ring generalship, chin and will power. Jones fought the slightly better caliber of opponants. In fact, as a yardstick, I think that Jones beats Toney no matter when they fought or at what weight. I'm no convinced that Bernard could be the crafty Toney like Roy did and would.

Tarver is another name that I would like to add something about. Roy fought Antonio at Tarver's peak. I think B-Hop caught Tarver on the back side of his career, just as Roy got McCallum on his downside.

Bottom line for me is that I think that Roy Jones was the better fighter of the two and had the better over all career. But only by the slimist of margins.

[Kris Silver]

Pissing on Nard's fire a little bit. Surely as a fellow older fighter he'd be cool with someone proving that it can still be done, not getting all jealous. Winky made some respectful comment of Nards win being inspirational.

It could of course just be to build the case for a rematch but surely he'd say other things than this, and sooner. So it's just kinda pointless.

[EL ANIMAL]

its obvious they are both very dominant figures in the sport, even till this day with their age. i just think there is such a need for a rematch between them to see whos gonna be the one laughing at the end. i hope it comes off. jones just gotta beat the dude from wales!

[MELLY-MEL...]

i gonna poll this.

[Chase8400]

Hopkins definitely looks better older than does Jones, but in their prime, B-Hop was lucky that Jones fought him so cautiously.

Damn right. Hopkins was lucky that Jones had an injured hand as well. It was known and documented that Roy was nursing an injured/broken right hand during the fight. Hops could have been KO'd in that fight and alot of things would have changed in his career, perhaps.

[Chase8400]

B-hop has the better record
Jones is the better fighter

Technically, that's a catch 22 seeing as how Jones beat Bernard convincingly with an injured right hand in his prime. Would'nt that make Jones' resume better? And , are you factoring in the fact that he will have a Calzaghe "0" on his resume' in a couple weeks. Hahaha

[Chase8400]

ok i kno Ill probably have a screaming riot of jones fans wanting to kill me after this but should the use of performance enhancing drugs be factored into this question ??

imo it should

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=2888

lets not it twisted tho - Roy was amazing but doesnt this issue raise the question as to where RJJ stopped and the little stuff in the syringe started ??

Nothing sold over the counter is really performance enhancing if the other fighter could have easily obtained the same supplements. Jones never took an anabolic steriod , ever and still looks the exact same. Those fights would have dissqualified him if they had proven anything. Let that go.