Why do Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins keep fighting?

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Straightcross

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Has it ever happened before where a fighter keeps on fighting way past his prime even though he and his next generation are financially secure? Most do it because they need the money but both Jones and Hopkins handled their money well throughout their career.

For Jones it's probably because boxing is his life and the only thing he knows since his dad literally forced him into becoming a boxer since he was a baby but Hopkins had a life before boxing
 
Probably money I'm guessing, that or the love of the game.
 
I'm pretty sure Roy doesn't have much money and even though Bhop is like 70 he is still good enough to beat some decent fighters.
 
Hopkins is doing a hell of a lot better than Roy Jones at this point.

While guys like Tavoris Cloud and Beibut Shumenov aren't exactly world class champions they did have respectable titles and were solid end of career wins for Hopkins


Also if he retired at a proper age, I might've missed him embarrassing the shit out of Jean Pascal and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Meanwhile Jones is floating around the shittiest venues fighting for the German Version of the WBU (????) Cruiserweight title and losing to fucking Enzo Maccarinelli
 
Duran fought in 5 Decades and looking to make it 6 with a fight this yr.
 
Hopkins hasn't really taken a real beating other than the Kovalev fight and still probably beats 95% of fighters between 168-75. Its amazing how long a technician can fight if you can stay in shape and never really get hit hard.

Roy needs to stop.
 
Hopkins at the age of 49 is still the best win on a top 5 p4p fighter's resume (which speaks to the relative weakness of the LHW division, but that's a whole other conversation). He's been an elite fighter since about 1993 and still sort of continues to be (although he has stated his next fight is a retirement fight). Roy isn't a crazy disciplinarian and penny pincher like Hopkins. He has alleged money problems, and I don't think he's ever been able to reconcile getting KO'd by mediocrities with his complete dominance during his prime.
 
JayElectra said:
Hopkins at the age of 49 is still the best win on a top 5 p4p fighter's resume (which speaks to the relative weakness of the LHW division, but that's a whole other conversation). He's been an elite fighter since about 1993 and still sort of continues to be (although he has stated his next fight is a retirement fight). Roy isn't a crazy disciplinarian and penny pincher like Hopkins. He has alleged money problems, and I don't think he's ever been able to reconcile getting KO'd by mediocrities with his complete dominance during his prime.
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I'm not sure his investment in bodyheadbangerz made him the money he thought it would.
 
Jones is skint and BHop is obsessed, he's pushing it now though, the paint began to chip against Dawson and started to peel vs Kovalev. When he beat Pascal was the perfect time to hang 'em up imo but this rarely happens.
 
there are other fighters who should just hang 'em up. Why are Shane, Toney and JLC still fighting?
 
Shane lost a ton of money in his divorce, Toney lost a lot of money in Burger King.
 
Straightcross said:
but Hopkins had a life before boxing
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He sure did.

"Hopkins turned to crime early in his life. By the age of thirteen he was mugging people and had been stabbed three times. At seventeen, Hopkins was sentenced to 18 years in prison for nine felonies. While in prison he witnessed the murder of another inmate in an argument over a pack of cigarettes, but also discovered his passion for boxing. After serving almost five years, Hopkins was released from prison in 1988."
 
I don't think there's any other type of sports like combat sports where guys find it impossible to give up. Would love to know the percentage of boxers that reneg on a retirement, seems like more than half sometimes.
 
This fantastic article about Roy Jones explains things pretty well, and it's sad. Basically Roy is very hard on himself and feels like if he just gets one more belt it will make everything better. He was raised by a highly abusive man who nothing was ever good enough for, and roy has just taken his place.

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/roy-jones-jr-s-br-long-goodbye/
 
TankAbbott4Eva said:
I don't think there's any other type of sports like combat sports where guys find it impossible to give up. Would love to know the percentage of boxers that reneg on a retirement, seems like more than half sometimes.
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I think the big difference is that in other sports you are generally forced to give it up. If you lose your speed or accuracy or stamina for any given sport you can be replaced by hundreds of other people who are waiting in line. There is an almost constant level of opposition too which if you fall behind you are a liability. With fight sports it's just you in that ring and you can control how good your opponents are. If you were a big star fighting the best in the world you can still fight when you are really diminished as long as you fight guys who aren't that good. You don't have to be a great fighter to be in great fights. Look at the Gatti/Ward trilogy. Look at the Ortiz/Berto match this weekend. Even if you are a highlight reel knockout waiting to happen that still has a lot of value in fighting. Roy Jones just crushed a fan for shits sake.
 
The Can Opener said:
I think the big difference is that in other sports you are generally forced to give it up. If you lose your speed or accuracy or stamina for any given sport you can be replaced by hundreds of other people who are waiting in line. There is an almost constant level of opposition too which if you fall behind you are a liability. With fight sports it's just you in that ring and you can control how good your opponents are. If you were a big star fighting the best in the world you can still fight when you are really diminished as long as you fight guys who aren't that good. You don't have to be a great fighter to be in great fights. Look at the Gatti/Ward trilogy. Look at the Ortiz/Berto match this weekend. Even if you are a highlight reel knockout waiting to happen that still has a lot of value in fighting. Roy Jones just crushed a fan for shits sake.
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Both should be retired who sanctions these bouts or give them licences ( i know who but you get my drift) ?
 
Straightcross said:
Has it ever happened before where a fighter keeps on fighting way past his prime even though he and his next generation are financially secure? Most do it because they need the money but both Jones and Hopkins handled their money well throughout their career.

For Jones it's probably because boxing is his life and the only thing he knows since his dad literally forced him into becoming a boxer since he was a baby but Hopkins had a life before boxing
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I don't know what Ali's financial situation was like when he retired, but he SHOULD have been set for life. For whatever reason, he chose to stay in the ring into the early 80's, and... well, we all know how it worked out for him.
 
Roy is a massive worry. He is going to need 24 hr care if he keeps getting smashed up like he is. At least B-Hop gets out of his fights pretty much unscathed, even against the likes of Kovalev
 
WadCheber said:
I don't know what Ali's financial situation was like when he retired, but he SHOULD have been set for life. For whatever reason, he chose to stay in the ring into the early 80's, and... well, we all know how it worked out for him.
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According to the Hauser biography Ali gave away lots of money to lots of people.
 
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