by James Slater – Back on December 2nd of last year, when former great Roy Jones Junior was stunningly upset inside a round by Australian hard man Danny Green, fans everywhere thought for sure the pencilled in return fight between Jones and Bernard Hopkins had gone for good. Set for the spring of 2010, some seventeen years after the two had first met down at middleweight, the rematch had people talking. Then came Green and it was thought B-Hop would face “The Green Machine” instead.
Talks began for such a fight, but in the end money issues that could not be settled ruined the potential match-up. Things got even more interesting regarding Green , though, when the beaten Jones claimed his foe had beaten him due to illegally wrapped hands (this appeal on the part of the Jones team is ongoing). Suddenly everyone had forgotten all about Jones-Hopkins II.
But Hopkins, who beat Enrique Ornelas in his own tune-up on Dec. 2nd, may still get the chance to get his revenge. Even after his former rival had been smashed by Green, Hopkins said the second fight between he and Jones should still go ahead. Buying into the “Jones was robbed” line, the soon-to-be 45-year-old legend claimed the Green loss did nothing to diminish interest in Jones-Hopkins II..
According to BoxRec, the rematch that was to be fought at light-heavyweight, is back on, for April 17th in Las Vegas. Has “The Executioner” got his wish? It’s by no means officially set to take place, but BoxRec is usually pretty reliable, and be honest, how shocked would you be if the fight went on after all? Not very, I’ll bet. But if the sequel does happen, will you watch it? Or, as it’s set to be on Pay-Per-View (according to BoxRec), a better question is, would you PAY to watch it?
Let’s face it, Jones, now approaching the age of 41, is a faded fighter. The Green fight brought to an end any inkling Jones was giving his fans of his being anywhere near back to his best. The Joe Calzaghe fight pretty much told us all we needed to know about how much the once sublime Jones has left; the Green fight underlined the fact that he is a faded force. Hopkins, on the other hand, has aged incredibly well. Still in amazing condition and having proven he can fight as an “old man” with his 2008 win over Kelly Pavlik, Hopkins has been blessed far more than has Jones in this department.
Feeling in his heart that, his pro debut points loss to Clinton Mitchell aside, Jones is the only man to have ever beaten him fair and square, Hopkins is anxious to wipe the slate clean. And, if the now dud of a rematch does go ahead in April, wipe it he sure will. It won’t be exciting and it won’t be pay-per-view-worthy, but Hopkins will box a near master-class once again, as he shuts down Jones, dictates the pace, out-scores his man and ultimately wins a wide UD.
While Jones should retire, though, Hopkins has earned the right to continue fighting – simply because he’s never once been really hurt in a fight, despite his age. But the fans need a reason to wish to see him fight on. And a rematch with recent KO victim Roy Jones Junior is not a good enough reason.