Revisiting Rivalries Edition I: Jones Jr. Vs Hopkins: "60-40 I'll tear your ass up!"

[elfag]

Hopkins was calling for a catch weight too. Get outta here.

hopkins was still fighting at 160 and was coming under 160 without even trying to. He could make 154 at that point if he wanted to. He made 156 after this.

[SkillspayBills]

Both egos got in the way. Though I blame Hopkins more because Roy was the bigger name and the P4P number 1 at that point in time. Would have loved to see that fight right after this interview as well.

[elfag]

Golden Boy Promotions????????? There was no GBP and Jones won the first fight and deserved the greater split.

my bad, didnt realize until later that this was the trinidad post fight interview.


Still, Jones should have atleast negotiated. Jones wasnt a big draw at that point. They could have talked and he could have gotten a 55/45 deal or SOMETHING.

I think its a fight Jones could have won pretty easily with speed and movement, its a bigger payday that he could get anywhere else at that point in his career. And he ended up taking the rematch years later when he was desperate for money, in what was likely a big split in Hopkins favor.

[JTfloyd]

Roy was beginning to slip by this point, but he had more than enough to deal with Hopkins. Bernard was looking for a big money fight, but beating Tito doesn't give him equal footing in negotiating with Roy. I think the next year, Hops called out Toney @190, but that never materialized either. He's not stupid.

[MrRolltide91]

60/40 was a great deal since roy was 1 p4p at the time and he had a win over hopkins

[Big_L]

PC: With Roy Jones fighting on and choosing not to hang them up, you know Roy very well, do you give him a chance against Bernard Hopkins on April 3?

MM: Roy is not going to walk away. He's gotta prove it to himself that it's over. I believe Roy Jones Jr. believes that he can win and it wouldn't shock me if he did. The problem in this fight is Bernard, I believe, did not want to fight Roy, fearful that he was going to lose to Roy. When he saw that Roy got knocked out in the 1st round, then he mustered up the guts to say, "Okay, let's fight!" That bothers me because I was there for the negotiations when he [Hopkins] was offered $10 million and they could have made $20 to $30 million when it was all said and done, but he would not take the fight. I put Roy on the phone with Bernard and Bernard said, "Okay, I will take the fight, but whose gonna pay Don King?" Roy and I said, "We're not going to pay Don King." I said, "Why would we pay your promoter?" He said, "Because he has a contract on me and I ain't paying him." I said, "Well, I don't know what you're going to do. Man, you don't want to fight. You're just whistling Dixie man. You're either going to fight or you're not going to fight. You signed a contract with Don King, so you gotta pay Don King." He goes, "Well I'm not paying Don King." So he blew that fight. We tried to put a fight on with Bernard Hopkins two or three times and it did not happen. I believe, and this is my humble opinion, that Bernard was fearful of Roy Jones Jr. He could not beat Roy Jones Jr. Now that Roy got knocked out, all of a sudden, Bernard is gung ho to fight Roy Jones Jr. An old trainer by the name of Cus D'Amato told me at my dinner table in Atlantic City, "The worst fighter to fight is an old pro that has one more fight left in him." This is when Mike Tyson was an amateur. Bill Cayton, Jim Jacobs, Cus D'Amato, Mike Tyson, along with the gentleman that took over Big Fights; my God he's going to shoot me***133; I can't remember his name, but he acts just like Jim Jacobs. He is one of the best young men that I ever knew in the business. That's when Cus D'Amato told me, "One of the worst fighters you can fight is an old veteran with one fight left in him." So my prediction is Roy has one more fight left in him and he beats Bernard. If it's time for him to retire, he will lose against Bernard. That's my humble opinion.

http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content7276.html

[MrRolltide91]

PC: With Roy Jones fighting on and choosing not to hang them up, you know Roy very well, do you give him a chance against Bernard Hopkins on April 3?

MM: Roy is not going to walk away. He's gotta prove it to himself that it's over. I believe Roy Jones Jr. believes that he can win and it wouldn't shock me if he did. The problem in this fight is Bernard, I believe, did not want to fight Roy, fearful that he was going to lose to Roy. When he saw that Roy got knocked out in the 1st round, then he mustered up the guts to say, "Okay, let's fight!" That bothers me because I was there for the negotiations when he [Hopkins] was offered $10 million and they could have made $20 to $30 million when it was all said and done, but he would not take the fight. I put Roy on the phone with Bernard and Bernard said, "Okay, I will take the fight, but whose gonna pay Don King?" Roy and I said, "We're not going to pay Don King." I said, "Why would we pay your promoter?" He said, "Because he has a contract on me and I ain't paying him." I said, "Well, I don't know what you're going to do. Man, you don't want to fight. You're just whistling Dixie man. You're either going to fight or you're not going to fight. You signed a contract with Don King, so you gotta pay Don King." He goes, "Well I'm not paying Don King." So he blew that fight. We tried to put a fight on with Bernard Hopkins two or three times and it did not happen. I believe, and this is my humble opinion, that Bernard was fearful of Roy Jones Jr. He could not beat Roy Jones Jr. Now that Roy got knocked out, all of a sudden, Bernard is gung ho to fight Roy Jones Jr. An old trainer by the name of Cus D'Amato told me at my dinner table in Atlantic City, "The worst fighter to fight is an old pro that has one more fight left in him." This is when Mike Tyson was an amateur. Bill Cayton, Jim Jacobs, Cus D'Amato, Mike Tyson, along with the gentleman that took over Big Fights; my God he's going to shoot me***133; I can't remember his name, but he acts just like Jim Jacobs. He is one of the best young men that I ever knew in the business. That's when Cus D'Amato told me, "One of the worst fighters you can fight is an old veteran with one fight left in him." So my prediction is Roy has one more fight left in him and he beats Bernard. If it's time for him to retire, he will lose against Bernard. That's my humble opinion.

http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content7276.html

damn roy wanted to fight lewis, holyfield, and tyson

[SN!PER]

Sound like two cats who don't know what the hell they talkin bout to me.

Hopkins was 0-1 against Roy and Roy had the betters resume at that time.

Hopkins should've given him 60-40.

[Achille]

The 60/40 was more then fair with RJJ being Number #1 P4P and on top of that they were fighting for all Roy Jones Jr. Titles at 175.

[therealpugilist]

Hopkins was to blame...he should have took the 40 %


Roy held a win over him already, held multiple belts at 175, beside ODLH he was the other face of boxing, especially in the african american community.

Sometimes you gotta put your pride aside...IMO he priced himself out because he never believed he could beat THAT Jones and may have had to vacate his middleweight title...He was better and more experienced than the one who beat him before.