Roy Jones is one of the greatest fighters i ever seen......Prime RJ is a mismatched to almost anybody.

Roy beat him with a bad right hand. A Hall of Famer beating another Hall of Famer with one hand yet y'all forgot.

can't believe this fight was the undercard to Riddick Bowe. Bowe could have been a legend. But he got lazy, avoided Lennox Lewis and didn't fight Tyson.

Bernard is so mentally tough goes to prison, loses his first pro fight, loses his first title shot, gets robbed in second shot at title, keeps determined and becomes a great fighter, 20 title defenses

this roy jones at this weight class was unbeatable in any era. period.

Bernard didn’t take enough chances in this fight, he was too hesitant in the center of the ring because of jones speed, easier for me to say behind a keyboard I guess

Damn, look how young Lampley looks - while Merchant looked hella old even back then. 😆

Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant dont every have any real constructive criticism, they just complain about shit because its not what they wanna see.

My favorite boxing match. tactical as hell. it wasn't easy for Roy at all but he stayed disciplined throughout the fight

Larry Merchant is the world's first Troll.

Roy Jones Jr made Bernard Hopkins better after this fight

Fascinating! This fight is a lot better than the commentators see. Roy Jones looks impressed by the end, as if he learned more than he had ever before but from one fight! Hopkins troubles him, makes the distance look fairly easy and is slippery enough to make it a close to even match. It will be a thrill to watch part II next! Hopkins is one of the few fighters to make Jones work and think outside his comfort zone- and in his prime.

2 legends in their prime. Amazing

Do you guys think this is boring? I don't. I love tactical boxing

During the rounds, Hopkins realise that the only good strategy he can implement was to get inside; in the short distance, because with a man with that speed and accuracy you cannot fight in the long distance. Big heart BH

Too bad Merchant didn't fall asleep so he'd keep his mouth shut.

Plain & simple.........THEY CAUGHT ROY WHEN HE GOT OLD & SLOW

This fight is close and very tactical especially without volume.

Bernard Hopkins at this time is a universal soldier, a bummer , brawler and ruffian .. listen to those commentators..Roy Jones legacy will lives beyond this generation.

Hopkins only retiring last year and Roy Jones still going today. Shame to see great champions keep going past there best.

a very close chess match... Larry merchant never learned a thing in all his years in boxing!!!

What awful, awful commentary.

This was one chess match of a boxing match...2 high level boxers.

Hopkins has some cold ass costumes when he enters the ring. One second its a medieval executioner and then 6 months later it's an alien :-)

Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins have some of the biggest Ring IQs in boxing history. I always enjoy a good slugfest, but there’s something beautiful about tactical boxing.

HBO's ability to tell stories is underated. I hope one of these streaming networks finds a way to emulate the way HBO did it.

Larry Merchant always hated the flashy black boxer with the exception of sugar ray

Jones is the only middleweight in history who could’ve beaten a PRIME Hopkins this easily (if at all). A couple of other middleweights like Hagler or James Toney might’ve beaten Hopkins in his prime, but they would’ve been hard, tough fights. Jones handled the great Hopkins like a sparring partner. Jones (at his best) was probably the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time.

Would have loved to see this fight in the early 2000's.

Roy Jones Jr.’s voice still sounds the same to this day.

This was a great chess match

Roy jones jr vs Sugar Ray Robinson wouldve been the greatest fight series ever

When boxing was worth watching

Technical boxing at it's best. Heard the Jones had a bad right hand in this fight though.

This might be the most talent inside of one ring that I’ve ever seen

Thanks for the upload.

Can't stand friggin Larry Merchant...

Didn't think this was boring. I love a tactical fight.

Who had to come here after Rogan

Fight starts at 8:26

B-Hop made Roy WORK for this victory. This is the only fight i've seen of prime Roy Jones where he wasn't playing with his food. He knew he couldn't get away with a lot of his usual tactics against Hopkins. This was a close and hard fought fight, which really speaks to both guys' greatness.

Can’t stand commentators who are clearly biased.

Top 10 greatest bout I have ever seen.

prime vs prime. ... best vs best legend vs legend HOF vs HOF ..fans are lucky. ...but jones beat anyone in his prime

Coming back to watch this after their interview on the bus on the way to the Hof.

Roy jones jr with division one all American wrestling skills kills every one who's ever lived

😭😭😭 The Best Vs the Best!!! I miss this shit!!! That’s why Mikey is great!! At least he had the heart to attempt something this great!!!

Mental Warfare. Guarantee you wouldn't be bored if you've stepped into the ring before.

These guys were in insane shape doing this for 12 rounds and they both looked fine afterwards god damn

"He was in a 24 hour dry out period to make weight" dam no wonder he moved up to super middle weight real quick in his career. Meanwhile Hopkins stayed as middleweight king for a long as time.

