By Odeisel

(New York, NY 2/9/2010)-The Hard Rock Café was ground zero for the preliminary festivities concerning the 17 years in the making rematch between legends Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins. The event, entitled “The Debate” featured a moderator and a referee asking both combatants six rounds of questions.

Jones, for his part repeatedly referred to Hopkins as “Big Head” and drew an analogy between “The Executioner” and a pair of pants, comparing his previous victory to the coming fight as putting back on a new pair of pants that still fit. To this, Hopkins responded that the pair of pants were “out of style bell bottoms” with stripes that no longer carry any relevance. At the heart of Jones Jr.’s argument was precedent: he beat Hopkins once, and he can do it again. Hopkins’ main retort: The Bernard you beat was a different fighter.

While the two traded barbs back and forth awkwardly, what was plainly evident was their inherent dislike for each other. What else was apparent was their begrudging respect for each other’s legacy as a Hall of Fame fighter.

Their initial bout was 17 years ago, before both fighters had cemented their brilliant careers. Roy Jones managed a unanimous decision despite fighting with a bad hand for the bulk of the fight.  Following that loss, the second blemish on his record at the time, Hopkins wouldn’t take another loss for over 12 years, owning the middleweight division including stunning wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. While he has seemingly seasoned like wine with age, this one loss has burned in his memory for almost two decades. Jones Jr. went on to decimate the light heavyweight division for the remainder of the decade and in 2003 became the first ex middle weight in over a century to win the heavyweight championship with his 12 round dismantling of John Ruiz.

While neither is the sublime talent they once were, it would seem that Hopkins is closer to his glory days than Jones, who has suffered some crushing defeats in between occasional triumphs in recent history. However styles make fights and it would seem easier for him to handle someone from his era than the newer faster models.  In any event genuine animus always allows for a more verile fight and that is here in spades.  Below are a few clips from the press conference.

The fight, entitled “The Rivalry” will be held live at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. In addition it will be available on pay-per-view and on closed circuit TV at select movie theatres.

For all videos from the press conference, peep our YouTube page.

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