Who has a greater legacy? Hopkins vs Jones Jr

[FrankJack]

Gotta go with Hopkins. Bernard has shown where a total reliance on natural ability lands you. They aren't far apart, but the latter part of their careers is really telling. Jones was destroyed by an older Glen Johnson, whom Bernard dominated much earlier. Hopkins easy victory over Tarver who Jones struggled against tremendously to be on the shorter end of their trilogy. They both lost to Calzaghe, but with the exception of a bright spot here and there, Roy was thoroughly dominated, Hopkins was competetive and tough to pull the win over. When they were both obviously on the decline, Hopkins avenged his loss to Roy. This one matters, to me at least, because at this point with Bernard being the older fighter and having been in more tough fights than Roy, he should have been the "older fighter". But, this wasn't even tough to score.

Hopkins surpassed another great, in George Foreman, to become the oldest champ in history, and he didn't beat a bum to do it.

Hopkins is still defeating strong competition, when he's nearing 50 and we've been pleading for Roy to retire for how many years now? Noone is wondering how current contenders will fare against Jones, but many are curious about the same vs Hopkins. In terms of popularity, that will never be close. Jones will always be one of the most popular fighters that has ever laced the gloves. But, the wins vs loses against who writes the script, I think

[TheSlickster]

If they had their rematch while still in their primes, i still think Jones would've taken the victory.

[windowMaker]

Jones. there is good reason Hopkins waited to move up until Jones got sparked cold

[BigAlexSand]

While Bernard has made a great legacy, but what people remember is the prime of a fighter... While Bernard did have a great success at middleweight... But there was a time where Junior looked invincible/unbeatable! Though he lost badly and has not been the same, what is remembered is the speed, power, reflexes, and his personality.

Though I do believe bhop is right behind in atg rankings but Roys Superman status has not been seen since... Not from Pacquiao, not Mayweather, and not since a young Tyson.

[Em1]

Hopkins never dressed up like a pirate so that has to be worth something.

[Light_Speed]

A lot of people confuse resume and ability, just because Roy was better than Hopkins prime for prime and was considered the best fighter in the world for a long time, doesn't necessarily mean his resume is actually better. I think Hopkins has the stronger resume :

-Undisputed middleweight champion
-Longest reigning middleweight champion
-Lineal light-heavyweight champion
-Oldest man in boxing history to win a world title (beat the record twice)
-Has been fighting at the world class level for 20 years

[LacedUp]

A lot of people confuse resume and ability, just because Roy was better than Hopkins prime for prime and was considered the best fighter in the world for a long time, doesn't necessarily mean his resume is actually better. I think Hopkins has the stronger resume :

-Undisputed middleweight champion
-Longest reigning middleweight champion
-Lineal light-heavyweight champion
-Oldest man in boxing history to win a world title (beat the record twice)
-Has been fighting at the world class level for 20 years

Whilst all that is true, that doesn't make his resume particularly better if you break down who he beat. Look at his middleweight resume for example, there's a whole lot of unknowns in there. There's also a lot of fighters moving up in weight to face him, not established middleweights and smaller guys.

Roy Jones beat better fighters than Hopkins did, plus he was lightheavy champion, supermiddleweight champion and won a version of the heavyweight championship.

Not to mention he beat some ATGs for their weightclass in Mike McCallum, Toney and of course Hopkins himself.

[Boxing Goat]

It's easy to forget Roy's greatness at this point.

I think his legacy is better and he will be remembered as greater overall.

There is no doubt he was the better fighter as demonstrated in their H2H matchup when it actually mattered.

[Boxing Goat]

If jones would have retired when he should have, after the first tarver fight, this wouldn't even be discussed. His win over Hopkins at middle and toney at super middle are better than most fighters complete resume. Couple that with utter dominance at
Light heavy and a title win at heavyweight, then coming back down to reclaim his light heavyweight title, you have an ATG career. The losses to tarver and Johnson, then fighting on for far too long have made this a worthwhile discussion. Hopkins has longevity at middle, but no wins of real substance. The trinidad win was good at the time, but in hindsight he was undersized and one dimensional. The de la Hoya win is what it is, a win over a tubby superstar to give him some name recognition. The tarver and pavlik wins were great. But still don't come to matching, jones best wins. What we have now with Bhop winning titles at an advanced age, is a reason to move him from Hof'er to ATG. The fact he can still whoop title holders this late in his career marks him out as a once in a lifetime fighter, albeit in a different way to jones jr. As to who has the greater legacy, it depends on who you ask. Do you like the athleticism of jones or the precision of Hopkins. Some will prefer jones' flashy superman to Hopkins' psychological executioner. I believe that while jones was the greater fighter h2h, Hopkins will be remembered greater because of his records.

Great post with the exception of Hopkins being considered better.

His resume will be better because of longevity but that's about it.

Roy won H2H when it mattered and was more brilliant at his best. Nobody will ever do it like Roy. Never.

Once he's gone and we can reflect on his skills later, it will be realized.

Roy was better and it wasn't close.

Hopkins has the better resume arguably.

=Roy wins this POLL.

[Boxing Goat]

Come on, if your gonna talk Roy's wins over Toney and Hopkins, then talk hindsight on the Trinidad fight as a negative for Hopkins you've got serious double standards!

Hindsight in that Hopkins wasn't the fighter he eventually became when he first fought Jones, he was a rank amateur back then. And the Toney that fought him was a zombie!

Coupled with the fact that Roy didn't fight the guys he should have at 160 or 168 then cherry picking John Ruiz, blatantly the weakest link in the heavyweight division for the title.. Hindsight can reveal a lot in his career!

Look I'm not trying to **** on Jones, he was one of my favourite fighters, undoubtedly he was one of the most gifted fighters of the last 50 years, and I feel a prime Jones would have beaten Calzaghe! But he could have done a lot more in his career to solidify himself as one of the greats!

The fighters Roy supposedly ducked would not come to the US to fight anyone, much less the P4P#1 fighter they were gauranteed to get humiliated by.

-End of that discussion.