In what turned out to be an extremely odd bout, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins got his revenge against rival Roy Jones Jr. Despite being on the canvas three times from illegal blows, Hopkins outmuscled and outworked Jones over the course of 12 rounds. Although Jones was competitive, perhaps he spent too much time thinking about the bonus and headhunting for the knockout, allowing Hopkins to pick him apart from the outside and rough him up on the inside. Check out all the action in FightHype's round-by-round results, which we were not allowed to provide to you LIVE due to a threat we recieved from the event organizers.
PREFIGHT
Jones is making a long walk through the tunnel as he makes his way to the ring. He's got a blank look on his face. The arena appears to be extremely empty as the upper decks are completely blacked out. A relatively quiet crowd for a fight featuring two future Hall of Famers. Hopkins makes his way to the ring next wearing his trademark executioner mask. He's accompanied by a singer who's giving an interesting rendition of Frank Sinatra's My Way, with the lyrics changed to talk about Bernard's career. Everything about this fight just seems off. An intense staredown before the start of the fight.
ROUND 1
Hopkins comes out firing the jab. Left hook lands for Hopkins, who quickly jumps inside and tries to rough him up. Jones feints with a left hook and Hopkins smiles. Jab lands for Jones. Hopkins lands a right upstairs. Jones covers up and backs up to the ropes. Some roughhousing on the inside. Both men still seem tight. Jones stalks and lands a right to the body. Hopkins circles on the outside. Hopkins lands a jab to the body. Jones lands an uppercut. Both men still cautious. Jones lands a right. Hopkins lands a cheap shot to the back of the head in the clinch. Jones just misses him with a leaping left hook. Very close and tight round, but a round won by the more aggressive Hopkins.
Hopkins 10 Jones 9
ROUND 2
Jones pressing forward. Hopkins retreats. Jones lands a jab to the body. Hopkins answers with his own. Jab lands for Jones. Hopkins lands a right to the body and one upstairs. Jones pressing forward. Hopkins circles away. Right hand down the middle lands for Jones. He smiles. Jones misses with a wild left hook. Hopkins ties him up. Jones starting to showboat a little....getting loose in there. Hopkins misses with a 1-2. Left hand lands for Hopkins. Jones gets roughed up by Hopkins in the corner now. A lot of tit for tat going on in there right now. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 20 Jones 18
ROUND 3
Jones has a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads. Jones pressing forward. Hopkins lands a right. They wrestle on the inside. Hopkins just misses with an overhand right. Jones lands a jab. Hopkins lands a right to the body. Jones lands a short right hook on the inside. Right hand down the middle lands for Hopkins. A lot of posturing and feinting going on. Quick right hand lands for Jones right at the bell. Close round, but I gotta give it to Hopkins again.
Hopkins 30 Jones 27
ROUND 4
Jones lands a jab. Left hook upstairs and a right to the body lands for Hopkins. Another hard left hook to the body lands for Hopkins. Jones looks like he's not liking those body shots. Grazing left hook lands for Hopkins. Jones sneaks in a left. Hopkins starting to muscle Jones a little bit. Jones lands some quick shots on the inside...nothing on them though. Jones lands a left hook. Jab lands for Jones. Another quick left hook lands for Jones. Hopkins lands a right to the body. Another right to the body lands for Jones. Close, but I give this one to Jones.
Hopkins 39 Jones 37
ROUND 5
Hopkins lands a right. Jones presses forward. Hopkins lands a 1-2 to the body. Nice 1-2 lands for Jones. Hopkins ties him up and tries to rough him up. Another right hand lands for Jones. Hopkins digs a 1-2 to the body. HARD left hook to the body lands for Jones. Both men wrestling on the inside. Hopkins digs some right to the body. 1-2 lands for Jones, but not much on it. Hopkins backs him up to the corner. Jones works him with some uppercuts against the ropes. OOOWWWW...low blow lands for Hopkins. Wow...that was dirty. Hopkins continues to dig hard shots to the body. Jones anwers back. It's getting dirty in their between these two rivals. Round to Jones.
