Jones won their initial encounter in 1993 very clearly; both him and Hopkins were fighting for their first title. Hopkins has since wanted to avenge what he believes to be the only clear cut loss in his career, a chance he will be able to finally have after two unsuccessful attempts to get Jones in the ring.

After Hopkins dominated Felix Trinidad in 2001, talks began but the fight was killed over a purse split and apparently Jones wanted the fight at light heavyweight while Hopkins wanted a catch weight. In 2006, Hopkins announced he'd move up in weight to challenge the winner of the third Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones rubber match, Tarver would win and effectively kill a fight with Hopkins for Jones.

Since 2006, both fighters have only lost once to a common opponent, Joe Calzaghe, and have a few impressive wins under their names. Hopkins has beaten Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright and Kelly Pavlik over the past three years while Jones has notched dominating wins over long faded Felix Trinidad and stopping Jeff Lacy last July. Jones must win a cruiserweight fight with Danny Green in Australia for this fight to happen in presumably February, something I believe he should do quite easily.

Apparently the contract is a 50-50 split yet if there is a stoppage, it goes 60-40 to the winner. Boxing seems to be taking a UFC approach to the fight giving the fighter who scores a knockout the more money. The weight is up in the air, but it will probably be more towards cruiserweight than light heavyweight.

The fight itself is going to be a mega event, I'm sure it will get the full HBO treatment with a 24/7 series and plenty of hype. Despite their ages, (Jones is 41, Hopkins turns 45 in January) both fighters have enough bad blood between them to draw out a good fight. It really is a shame that it took them so long to make this fight happen, if anybody can remember, Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns had a rematch almost nine years after their first fight. Heck, Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech had their third fight last year, like this one 16 years after their last bout. At least because the fight is happening now, it may just be more interesting.

No offense to Hopkins, who is one of the greatest fighters of this or any era, but to think Hopkins would have stood a chance against Jones in 2001 is crazy. There was too much speed and power, it would have been a blowout Jones win. Now that both fighters are seasoned, it levels the playing field out that much more.

I'm sure that Hopkins is going to be the odds on favorite to win this fight because so much publicity has surrounded Jones' losses compared to the victories of Hopkins, but if you had to ask me, Jones will win this fight although not as decisive as he would have in the past. Hopkins has always shown issues with fighters that have good hand speed and match him in size, Jones is going to be the faster man in the ring have had a tune up fight and Hopkins will not have fought for over a year.

The storylines that will follow this fight will be excellent. Despite their ages, the boxing fans and general public alike will make this a super fight, and it seems that the final chapter for both Hopkins and Jones is about to be written. Almost fittingly, their careers might just very well end as it truly began, against each other.

 9-29-2009