BERNARD HOPKINS AND ROY JONES JR. CALL TRANSCRIPT

Posted on | March 26, 2010 | 1 Comment

Kelly Swanson

We are ten days away from a great, excellent rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. This week we had two super media days with both fighters. I’m sure you saw some of the stories and photographs that were highlighted by those media days. What we’re going to do today is we’ll first start with Roy Jones and his team followed by Bernard Hopkins and his team. So at this time we are joined on the line by John Wirt, who is CEO of Square Ring Promotions, and also McGee Wright, who is the manager of Roy Jones and Roy Jones, Jr. himself.

John Wirt

Thanks, Kelly. Thanks, everybody for calling in. We have a great fight lined up on April 3rd at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It features two of the greatest icons of our sport, of our generation, Roy Jones, Jr and Bernard Hopkins. It’s the long 17 years in the making rematch. We’re looking for some real big fireworks on April 3rd.

It’s going to be live on Pay-per-view and it’s sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T and Southwest Airlines. The tickets are selling fast and are priced at $750, $500, $300, $200 and $100. They can be purchased at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations or by going to www.ticketmaster.com or www.mandalay.com. The pay-per-view telecast is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, 6 p.m. Pacific. The suggested retail price is $49.95. Something interesting here that we’re doing is that the main event will begin immediately following the college basketball semi-finals.

We have a great undercard that we’ve lined up as part of the Pay-per-view telecast. Some of the fights are Jason Litzau versus Rocky Juarez, Ismayl Sillakh versus Daniel Judah. And we have the return of former world champion Sergio Mora against Calvin Green. We’ll be putting out a press release immediately following the call with all the details of the undercard. And so right now, I’d like to turn it over to McGee Wright, the manager of Roy Jones, who will say a few words and introduce Roy.

McGee Wright

Thank you, John. I’m glad to have you guys on today and everybody participating. The biggest thing that I could say about the whole thing, the whole fight is, this is an event that boxing enthusiasts and fans to me are excited to see it because this is going to be one fight that you’re going to see two master technicians as good as they get and you’re going to see every and cat and mouse game. You’re going to see speed. You’re going to see power; it’s going to be slick, evasive. You’re going to see stuff that these kids can’t do now. Just like they keep saying it’s a throw-back fight, it’s a throw-back fight. This is an interesting fight because number one, they are rivals and they hate each other, but they have the tools and the mechanics to put on a show like no other. Now I’m going to turn it over to Roy Jones, Jr.

Roy Jones, Jr.

Good afternoon, everybody. I’m glad you all could make it here. I don’t have a whole lot to say and a whole lot to do. So if you have questions that you want to ask, I’ll do my best to answer your questions. Other than that, I’ll see you April 3rd.

Question (Q):

Roy, why do you think people are going to lay down their hard earned money to watch you guys fight 17 years after the first one?

R. Jones, Jr.

Because we’ve laid down our hard earned lives to put on two stellar careers over that 17 year period. So why not lay down your hard earned money to watch two guys who put their hard earned lives on the line to entertain you people for 17, 18 years.

So you think people-

R. Jones, Jr.

They understand who we are. They know who we are. They’ve watch us for years. We’ve entertained them for years, so why not give back to us and let us go at it one more time for the ages? They know one thing for sure; they’re going to get what they pay for.

So you’re definitely coming to fight. Do you feel like at this point you’re tarnishing your reputation? You obviously have a reputation as being a great fighter. But you’re coming off of a first round knock-out. Do you feel like you’re tarnishing your reputation by continuing to fight at your age right now?

R. Jones, Jr.

First of all, the knock-out was not really a knock-out. It got stopped when he got hit at the back of his head with a punch and I got up and the referee stopped the fight premature. That’s not considered a knock-out to me. Although on paper that’s a knock-out, true, but to me that’s not a true knock-out, so I’m not concerned about that. Second of all, like I said, right now ain’t nobody can still do as good as I can, so why should I not be doing it?

This is what I want to ask you. Roy Jones Jr. aka, the Terminator, what are your plans to execute the Executioner on April 3rd in Las Vegas, Nevada.

R. Jones, Jr.:

I’ll simply out-execute him. He is the Executioner. He is one slick guy. He’s smart, but I was smarter and slicker than him 17 years ago and I’m still smarter and slicker than him now.

