For Old Times Sake; Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.

Jeff Pryor assesses this past Saturday night's light-heavyweight clash between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones.

It can be said that the twenty four rounds shared between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. over the course of their long careers never lived up to what could have been.

Their first fight was fought a shade too early in their careers to showcase the real talent and skill these men would go on to show in their primes. That first bout Jones won competitive and clear, but as HBO announcer Larry Merchant said of Jones at the time, he's winning the rounds... but he's not winning by much.

In their second bout, Hopkins dominated an eventful, but lackluster back end of their encounters. Jones was unable and unwilling to attack and while Hopkins seemed determined to gain every advantage possible, illicit or otherwise, he failed to live up to what other fighters have done against this increasingly decrepit version of Roy Jones.

The lines in Roy's face as he trudged out to the ring, a grim smile on his lips, seemed to indicate that the years, and perhaps making weight, had taken something more out of him than even his earlier knockout loses had exposed.

Hopkins, in what would become his modus operandi for the evening, that of a showman more than vengeful prizefighter, came out in an executioner's hood, with a Mel Torme-Sinatra wannabe, crooning "My Way" in what can only be described as a campy, masterful one-up to Jones Jr.'s in-your-face jawing at the weigh in.

The stage was set for what would either be a brutal beatdown or, well... what we did get.

Strangely, as the bell rang and these two legendary fighters came out to renew their acquaintances, each looked a little timid. Jones posturing as though he still had his fabled speed, and Hopkins still wary and on a hair trigger for what would ultimately be a bulletless gun in Jones' holster.

By the end of the first few rounds, it was clear that neither man was all that comfortable in their roles. Jones unable to react effectively to Hopkins aggression and Hopkins tentative in that aggression, it being out of character for him to have to force the action.

The fight had little flow and constituted mainly of each man feinting and flinching, eventually Hopkins attacking and mauling his way inside, and Jones holding on and stopping the action.

For both fighters it was a bit of a no win fight going in, though that wasn't exactly apparent, at least from Hopkins' perspective, before the fight. It was thought that he would be able to blast Roy out of there at some point, but largely overlooked was that Hopkins style is, at this late day in his career, almost entirely predicated on feeding off the other mans aggression.

Without the gas in the tank to foist a sustained attack on Jones ala Glen Johnson, and without the power to drive him to the ground ala Tarver or Greene, Hopkins was left to battle in spots and drive Jones to the ropes and bludgeon him by any means necessary. The means Hopkins deemed necessary turned out to be a fair share of cagey, shameless, dirty fighting.

Low blow? Check. Head clash? Check. Hooking to the hip? You got it.

Hopkins pulled out all the stops against the man who had balked at fighting him when Hopkins felt he had earned it, and this was his chance to deliver the interest that had accrued. One of the things that is unique about Hopkins is his ability, over the course of his career, to make those guerrilla tactics almost acceptable from him and the way he has pulled that off is brilliant in it's simplicity.

He is shameless in his willingness to gain an advantage in the ring. Like a predator in the wild, he knows when it's safe to go for the jugular (or in this case groin shot) and when he needs to play it cool, since eyes are on him. Now the genius of this is that the man he fouls will naturally look to retaliate, and here is where Hopkins' true intelligence shines brightest; he will make it known you fouled him. He doesn't care if he looks like a disingenuous punk, or a whiny sycophant. He will force a referee's hand and make them take action.

Jones' low blows and rabbit punching were largely a reaction to Hopkins very same tactics. We'll talk about the validity of those blows being damaging in a minute, but now, marvel at Hopkins ability to create advantages for himself in any situation.

In a sport that is often said to be "no game", Hopkins is a master at playing the game. And this brings us to Hopkins the puppeteer.

At his very core, Hopkins can be summed up in this. He is a master at controlling a situation.

Hopkins made Jones give him advantages. Hopkins made the referee act on his behalf. Hopkins took a rest when he needed it.

Hopkins was in control. To him that's as much a victory and part of the combat as every shot he hammered through Jones' guard as he bullied him to the ropes. 60/40 Roy? Who's calling the shots now?

You don't have to admire it, although it's admirable in it's way. You don't have to like it, although you can't help but smirk when you see the machinations Hopkins is willing to go to in order to run things.

But you should understand it. Hopkins, in life, is as much a survivor as he is a fighter; that mentality was born from his volatile youth and stint in prison, and he carries much of that into the ring.

I've no doubt Hopkins would eat squirming larva or pus filled beetles if he were lost in the wilderness. I've no doubt Hopkins would cut his arm off if it were caught beneath a boulder, out on some desolate mountaintop. He'll do what he has to do to make it through.

Woe be to the man who actually hurts Hopkins in a fight. If it ever happens, who knows to what lengths he is willing to go to stay in the fight.

Now in the case of this particular bout... Hopkins was not just playing the role of the advantageer, I suspect he was also equal parts showman, simply for the sake of showmanship.

