Reflecting on his accomplished professional career, Bernard Hopkins once named the very best fighter he faced.
Hopkins racked up 55 wins throughout the course of his 28-year tenure which stretched across four decades between 1988 and 2016.
The Philadelphia-native achieved world honours at middleweight and light-heavyweight during his career, as well as capturing the undisputed championship at 160lbs back in 2004 when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya.
Hopkins etched his name into boxing history when he defeated WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov to become the oldest world champion of all time at the age of 49, breaking the record that he actually set himself one year earlier.
Reflecting on one of his past victories whilst speaking to The Ring Magazine, Hopkins discussed Roy Jones Jr, admitting that facing him in his prime – which he did 17 years prior to winning their rematch – was a different story entirely.
“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 in their first encounter back in May of 1993 to capture the vacant IBF world middleweight title and hand ‘The Executioner’ the second defeat of his career.
They locked horns for the second time in April 2010. It was Hopkins who prevailed on this occasion, defeating his countryman via unanimous decision in their non-title bout at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Jones is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, having won world honours at middleweight, super-middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight in his illustrious career.