And also due to the fact it took you guys 17 years to put this fight together, what most do you plan to achieve if you should prevail on April 3rd?

R. Jones, Jr.

I want to show him that he still can’t beat me. He just has something to say, he hates me now because he wasn’t better than me then. He can keep on hating me for another 17 years.

It seems to me that just in general that as athletes are getting older, guys are able to compete in their mid and late 30s and into their 40s. What’s your feeling about that? I’m sure you’ve thought about that. Why do you think that’s the case?

R. Jones, Jr.

I guess some guys are probably taking better care of themselves throughout their careers because like you said back in the day, a 40-year-old quarterback would be unheard of. Now a 40-year-old champion is definitely heard of. George Foreman did it. Why can’t we? And the other thing is, though, that the skill level in boxing is not the same as it used to be. Back when I was coming up, guys were so skillful; a guy 40 wouldn’t be able to stay in the ring with a young guy with less skill for less quick and fresh as he was. Nowadays these guys are fresh, but not that skillful. A perfect example is Jermaine Taylor. He’s always been able to hold his own and like Jeff Lacy. I was still able to beat him and he’s 32 years old. So it shows you the skill level is not the same in these young guys as it used to be.

So the older guys are able to compete on a high level longer because the pool of talent just isn’t there.

R. Jones, Jr.

Exactly, look at the quarterback situation now in the NFL. How many teams out there that have pretty much have young guys, but you only really have Brett Favre who’s not young guy, because of the skill level. The skill level is just not the same nowadays. They’re spending more time doing other things, playing games, playing video games and doing things that are not really enhancing our skills the way we used to when we came up. When we came up, we were younger, we spent more time doing things that enhanced our skills. Nowadays there’s so much to do that you don’t get that much time to work on your skills. There are some good guys coming up, but the reason for lack of talent because not many of them out there like there used to be. Back when I was young, an amateur, I know a guy last time that won a medal for us, he only got a bronze medal, was a guy from Alabama, which was a heavyweight. When I was coming up in boxing, you wasn’t going to make no Olympics unless your name was George Forman in the one year of boxing, this kid only had been boxing for a year. You couldn’t even go into the national Golden Glove if you had only been boxing but a year unless your name was George Foreman. I can’t think of many people in my time that came up and won a national tournament of any kind if they’d only been boxing a year. It just didn’t happen. But the talent now is not the same, I think, so things like that do happen.

Roy, I wanted to get your recollections, if you could, think back 17 years ago and just give me your perspective on the way that the first fight went. I’ve seen it and you won the fight obviously handily. I think you had an injured hand in there. Could you just go in and tell me your remembrance of that match, which was your first world championship.

R. Jones, Jr.:

I think he was more of a younger fighter. He was a guy who was out there just trying to win. He was trying to win by any means necessary. If he couldn’t out box you, he’d try to out-fight you. He tried all of that and none of it worked. So that was my recollection of the fight. He just couldn’t get away from my jab and none of the tricks that he tried would work. This time he’s going to be a little different because this time he’ll play a little bit of a different game. He’s a little smarter. He’s not the risk taker he used to be. He won’t lay it all on the line. He tries to take his chances and take his shots when he gets the opportunity to. So now he’s more of an opportunist than he was back then.

Did you think that that first fight was easy for you? I think I remember the scores were pretty clear; it was an 8-4 type of fight.

R. Jones, Jr.:

Very easy. I told a friend before the fight, I’ll win the first six rounds with a jab and then I’ll beat him every other round and that would be it because I only had one hand, so I couldn’t do a whole lot. People were a little disappointed I didn’t knock him out, but I couldn’t. I only had one hand.

What was your hand problem at that time?

R. Jones, Jr.

My right hand was pretty much fractured. But this time I don’t have that problem. This time there could be a knockout.

Now this is a fight that’s been talked about. As long as I’ve been covering boxing, this is the rematch that’s been discussed between you and Bernard, with the people at HBO, with different boxing fans, the writers, you name it. Everybody has talked about it. Do you have any regret that it’s taking place perhaps a little bit beyond when it would have been at its most popular?

