Bernard Hopkins has a fantastic boxing legacy.
‘The Executioner’ was a two-weight world champion at middleweight and light heavyweight, reigning undisputed at 160lbs whilst also being the oldest boxer in history to hold a world title when he still wore gold at 175lbs at the age of 49.
Hopkins beat a number of big names throughout his time in the ring, including Oscar De La Hoya, Winky Wright, Felix Trinidad and Kelly Pavlik. He also defeated Roy Jones Jr late in the career of Jones.
It was the second meeting between the two men, after Jones had beaten Hopkins a whopping 17 years earlier, and Hopkins revealed to Ring Magazine that, if both were in their prime, he doesn’t think he’d have been able to defeat Jones – nor could any man.
“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.”
Having taken on both Jones Jr and De La Hoya in his career, Hopkins has also revealed which of the two men he believes hit the hardest.