So funny to reflect that this fight is on the under card! And to see so much attention given to the main event, given how seminal this fight has become

Smoger is my favorite referee of all time. He was able to let fighters be physical but still keep the fight flowing without constantly involving himself..

Class boxing in this fight, two of the best.

THIS IS A GREAT FIGHT

Wait!?! What?!? this wasn't the main event?

Hopkins one of my favorites defiantly brought it to Jones in this fight.

These two didn’t like each other at all, but they respected each other as fighters greatly.🍿🍫🥤

Roy was supremely talented...always thought he was boxing’s equivalent of Ronaldo Fenomeno

Just love the way Roy fights

Hopkins didn’t lose again for 11-12 years.

Awesome fight

Peeps who think this fight wasn’t exciting aren’t getting it. Two lively young hungry legends going at it. Jones gets the nod in reaction time/reflex and agility but still highly impressed by Hopkins. He fought very well. Jones like the Bruce Lee of boxing the way he fought back then. Instincts off the charts. Agility with power unpredictable shots.Hopkins fought him in deep waters and had some excellent rushes where he banged away hi and lo able to back him to ropes with very good footwork determination. Both super talented but also super tough. Both took heavy shots and answered right back or just absorbed it like they didn’t feel anything. Gots to do lots of sparring rounds to get your body conditioned for that. People underestimate the super talented boxer’s toughness. Hopkins laid it on him in 8th, clipped him numerous times clean.Lederman a fool. 9 to 0 jones after 9 rounds, pfff whatever

"jones is no ray leonard" says larry merchant. most would say he surpassed him...

The best part of a Hopkins’ fight is his interview

Jim is so charismatic

Somebody get this man a spit bucket

The bias of the commentators will say opposite to what you're watching unfold, baffling.

Good Fight!!

Great fight. Two bonafide greats. Beautiful fight.

“The right was hurt, beat em with the left”

Imo, these were the two of the top-5 greatest tacticians ever. You can easily guess the other three.

I was born in Philly but I ain't no fighter..this guy got some serious guts.

Watching here due to Corona virus, shelter in order. 2020

Hopkins did good jones did better

Being a kid watching roy jones this fight took me back he was like ali too me a real special fighter just talented quick and accurate i remember mimcking his moves fighting as a kid ❤

roy Jones jr looked like he didn't take bernard hopkins seriously he thought he would be a average fighter until they both got old he knew he was one of the best

It surprised me that this fight was actually even. If we didn’t know who either fighter was and didn’t listen to the announcers, you would realize every round was even. The announcers just had no idea how good Hopkins was. They thought he was just a solid guy. I wish they had fought again at middleweight, since neither guy was actually at their peak here.

Larry Merchant talking crap for 40 years

32:26 This is like watching a congressman argue on C-SPAN😂😂😂😂😂

Shows how great Roy was.... one handed outclassed a great fighter wow. The Goat

Watching it again, Bernard was very green with his footwork at this stage, and Roy had a substantially longer amateur pedigree

This was a great chess match Two chess players that are boxing strategically If you know boxing this was a great boxing match to watch you can learn allot from watching this fight it’s not always about knockouts it’s about the sweet science hit and not get hit paying attention to his moves or what he going to do anticipating it so you can attack or set up with the Jab to get out the way.

Beautiful boxing

Bruce Lee also has a very unorthodox style of fighting, and it’s not the one you see in the movies. When you’re on an elite level of quickness, like Bruce Lee & Roy Jones, you can afford to fight different than everyone else.

Roy was running on fumes

What a night of boxing this was !

I respect Roy cuz he fractured his metacarpal in the 3 or 4 rd. I'm sure that bothered him but he never made an excuse. To this day he's never talked about it. Outside sources spilled the beans. Hopkins is a tough SOB!!!!

Hopkins fought a way better fight than James toney at least

theirs a little trick hopkins had during his career too see if his opponent had trained and during weigh ins , confrences etc he would grab your shoulders , tap your stomach , grab your arms etc too see if youve been training he showed his same trick to ward and even ward used it at times lol , very smart little trick not many would even think of doing.

Good quality video, but why the heck does it feel like the fight’s in fast forward? Lol

Damn Steve Smoger been reffing for a long time. Looks slim as fuck here.

what year was this

31:00 best coaching advice to an extremely blessed boxer “SPEEEED SPEEEED! Use that speed!”

23:55 low key thought that was Canelo for a second. wtf.

Roy was just too good for Bernard!!

You can tell that Jones having to be called the silver medalist bothered him a lot.

Roy Jones controlled this fight, even up against the ropes. Larry Merchant knows nothing about boxing.

Gotta love the 60 yr old commentators that couldn't whip their selves out of a wet paper bag, yet they have the answers for what these pros should do. 😂

These commentators are pretty funny.....always picking on Roy's style.

Can't believe how BHop made the "olympian " RJJ look bad . Bernard started in boxing with nothing, fought RJJ in his absolute prime and made him look terrible .