R. Jones, Jr.

No, let me tell you why I don’t have regrets. You know why I don’t have no regrets? First of all, I beat him the first time. So I wasn’t the one that needed to make the sacrifices to make the fight happen again. I’m not seeking revenge. I already beat him one time. So when the time came, the opportunities came when it was in my favor, that’s when I was like “No, I’m only going to fight him at 60/40.” I’ve fought him before but I beat him one time. Why would I take a 50/50 when I’ve beat him one time? That isn’t fair to me, is it? No, it wasn’t fair to me.

Then it when we became almost about even, I said okay, we’ll fight. Let’s do 50/50 or we can do 60 to win and 40 to lose. They didn’t want a part of that, so he always, “Okay, I’m going to fight Roy,” and then he fight this other fight. “Okay, I’m going to fight Roy” and then he’d go find another one. And then he said, “I’m going to fight Roy” and then he’d go fight somebody else and he did this three times. As matter of fact, one time he fought Winky Wright, one time he fought Joe Calzaghe, the next time he fought Antonio Tarver. So all those fights before those fights, the first the first name he’d call out was me to get you guys interested. Once you guys got interested, he decided to fight one of those three fighters. And I know for a fact, HBO had also pretty much doubled to fight me than they were going to pay to fight Tarver. He turned it down and fought Tarver.

So I can’t regret that man not wanting to get in the ring with me until my career is over. The only reason he’s fighting me now is because he feels like I’m done. He feels like I’m washed up. He feels like I’m old goods. He feels like there’s no way I can survive 12 rounds with him now, but he’s wrong. But that’s the only reason he came to fight now. So I couldn’t make him get in front of me. He was being afraid of me. I’m his worst nightmare and that’s just what it is.

Now whatever happens in the fight, a big win for Roy Jones, a loss, whatever goes down-

R. Jones, Jr.

It’s going to be a win for Roy Jones.

Fair enough, but even if it is a win, you’ve had such an illustrious career. You’ve done everything that you could do, a heavyweight title, middleweight title, all those divisions in between, been on the pound-for-pound list for ten years as number one guy. Is this the way to end your career because I’m not sure where would you go afterwards even if you did beat him?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t know. It could be a way to end my career. I’m going to see. If I beat him through it, beat him in the past. I want to beat this time and if it turns out well, maybe, who knows?

I know you think you’re going to win the fight, but would a loss be the same situation?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t know. I don’t know. I haven’t thought about a loss yet, so I don’t know yet.

Do you have any credence or concern whatsoever to those out there that believe that you’re putting yourself in danger by continuing to fight after the way you’ve had some losses go down the last couple of years?

R. Jones, Jr.

Yes, I do. I take my hat off to you and I thank them for being concerned about me for putting my life on the line. So when you get to know somebody and for putting their life on the line, it’s hard for you to tell them when to stop. Because I can have that gung ho-ness about me that maybe put my life on the line but then the world would have never known me. So how can they tell me okay, it’s time to stop so you don’t get hurt. If I knew that I could get hurt, I’ll never get to be who I am.

I want to get this straight. It’s your contention that right hand that Danny Green hit you with was an illegal blow.

R. Jones, Jr.

Not that it was an illegal blow. His hand wraps were illegal. Okay, if you hit a man and make contact on that hand behind the head, whatever, it’s hard, but it’s boxing, so you are at a fight. I wouldn’t call it an illegal blow. I call it an illegal wrap on the hand. I didn’t ask for a win. I said it should be declared no contest because he cheated. If you cheat, then you can’t take the win. I didn’t beat him, so I didn’t ask for the win, but it should at least be declared no contest.

Some people ask me, that they had heard that I wanted the win. No, I didn’t want to win. I wanted a no contest. I want a win if I beat him.

Because it looked the shot actually could have been behind the head. It’s hard to tell from the angle, so I thought that was an element, too.

R. Jones, Jr.

Yes, but you see, my main thing is the wrap. If he’s going to wrap with a cast, then he ends up with a cast, too. So I let him to put a cast on and don’t allow me to use one, so at least I know what we did over here.

Roy Jones fans are, I think, concerned. I get a lot of comments into The Sweet Science and saying we want to make sure that Roy is okay. You’ve been stopped a couple of times since 2004. Is it possible that your ability to take a punch has been compromised? Do you worry about that or are we just seeing things?

