Bernard Hopkins will go down as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Known as ‘The Executioner’, Hopkins reigned as a world champion in two weight classes throughout his career, including holding the undisputed middleweight championship between 2001 and 2005.
He also holds the record for being the oldest world champion in boxing history, achieving this feat back in 2014 when he held the IBF light-heavyweight world title when he was 49-years-old.
Hopkins defeated an abundance of legendary fighters throughout his tenure, including Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright and Oscar De La Hoya.
He also defeated Roy Jones Jr during the later stages of his career, although he was beaten by his countryman in their first encounter which took place in 1993.
As revealed in an interview with the Ring Magazine, Hopkins claimed that although he got the better of Jones at the second time of asking, he doesn’t believe he would have been able to beat him during his formidable prime, brandishing the four-division world champion as ‘unbeatable’ at one stage.
“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 boasted an unmatched combination of speed, reflexes, and unorthodox style which allowed him to outclass opponents across multiple weight divisions with ease.
After winning his first world title at middleweight and then snatching a belt as high as heavyweight, he is of course regarded as being an all-time-great, although it has been argued that the five-division champion should have called time on his career a lot sooner, with his last ring appearance coming against MMA star Anthony Pettis in 2023 when he was aged 54.
