Video: Roy Jones vs. Bernard Hopkins | The 17-year rivalry

Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard ‘The Hangman’ Hopkins were both first-ballot Hall of Famers, and both are rightly regarded as two of the greatest to ever induct them. But strangely, neither of their two fights against each other were particularly memorable.

For whatever reason, this particular clash of styles didn’t produce much in the way of crowd-pleasing action. Neither battle was a classic. On the contrary, both come across as fairly dull affairs, largely lacking in both action and drama. At the same time, these two battles have a certain historical significance.

Jones had an unorthodox approach, but he was such a supreme operator that, combined with all his elite qualities, he made everything work exceptionally well. Roy won the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and also heavyweight championships. When Jones was at his best during his prime, he was almost universally recognized as the world’s greatest pound for pound boxer.

Hopkins may never have been seen as the best of the best, and certainly never for as long as Roy, but Hopkins made up for it by having a much longer run as an elite prizefighter. Hopkins was a modern ageless warrior in the mold of Archie Moore, the old mongoose himself. Hopkins has won both the middleweight and lightweight championships, and is both the oldest boxer to ever win a major world championship at age 48, and the oldest boxer ever to win a unification bout at age 49.

Their first fight took place in May 1993, and Roy won by unanimous decision. All three judges scored their first fight 116-112 in favor of Jones. Amazingly, their rematch took place almost 17 years later in April 2010. This time, Hopkins won a unanimous decision, with one judge scoring it 118-109 and the other two scoring it 117-110. Unfortunately, negotiations for a Johns-Hopkins rematch fell apart in 2002. This was the period of time that was almost exactly in the middle between the two fights they had. At the time in 2002, Jones and Hopkins were universally recognized as the two greatest pound for pound boxers in the world, and it’s a shame they couldn’t agree on terms then, because it was arguably a better fight than either of the two fights they had against each other.

This edition of Remy’s corner will provide a definitive overview of the 17-year rivalry between two of the greatest boxers of all time, Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard ‘The Hangman’ Hopkins. You are welcome to watch the video and enjoy it. This is Remy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Jeffrey Siani).