R. Jones, Jr.

No, that’s very possible, you know what I mean? It is boxing, so that is very possible. And if that’s the case, then I know after this one that if Bernard Hopkins can hurt me, cause Bernard Hopkins is not that big of a punch. If he can hurt me then after this one maybe it’s time to hang it up.

Okay, so Bernard Hopkins is not that big of a puncher and if he can hurt you, it is time to hang it up.

R. Jones, Jr.

Right, Bernard is not a very big puncher, if he can hurt me it’s time to hang it up.

To hang it up.

R. Jones, Jr.

Yes.

Okay, now you said the last thing, I don’t want to monopolize here, did I read it right and correctly that you’re saying that you want to stop him, you are promising to stop him?

R. Jones, Jr.

I’m going to stop him.

He’s never been stopped.

R. Jones, Jr.

I won’t give you my secrets, but I guarantee I’ll stop him, you watch.

Guarantees to stop him.

R. Jones, Jr.

I’m guaranteed to stop him.

I just wanted to ask you, you talked about that you’re appreciative of fans being concerned about you fighting at this point of your career. Coach Merk had mentioned on our last conference that he was concerned about your fighting, your trainer, at this point of your career. How do you feel about Merk being concerned and do you share that concern, of possibly you being injured at this time?

R. Jones, Jr.

Here’s how I feel about it. At the last fight I asked him, “Do you think we should call it or do you think we should keep going?” And he said, “The way the hand wraps were, the way training camp was, I think you should keep going. You still got it. I don’t see a problem with you right now. You have to tighten a few things, but you should continue to go.” So I asked him first directly after the Danny Green fight, even though it was a bad situation, I still asked him right then, “How do you feel about me continuing on, do you think I should call it a day?” Because he is one who would know. And if he said, I would probably call it a day. But I asked him right then, “Should we call it a day?” and he said, “No.” So if he told you that we should call it day, then he told me different.

Okay. Now just one other question, you say in your media notes from Pensacola, that Bernard wanted to wait until you were done. You didn’t have anywhere else to go and now he thinks he’ll get his revenge and ride out into the sunset. But after 17 years and after you’ve had 60 professional fights and you won the fight against him and you have beaten him, why even give him the opportunity?

R. Jones, Jr.

I guess it’s just the kind of guy I am. I was like give me the opportunity and I guess it’s just the person I am because you’re right. You could play dirty and say, “I’m not giving you a chance to win.” You’re right. But in my heart what kind of guy would I be then? Would I be able to sleep at night? You know I wouldn’t, that’s just not my personality. So I’m sorry and I would love to take the coward way out and say, “You know what, why should I give him the opportunity, he doesn’t like me, I don’t like him. I’m not going to give him the opportunity to that.” I should say that, but that would be real dirty and low down, but I’m not that kind of dude, so I’m sorry.

I’ve heard that Bernard Hopkins saying that for him, the fight is personal. How do you feel about this fight? Is it just going back to business or are you having any animosities?

R. Jones, Jr.

It don’t change anything for me. My fight is between me and my fans. I don’t have anything to do with him. He’s just a participant. He’s what we use, for me and my fans to connect and like have a great time.

You made a quote yesterday; I believe it was yesterday that Bernard is a shark, catfish. I guess you were leaning toward the fact that he takes advantage of maybe finished fighters. Do you really feel as though he’s looking at this particular fight with you as a tune-up or walk-over?

R. Jones, Jr.

Yes, most definitely, that’s how you should take it. If it wasn’t that, he wouldn’t be here, trust me. Don’t get me wrong. He’ll come the best he can because he learned when he catch you down, he wants to bring the sledgehammer. He isn’t playing with you. If he touches you like that, he trying to take full advantage, so he’s going to be ready, but, yes, he thinks of it as a tune-up.

I had the pleasure of attending that first fight in Washington DC at RFK Stadium in ’93. Now he started the fight rather slow. You did take advantage of the earlier rounds. Do you see yourself doing the same things in this fight?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t know. He may come out and fight this time, I don’t know. It all depends on what happens. I just want him to show up this time. He may come and decide he want to go for the gusto because he thinks I’m done and he may be afraid of me like he was then. You know, let’s see what I can do. So either way it won’t turn out good for him, but that what it will depend on how I take care of him.