Hopkins 48 Jones 47
ROUND 6
Right to the body lands for Hopkins. Jones lands a jab. Left hand upstairs lands for Hopkins. Lead right lands for Hopkins. Jones digs a left to the body. Right to the body lands for Jones. Jones lands a left upstairs. Clean right hand down the middle lands for Hopkins. Jones fires back and lands a combo. Hopkins lands a bigger right though. Jones peppers him with some soft shots to the body. Hopkins rushes in with a quick 1-2. Jones ties him up, spins him and catches him with a right to the back of the head and Hopkins goes down to the canvas. He's grabbing the back of his head and kneeling on the ground. The doctor comes in. This doesn't look good. The crowd is booing. Hopkins gets back up to his feet. Hopkins really milking it. Tony Weeks deducts a point from Jones for hitting to the back of the head. Wow. LOL. This is comedy. Hopkins swarms him immediately and both men trade right at the bell. Hopkins still punching him after the bell. Security rushes into the ring. Wow. Crazy. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 58 Jones 55
ROUND 7
Referee Tony Weeks has a talk with both fighters before the round starts. Wow. Both men doing a lot of feinting. Jones walking him down. Jab lands for Jones. Another. Bad blood is boiling in both fighters right now. Hopkins rushes in and lands a 1-2. Jones lands some uppercuts on the inside. Hopkins lands a right. Hopkins lands a dirty shot during a break. Double jab lands for Jones. BIG overhand right lands for Hopkins. Jones just misses with a right of his own. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 68 Jones 64
ROUND 8
Jones lands a quick right, but he eats a left hook from Hopkins. Some boos from the crowd due to the lack of action. Both men still being cautious. Hopkins digs a right to the body. Left and a right lands for Hopkins. Jones lands some uppercuts against the ropes. Jones lands a jab. Hopkins presses him to the ropes. Both men hit each other to the back of the head. Again Hopkins goes down and milks it. Again, the doctor comes in. Hopkins is up. Both fighters are warned. Jab lands for Jones. Hopkins digs a right to the body and a right upstairs. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 78 Jones 73
ROUND 9
Hopkins backs Jones up to the ropes and lands a right. WOOOOOO...HARD right hand lands for Jones. Best punch of the night from either man. Hopkins sneaks in a left. Jones pressing forward. Hopkins lands another left. Jones lands a right. Hopkins rushes in with his head down. Another right from Jones just grazes Hopkins. Another right hand lands for Jones. Hopkins anwers with one of his own. Hopkins circles away. Good round for Jones.
Hopkins 87 Jones 83
ROUND 10
Hopkins digs a 1-2 to the body. Hopkins muscles him to the ropes and works the body again. Jones lands a left upstairs and a left hand a little low...borderline on the belt line. Hopkins crumples to the canvas and milks it again. The crowd boos. Referee Tony Weeks calls it an accidental low blow. Hopkins takes his time getting up...this is shades of Bernard's fight with Calzaghe. Both men trade shots to the body. Nice left hook to the body lands for Jones. Hopkins works his body against the ropes. Jones lands about five uppercuts on the inside. Lead right lands for Jones. Hopkins tries to muscle him on the inside. Jones walks him down. Hard right hand to the body lands for Hopkins. 1-2 lands for Hopkins. Both men posture and pose in front of each other at the end of the round. Ugly round to score, but I give it to Hopkins.
Hopkins 97 Jones 92
ROUND 11
Hopkins lands a right and backs Jones up to the ropes. Hopkins headbutts him and Jones is cut. The doctor comes in to take a look. The action resumes. They trade jabs. Left hand lands for Hopkins. Jones presses forward. Hopkins retreats. The crowd boos. Right hand lands for Jones. Another right lands for Jones. Hopkins digs a left to the body. Jones catches him with his own left. 1-2 lands for Hopkins. Not much action from either man. The crowd boos again. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 107 Jones 101
ROUND 12
Hopkins lands a hard right to the body. Both men wrestle on the inside. Jones lands a 1-2. Left hook lands for Jones. Hopkins lands a 1-2. The crowd is booing some more. Hopkins digs some shots to the body on the inside. Jones covers up. Hopkins lands a right. Jones answers with a quick right. Hopkins retreats. Both men fire off some shots at the bell. The crowd rains down the boos. Round to Hopkins.
Hopkins 117 Jones 110
Official scorecards 117-110, 117-110, 118-109
THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION...BERNARD HOPKINS
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfortunately, FightHype.com was unable to provide live round-by-round results due to a last minute threat we recieved from organizers of the event. Evidently, there was such a concern about low pay-per-view sales that some websites were told that if they did provide live coverage of the event, they risked receiving future credentials to other events. Needless to say, we obliged, but I wonder just how many other websites were treated in this same manner. Was this simply a matter of FightHype.com being discriminated against or were all websites treated like this across the board? We know AOL Fanhouse, which should have a larger audience than us considering that they're affiliated with AOL, was still allowed to provide live round-by-round coverage of the event, as AOL correspondent Lem Satterfield did his typical round-by-round coverage. I wonder if Mr. Satterfield recieved the same type of threatment as us. Judging from the sparse crowd and lack of interest from the mainstream media, if they continue to put on events like this, they'll likely be begging more websites for coverage instead of threatening to revoke their credentials. Hopefully all parties involved with this event broke even because it certainly didn't live up to the limited expectations.]
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]