What does Hopkins have that Jones doesn't?

[mikeeod]

guts, courage, smarter boxing mentality & a desire to fight the best fighters out there, and to not make excuses like roy always did.
roy was on top once, but the tables have turned in favor of the real fighter...a legend now, B-Hop!!!

That's not a fair assessment of Roy. Roy fought everyone he could fight and in his prime he fought more dangerous opponents than Hopkins did. Hopkins' run at middleweight lasted up until he faced a real middleweight in Jermain Taylor. Until that point Hopkins refused to move up in weight and fight RJJ or Toney.

Roy fought some good fighters, Roy even went to heavyweight and showed off his skills there....should have retired after that but hindsight is 20/20

Dunno man, I give Hopkins the nod big time as far as fighting more dangerous guys collectively and if we're talking prime I don't even know if that's ended yet for Hopkins It wasn't Hopkins need to chase Jones and by the time Hopkins fought Taylor Jones was already getting all he could handle from Tarver. Hopkins run at Middle is lined with knocking about five #1 ranked challengers, a unification tournament win and indeed a fight with Jones. Not too shabby.

Exactly right. Good post. I made some similar points above but you nailed it with the amount of #1 ranked challengers he beat. Not to mention anyone else who held a belt at his weight (Oscar/WBO, Holmes, Joppy...etc.). I have Hop above Hagler and Monzon historically, which I know is blasphemy, but I just think he had the better career with bigger/more impressive wins.

[generalbulldog]

I think only the most hardcore Roy fanboys would rank him higher than Hopkins in terms of all time greatness. It's not even a debate that Hopkins is the better fighter in terms of overall resume and longevity. I was laughing real hard when a few days back I was reading an old thread here that said Roy would school Michael Spinks badly, the fanboys were saying that Spinks was a bum and would get steamrolled by Roy like what happened in the Tyson fight. Except the fanboys didn't know that SPinks is actually rated as one of the all time greats at LHW, who had chin, boxing ability, height, reach, and power. Whatever happened at HW was just the icing on the cake to a remarkable career. Yes, he got ko by Tyson in 91 seconds, but remember Spinks was no natural HW, but at LHW he holds his own against anyone in history.

I like Roy, I think he's an outstanding talent, but he had too many ex cops like Richard Frazier on his resume when you look at it in hindsight. And don't even use the excuse that Roy couldn't make the super fights happened, Oscar who's an even bigger star in boxing than Roy fought every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there. Yes, Oscar lost a few big fights, but he still made them happened, took the challenges, and gave the fans what they wanted.

[ykdadamaja]

If Roy and Hop were to fight in their primes Roy would beat him again...

[mikeeod]

If Roy and Hop were to fight in their primes Roy would beat him again...

Really?!? Because u say so? It would be a close fight, and Roy may win it, but prime vs prime it isn't a guarantee. Hop learned a lot from losing to Roy the first time and adapted his style and learned tricks to deal with faster, unorthodox, more athletically gifted fighters. It would've been ugly and a foul fear from Hop, but I give him a good chance to beat Roy prime vs prime.

[Spicoli]

guts, courage, smarter boxing mentality & a desire to fight the best fighters out there, and to not make excuses like roy always did.
roy was on top once, but the tables have turned in favor of the real fighter...a legend now, B-Hop!!!

That's not a fair assessment of Roy. Roy fought everyone he could fight and in his prime he fought more dangerous opponents than Hopkins did. Hopkins' run at middleweight lasted up until he faced a real middleweight in Jermain Taylor. Until that point Hopkins refused to move up in weight and fight RJJ or Toney.

Roy fought some good fighters, Roy even went to heavyweight and showed off his skills there....should have retired after that but hindsight is 20/20

Dunno man, I give Hopkins the nod big time as far as fighting more dangerous guys collectively and if we're talking prime I don't even know if that's ended yet for Hopkins It wasn't Hopkins need to chase Jones and by the time Hopkins fought Taylor Jones was already getting all he could handle from Tarver. Hopkins run at Middle is lined with knocking about five #1 ranked challengers, a unification tournament win and indeed a fight with Jones. Not too shabby.

Exactly right. Good post. I made some similar points above but you nailed it with the amount of #1 ranked challengers he beat. Not to mention anyone else who held a belt at his weight (Oscar/WBO, Holmes, Joppy...etc.). I have Hop above Hagler and Monzon historically, which I know is blasphemy, but I just think he had the better career with bigger/more impressive wins.

I just don't know how its close as far as overall comp and fundamentals between a Roy and Hopkins. I can't even say it with a straight face given the fact that one is fighting a Courtney Fry in what amounts to a traveling carnival side show and one is fighting top undefeated young champions and breaking his own records. I wasn't keen on the Oscar match and never bought Oscar a Middleweight after he was boxed silly by Sturm. That always struck me as a business arrangement and money event. Equally hated the Simon Brown fight. Can agree on Monzon, possibly Hagler but Marvin excelled in a top era surrounded by some greats. I think Hopkins has done far more than enough to eclipse a Roy shadow now.