My last question is now you fought at middleweight then for the middleweight title. You’re fighting at a heavier weight this time. Do you see him having an advantage?

R. Jones, Jr.

No, I went to light-heavyweight first so if anything I think have the advantage.

One of my questions is will you knock Bernard Hopkins out? Do you have a prediction?

R. Jones, Jr.

Most definitely, he’s going to see what I’ve got.

He’s going to sleep?

R. Jones, Jr.

Yes.

Do you want to do Ali, do you have a prediction on what round?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t do that type of stuff by I will guarantee he’s going to sleep.

He’s going to sleep. Okay, so you’re guaranteeing a win.

R. Jones, Jr.

He’s going to sleep by knock-out.

Another question, Roy, where do you rank yourself right now in boxing history amongst the greats?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t rate myself. I don’t take time to do that. How do I rate myself as far as how I look as an American, or a male walking among the general population? I can’t do that.

Okay, so you don’t believe Bernard Hopkins has any opportunity to beat you.

R. Jones, Jr.

He has opportunity, anybody has the opportunity, but he won’t be having it come April 3rd.

Some fighters just more so than other fighters, they just know I can beat that guy. Maybe that guy over there who may not be as good as me can give me trouble, but he can’t beat me. Do you look at Bernard Hopkins that way, that even though you’re not at the top of your game, you guys could fight when you’re 60 and he still can’t touch you?

R. Jones, Jr.

You’re exactly right.

No way, his game, he just doesn’t match up with you. He can’t get into your head and there’s nothing he can do.

R. Jones, Jr.

There isn’t anything he can do to win; it’s as simple as that.

You’re more sure of having his number than you would be if you fought Glen Johnson or Tarver again.

R. Jones, Jr.

Most definitely.

How do you expect him to fight you, Roy, because your style gives him trouble. He has to come out of his role to beat you. What do you expect?

R. Jones, Jr.

I don’t know, I don’t really care. I’m ready for whatever he brings. If he wants to fight, we’re going to fight. If he wants to box, we can box. It doesn’t really matter to me. However he wants to do it, I can do everything, that’s one thing for sure.

But do you think he’s leaning more this way, he’s going to try to maybe jump on you maybe—

R. Jones, Jr.

He’ll probably jump on me right away, yes.

K. Swanson

I think that was our last question. So, Roy, do you have any final comments?

R. Jones, Jr.

Thank you, guys, for coming aboard and we look to seeing you out at Vegas.

K. Swanson

Okay, great, thanks so much, Roy Jones, and now everybody please stand by and we will be joined by Bernard Hopkins and Mr. De La Hoya. So stand by, operator.

Oscar de la Hoya

Hello, Bernard, how are you doing?

B. Hopkins

Hello, I’m doing good, Oscar, Kelly.

K. Swanson

Okay, great, we’re already in the process of the call. So we’re going to go ahead and get started and I’m going to turn this over to Oscar de la Hoya at this time to make the introduction for Mr. Hopkins.

Oscar de la Hoya:

Thank you very much, Kelly, and thank you, all the media for being on the call. “Rivals” is going to be a very interesting because not only do you have two great fighters who are once again facing each other, but this rematch has been in the making for many years. Each fighter has gone their way. Each fighter cemented their legacy. But on the other hand, you have one fighter in Bernard Hopkins who has been stepping up to the plate and really making history as time goes by. And it doesn’t seem like he’s getting any older. He’s getting younger. He has on the way of making history. He’s beaten the likes of Antonio Tarver. He’s made history by beating Felix Trinidad. And when you talk about Bernard Hopkins, you talk about a living legend.

So April 3rd, it’s nothing but respect towards both fighters because of what they’ve accomplished and what they are still able to accomplish. And so the fact that these two fighters are facing each other really shows a great deal of admiration they have for the sport and for the fans. This is truly one of those rivalries that you just don’t want to miss. I know that style makes fights and from watching the first fight taking place, it was a very competitive fight.

Obviously Roy Jones, Jr. came out with a victory. He was the more seasoned, experienced fighter, but now you have Bernard Hopkins, who has also gained the respect from everyone because of his dominating performances. But also, he’s gained the experience to match or even surpass Roy Jones Jr. in skill and talent alone. So it is my pleasure and honor to be introducing a living legend. He is one of the best middleweights that we’ve ever seen in the sport of boxing. He carries a record of 50 and 5 with 32 knock-outs. He is trained by one of the best or if not the best trainer in the world, Nazim Richardson. That is Bernard Hopkins.