There is precedent for an "inspired" performance in the Hopkins canon. Think back to his rematch with Antwon Echols. When things got rough and tumble, Echols decided to body slam Hopkins to the mat, Bernard crunching to the floor on his shoulder. Perhaps it did sting the "Executioner". His appendage was likely sore the next day. But Hopkins writhed on the floor in agony, gritted his teeth and demanded to keep fighting when the doctor asked him if he could continue.

The HBO team breathlessly opined that Hopkins, due to his core distrust of boxing and "The System" might believe he would lose by disqualification if he didn't continue. Over the next round or two, Hopkins right arm dangled at his side and he popped off a steady stream of jabs, ostensibly keeping Echols at bay one handed.

Then he started to use that "damaged" arm. He began to punish Echols with that hand and assert utter control on his opponent, eventually knocking him out, the arm injury an after thought. Was the arm ever so bad as Hopkins made out? Who knows... I never heard a follow up doctor report, but perhaps it was. My feeling however is that Hopkins, among the other traits we've chronicled breifly here, also is a canny myth-maker.

Beating Echols a tough Iowan contender is a solid enough accomplishment, in fact Hopkins had done it before. But by adding some drama... an injury... a compromised arm, all of a sudden the performance is something special. He didn't just beat a tough, die hard opponent, he beat him with one arm.

Without a great foil to pit himself against in the middleweight division, Hopkins did the best he could. He made drama where there was none. He took an ordinary defense over a good opponent and turned it into a noteworthy victory; a triumph over injury and a stacked deck.

In the Jones rematch, circumstances dictated that an ordinary victory wouldn't do. We've seen Jones beat. We've seen him bloodied. We've seen him knocked cold. All of those things are tough acts to follow, and simply beating Jones on points, which was probably always the most likely outcome when two chess players squared off wouldn't be entirely palatable to the masses ( or in this case diehards) who tuned in to watch the long awaited match.

At some point, Hopkins must have realized that Jones was there to survive. Knocking him out wasn't going to come easy, and the only way to make it interesting was to make something happen. He took a page from his own book; call it the Echols rule. If you want to impress, but circumstances make that difficult, fighting compromised, damaged from rabbit punches or low blows can turn an ordinary (or preordained) victory into something more.

This time though, Hopkins went overboard. He laid it on too thick and it was hard to believe his reactions were authentic.

Could he have been hurt by those blows? Sure. Was he hurt as badly as he let on? Probably not. To be hurt by those punches was to his advantage. Aside from creating the air of a wounded fighter fighting on, those time outs also gave the 45 year old a chance to get some wind, which he generally used to foist a solid attack on his wary opponent for the moments after his recovery period.

Hopkins said that he had been seeing spots during the fight and reports indicate that the he collapsed in the locker room after the fight. In Hopkins' own word he went to sit down and missed the chair. People overreacted. He was taken to the hospital, but was able to walk under his own power to the ambulance and was released on Sunday morning.

Evidence in his favor that the impairments were real? Maybe. But Hopkins is that savvy. I suppose if he looks awful in his next fight, we'll retouch on what happened here and take those blows more seriously.

But that brings us to one final thing... Hopkins next fight.

Jones, it sounds like, may finally have had enough. But Hopkins assuredly has not, based on his comments about moving up to face heavyweight belt holder David Haye. A dangerous, fast, young, powerful man who has proven himself the most capable heavyweight outside the Klitschko's.

Should Hopkins manage to land a fight with the "Hayemaker" and that is not a certainty due to a pending rematch Haye has with Nikolai Valuev as well as the possibility that one of the Klitschko's will step in to be the Goliath to Haye's David... but, should things fall a certain way, we might be looking at a former middleweight great staring down a man with all the physical advantages imaginable.

Hopkins has been there before and he's proven everyone wrong before. Rumors of his demise were much exaggerated after the Jermain Taylor fights, and then came the revelation of Tarver and Winky. He was finished after the Calzaghe bout, and then came the dismantling of Pavlik. Now his performance against Jones has everyone calling for his retirement once more.

At age forty five, a record setting string of defenses, a cadre of marquee wins and the Jones chip, finally off of his shoulder. It would be a good time to step out. Conventional wisdom would dictate it.

Let's face it... Hopkins has never been conventional. He has always done it "His Way" and maybe that includes shamelessness, selfishness and bluster. Maybe it includes saying outrages things, or taking audacious risks that no one is thinks you can conquer.

There are plenty of reasons to like Hopkins and there are plenty of reasons not too. When push comes to shove, Bernard doesn't care which side you fall on. He's going to do what he has to, to get what he wants. He wants a heavyweight belt, and at this point... why not?

Don't let him fool you. The Hopkins that fought Jones, is the Hopkins that fought Pavlik, is the Hopkins that fought Calzaghe, is the Hopkins that fought Tarver... he still hasn't dropped off.

The showman, the advantageer, the survivor, the fighter... the puppeteer... the show ain't over until he says it's over.

Bernard Hopkins.

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