By Rick McKenzie, 15Rounds.com
It took seventeen years for the rematch but when it finally occurred, Bernard Hopkins won a twelve round unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. in a strange at times Light Heavyweight bout at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
After walking out accompanied by his oown vocalist singing a boxing-themed version or I Did It My Way, Bernard Hopkins was in vintage regala donning his old school executioner mask perhaps in an attempt to intimidate Roy Jones Jr. Nevertheless, both fighters seemed ready to pounce but would not throw. Like two coiled snakes, the first round was a lot of fainting and posturing. The second, third, and fourth rounds were all similar to each other. Hopkins would spring in with a combo and tie up Roy at the end of his combo. Roy Jones simply was not active enough, not throwing many punches. Jones seemed to come alive in the fifth when he landed his best and perhaps only combo of the fight. Thus far, the fifth was Jones’ best round. Round six seemed to be an even round, both fighters had about the same level of effectivness but near the end of the round, Jones blantantly punched Hopkins in the back of the head, sending Hopkins to the canvas, sprawling in pain. The referee subsequently deducted a point away from Jones.
This fired up both fighters as they fought viciously for the last 10 seconds of the fight and even after the bell, causing chaos and members of Jones’ camp to run into the ring. Order was restored and the seventh round picked up where the last one ended. Towards the middle of the round, both fighters seemed to calm down and the chess match resumed. In round 8, Jones landed another illegal blow to the back of the head, sending Hopkins down for a short time, no point was deducted, but like before, this fired up Hopkins and he attacked Jones. In the ninth, both fighters seemed to tighten up and become hesistant to engage.
More controversy in the tenth round, Jones landed a blow which appeared to hit the belt line, but Hopkins dropped to the canvas wincing in pain. Hopkins sprung back up to his feet but was visibly tired as his output dropped noticeably. At the start of round 11, Jones finally wised up and gave
Hopkins a taste of his own medicine. Hopkins had been leading with his head the entire fight so Roy walked away and took a few seconds off due to the butt. The round, however, was mostly dominated by Hopkins
The 12th and final round, saw Hopkins charge out and land two body shorts before Jones threw any punches. The round may have went to Jones being that he lets his hands go, but the fight was fairly one sided. The judges had the fight 117-110, 117-110, 118-109 all to the winner Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins improves his hall of fame record to 51-5-1 with 32KO’s while Jones’ added his sixth loss to his stellar career to go along with 55 wins with 40 by KO. Jones’ better days are clearly behind him, but tonight he showed flashes of his old brilliance. Whats next for Hopkins, maybe more acting classes! But cagey veterans make cagey moves and Hopkinds used it to his advantage to ensure a victory.
In the co-main event, Jason Litzau met Texas native Rocky Juarez in the NABF Super Featherweight Title bout. Litzau showed tremendous footwork early as he danced around and picked off Rocky as he was coming in. As the fight progressed into the 6th and 7th rounds, Litzau seemed to tire which in turn made him stand and trade more, not a good idea. Juarez had a chance to land big shots and that he did. In the 7th round, Juarez came in with his head and clashed with Litzau face causing a huge gash. Between rounds, the Litzau camp decided they could not continue so the fight would be decided on the scorecards. One judge saw it 68-85 while the other two had it 67-66 all in favor of the champion Jason Litzau. He improves to 27-2 with 21KOS while Jaurez drops to 28-5-1.
Seeing his first action in nearly two years, Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora, from Contender fame, met a game Calvin Green in a super middleweight battle. The first two rounds were action packed with Mora bein cut on the side of his nose by a left hook in the 1st round. Both of the fighters seemed to tire quickly which resulted in a lot of in fighting. Mora showed a different side of his skills by moving and punching WITH POWER from angles. The tactic worked and as the punches accumulated the referee saw no reason to let the fight go on. So at 1:50 in round 7, the fight was stopped. This is only Sergio’s 6 win by KO/TKO in his 24 fights, but he improves his record to 22-1-1 with 6KO’s. Green drops to 21-5-1.
The vacant NABF Light Heavyweight Title was up for grabs when undefeated Ismayl Sillakh met Daniel Judah in a scheduled 10 rounder. However the bout didn’t make it that far. Sillakh dropped Judah with a vicious hook to the body followed by a right to the head. Judah rose, only to be knocked down again by a left hook to the head. The ref Vic Drakulich stopped the fight at :49 in the second round. Sillakh improves to 12-0 with 11KO’s while Judah dropped to 23-5-1.
The next bout was for the USNBC Super Lightweight title featuring Ray Narh versus Angel Hernandez. The much taller Narh pressed Hernandez and landed huge shots which resulted in three knockdowns in the second round. Hernandez failed to get up and the referee stopped the fight at 2:59 of the second round. Taking the title and improving his record to 24-1 with 21KO’s was Narh while Hernandez dropped to 14-5.
In the pro debut of what many people feel is the next “Golden Boy”, Frankie Gomes of East Los Angeles battled Clavonne Howard in a junior welterweight battle. Gomes impressed the crowd as he stalked Howard around the ring for three rounds until referee Joe Cortez stopped the fight at 2:45 of the 3rd round after Howard was caught with some big shots. Howard drops to 2-4.
In a battle between super featherweights, Yaundale Evans kept his record clean as he dropped Juan Baltierrez at 2:08 in the second round with a right hook to the temple. Evans is now 6-0 with 4KO’s while Baltierez drops to 2-2-2 with only 1KO.
The second bout was a super middleweight battle between Buddy McGirt Jr and John Mackey. Mackey proved to be no match as he was dropped in the second round from a perfect right hook that landed on his chin at 2:58. McGirt improves to 22-2-1 with 11KO’s while Mackey dropped to 11-5-2.
In the first bout of the evening, Craig McEwan retained his undefeated middleweight record as he improved to 18-0 with 10KO’s. McEwan controlled the action from opening bell against the over matched Kris Andrews from Canada. Landing big shot after big shot, referee Joe Cortez finally stopped the fight in the 8th and final round at the time of 2:11. Andrews dropped to 15-9-2 with 4KO’s.
Source: 15rounds.com
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