Why do you think it took so long to get this rematch?

B. Hopkins

A lot of reasons. It’s over 15 years and things happen, just like in most negotiations, some fights go through, some fights don’t. At the end of the day, it’s a combination of a lot of things. But sometimes it’s the one fighter don’t want to really fight the next fighter where he can fight anybody else and make the same money or more and not take a risk. We all know that exists in boxing and unfortunately, but you can call it good management. You can call it good promotion. You can call it whatever, but I’m always willing and able to fight anybody. I don’t think anybody can charge or accuse me of ducking anybody in boxing. You can, anything you want to say about Bernard Hopkins, but I don’t think my worse enemy can say that Bernard Hopkins was afraid to fight anybody. I really believe that.

Do you think that people still care about this rematch? Obviously, you have continued to be a great fighter. You’re 45 years old now and you’re still fighting like you were a lot younger. But you have two guys over 40 fighting; do you think people do care at this point?

B. Hopkins

I think people care. I think people care just like if Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan was playing a one on one and you’re a basketball fan, you’re going to show up. One thing, age cannot compete with accomplishments and names and with those individuals or us have done in the boxing game. When you have a situation where you don’t see this often, I think you will agree, I hope that you look to agree that this doesn’t happen all the time on a respectful level. The word respect is very important in this fight. This is not on some clown reality show where you have two wrestlers, two boxers, two old entertainers, two old singers squared off in some reality show. This is the real deal. This is the real deal and I’m pretty sure you’re going to be watching, too.

One last question there, Bernard, you’ve only fought what once in the last year and a half or so. Do you feel like you can shake out the ring rust and be in top shape for this fight?

B. Hopkins

Yes, because I’m a veteran and I’ve been doing this thing as a professional for over 18 years. And if I’m not mistaken, I was off eight or nine months before I beat up Kelly Pavlik who’s the Great White Hope 17 years younger than me. And I so I don’t have anything to do with the guy that’s experienced to understand the name of the game and you know the way I live. The book is already written on me. Everybody knows Bernard Hopkins. I always come in shape. I walk around 10, 15 pounds over at most in between fights. I’m a rare breed, man. I answer the call when the call is called and you’ll see a great performance come April 3rd.

Obviously, you’ve been able to compete at the highest level a lot longer and a lot better than Roy has. Why do you think that’s the case? Why do you think he’s declined where you maintained really high level of competiveness.

B. Hopkins

I think a lot of it has to do with my having to rely on fundamentals from the beginning. One thing about boxing, boxing is one of those sports where starting off, a guy might look like he isn’t going to last long in the game. I remember a friend of mine named David Reed who came out of the Olympics with a gold medal. He came and went. Jermaine Taylor, the recent bronze medal winner of the Olympic came and went. You deal with the individual. You have to deal with the individual. You have some average, you have some that’s good and you have some that’s special. The ones that stand out as the special ones are in our history books that we all talk about, whether it’s baseball, football, hockey, boxing. That’s why we talk about legends as Oscar de la Hoya mentioned, living legends, legends who aren’t here anymore. They will never be missed. They will never be unspoken when we talk about different sports.

When I leave the game, I wish and hope and I know that I’m doing all I can to have that same conversation talking about Bernard Hopkins 10, 15, 20 years from now. So it’s about the person. It’s all about the person’s style, lifestyle, the way he takes care of himself and last but not least, genetics. Genetics plays a lot in people’s lives, just the way they age quicker than others.

I was going to mention the styles. I always thought that Roy relied almost too much on his speed and his athleticism and once that started to go, maybe he started to go. And in your case, you developed such great skills, that you didn’t rely as much as just your natural gifts. You relied more on your brain. Does that make sense?

B. Hopkins

Yes, that makes a lot of sense and to add on to that is that I think that in this era, I think I’m one of the greatest technician fighters, a technic fighter that boxing ever produced.

Now some people think that’s a boring way to fight, but that’s what boxing is all about, longevity, executing your opponent.

