Bernard Hopkins has proved to be one of the greatest fighters of the last several decades.
Known as ‘The Executioner’, Hopkins enjoyed considerable success throughout the course of his glittering career, which was just shy of thirty years.
He captured multiple world titles across two weight classes, including the undisputed middleweight championship which he held for four years between 2001 and 2005, defeating the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya during his reign.
In a feature of ‘Best I Faced’ with The Ring Magazine, Hopkins – who still holds the record as boxing’s oldest world champion – didn’t hesitate to name Roy Jones Jr as the best fighter he ever faced overall, paying homage to the exceptional boxing skills of his former rival.
“He was smart enough to neutralise my best weapons and smart enough to not get hit by my big shots. Even though I got my shots in he wouldn’t get hit by more than one. Like if I got one in … and that’s the thing about fighting unique guys … if a guy lands that one shot, normally there’s another coming behind that.”
“He was an all-around thing – best boxer, best defence, offence.”
“Early career Roy Jones Jr. – speed, reflexes, unorthodox, that type of thing. No one, no one would have beat Roy Jones at that level, where he was at right there and then.”
Jones defeated Hopkins via unanimous decision to hand him the second defeat of his career when they clashed for the vacant IBF world middleweight title back in May 1993.
They locked horns for the second time 17-years after their first encounter, although it was Hopkins who would prevail this time around, defeating Jones via unanimous decision in their non-title bout at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
