BERNARD HOPKINS VS. ROY JONES JR.: WHAT REALY WENT DOWN?

Bernard Hopkins W 12 Roy Jones Jr. SCORES: 118-109, 117-110, 117-110

If you didn't see the very odd spectacle that was Saturday night then the news of a unanimous decision victory for seemed normal. I have been watching boxing for many years and this fight was one of the most ridiculous I have ever seen. I have seen some odd occurrences and this one ranks up there with the best of them. Oliver McCall having a nervous breakdown in the ring against Lennox Lewis, Fan-Man, and Bowe VS. Golota. Most boxing writers are saying it can be one of 2 things, Hopkins got old, or it was just a plane foul fest. I am going to write a few of my own ideas on what really happened between these 2 legends Saturday night. I felt robbed after this fight, not because it was a bad fight but because it just didn't seem right. People are going to say I'm crazy and I don't know what I'm talking about but I don't care. I have been watching, and been around boxing since I was a kid, and I know what I saw. I have never attacked Bernard Hopkins or shed him in a negative light so you can't say I'm trashing him. I love that sport of boxing and have defended it my whole life, but something doesn't feel right. Read my article, watch the fight again and make your own conclusion this is just my observation and opinion.

1. Roy Jones Jr. really got into B-Hop's head and the fight got emotional. It is hard to believe this one because B-Hop has been through everything as a pro. He has dealt with trash talk many times before and done fine, even excelled. He has also dealt with people he doesn't like, maybe not as much as Roy. Although he didn't seem himself at all in that fight, other then the veteran dirty tactics.

2. Hopkins really got hurt from the rabbit punch to the back of the head. I don't think so because it looked like he barely got hit. He was clearly acting when he got hit, and he never acts he gets revenge. He was also acting when he got hit low, RJ got hit harder, and lower and didn't cry. He was carrying on after the fight like he was hurt from the rabbit punches also. I know one shot can effect a whole fight but not in this case.

3. In boxing you can get old in in 1 night in the ring, and Hopkins did. I don't think so he still looked like he had good reflexes. He looked a little tired but not enough for him to fight like that. He looked good in spots and it just seemed he wasn't trying.He is also always in shape, and live a healthy lifestyle. So you can't say he was out of shape. He just went 12 rounds with a much younger man 12 months ago. He been proving people wrong for years, and we will only know this answer after his next fight.

4. (My idea) He carried Roy Jones Jr. for 12 rounds in order to entice David Haye into a fight, or got some sort of illegal pay day for not knocking Jones out. If he went out and destroyed Jones he would have been criticized for it, and that could have scared Haye. We know how skittish Haye gets when people want to fight him. He backed out of 2 Klitschko fights citing an injury and a bad contract, when we know it was fear. He let Roy off the hook so many times in that fight it wasn't funny. He backed off when he had Roy on the ropes when he could have hurt him. He was reacting to most of Roy's faints when he never bites on faints from almost anyone. The whole thing seemed fake from Hopkins post fight with Ornelas when he was trying to sell the fight. To the post fight when he had his corner man put ice on the back of his head. Hopkins is a notorious slow starter and he started fast against Roy. When he does damage to a fighter early in a fight it takes its toll, not with Roy. He didn't really inflict damage on Roy, if he would have he would have got the 60-40 split. He wasn't very confident after the fight like he has been in every fight he has ever fought including his losses. When the referee told him he got a point he got up almost immediately. When the second rabbit punch foul occurred and the ref told him he wasn't taking a point he magically got better. Hopkins has been ducking Chad Dawson for a while now. His performance in this fight gives his the excuse to loose to him, or even retire into oblivion. I felt like Nick Nolte when he was watching the video tape of one of his star players shaving points in Blue Chips. If he gets his fight with Haye and he beats him we will all know the Jones fight was a farce. On the other hand if he doesn't get that fight. If he has to fight Chad Dawson and he gets beat bad people will site the Jones fight as the night he got old. B-Hop looking bad against Jones only works in his favor. I thought he hated Jones and if he did why wouldn't he just have punished him. He would have went for the KO if he really hated Jones. I just don't believe Danny Green can KO Jones and B-Hop can't, it just doesn't add up.He got the win but at what price, if this is true he hurts the sport of boxing that has given him a second chance at life.