We were just on the phone with Roy before you came on to do your portion of this call. I asked him for his recollections of the first bout, which obviously we know he won. It was your first championship fight, his first championship fight. I’ve never heard you dispute the decision, but I’d like if you could just give me your recollections of why that fight went the way it did and what you think about the way that that fight went and if is has any bearing whatsoever on what may take place next Saturday.

B. Hopkins

Well, first the fight was a fight where Roy was the most out of tube, out of myself and him was the better fighter. He was the better fighter not only from his experience, but the ability. Roy Jones was one of the brightest amateurs to come out in the long term. We all know that he should have got a gold medal, but he got a silver medal and he was just the all around better fighter, all around quicker, all around smarter. And even, I don’t know if he had it then or waiting on the table after the fight was over, a multi-million HBO contract waiting on him. So a lot of people had a lot of high expectations for this guy and he deserved everything he got. And he owned up to all that stuff eventually.

So that night, May 22nd, I believe in RFK Stadium was the night that changed both of our lives. I think the history reflects what happened after those years flew by. He went his way and I went my way as you know.

Why was he able to for a lack of a better term, be able to beat you so easily?

B. Hopkins

Well, I don’t know if he was beating me easily. I think it was a fight where both of us didn’t do what we’re supposed to do.

It’s just the thing then where going into that fight, I literally probably had to do what most people have to do in my situation, win and win big and I didn’t. I make no excuses for that because that fight there helped sculpture the character and my psyche of going in that ring and training and ran off 27 something straight wins after that fight. And I believe I went undefeated forward ten years holding that middleweight-

And that was Segundo Mercardo, which I believe I won that in Ecuador, but I wound up knocking him out four months later and became the IBO champion. But the thing is there, it shows that when I get a second chance in life, I think everybody who’s listening to this should take account in this. It’s not for a record up on the computer and see the times I fought people twice. Other than the Jermain Taylor fight, which people still see it my way, I normally get it right the second time around.

Well, I have to ask you about that. Why are you going to get it right the second time around for you, Bernard with Roy Jones?

B. Hopkins

Guess what then, it’s funny if you ever look at it in my life personally, I never went back, baby. So it’s just in my DNA to, when I fall, if I ever get up, don’t look for me to fall again. That is just me personally. Forget boxing. That’s just me personally. Now boxing, it makes it better for me because I know that I can have always that clutch, remember.

Do you think that winning the rematch with him, other than personal satisfaction of evening the score, put that aside for a second, because obviously if you beat him, you’re going to be satisfied because you’ve won a fight and you’ve beaten the guy that most would consider your greatest rival. That it may not have the same meaning of beating him that it may have had if this fight took place when he was more at the fresher part of his career and maybe even just a few years ago.

B. Hopkins:

What I’ll prove is that reason Roy Jones didn’t want to fight me because he understood the execution that’s coming April 3rd. I think that I will be the last judge and the jury to show people that he wanted to beat me late, he got it late. He could have gotten it earlier, but he wanted to play the dollar money game. So my whole thing is like I said early on to people before this fight was being worked out, I would have named it personal because it is a personal vendetta. It is a personal achievement… I accomplished almost mostly everything else I wanted to do in boxing when others said I couldn’t. So when you want to stay in this game, if you’re smart, you would try to find nothing soft to stay in there because then you could be conquered.

So I know I have something legitimate to me to me personally. I know that going into this fight and as I trained so hard with these young guys for almost six, seven weeks, I know that Roy Jones, Jr. is going to put up his last defense to try to win this fight. He’s rather lose to you than lose to Bernard Hopkins. That’s how much animosity, sort of like the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson saga.

I went to Florida down to Roy’s farm to negotiate with him. I don’t know if you remember doing a story on when I got on the plane, went to Pensacola to talk to Roy Jones Jr. thought we had a deal, though we had a deal, thought we could go ahead and announce it to media. And he sort of played me, but I’m trying to be a man, trying to look in his face in his hometown, on my dime flew down there with no entourage, by myself, no, I think it was Andre Fisher with me at that time. I’m sitting there talking to this guy after waiting in the lobby for 40 minutes and he was just using me to do another fight. He was using me to get it out there that Bernard Hopkins and Roy might fight. And whatever deal that he was working on the side, he made that happen quickly because that’s the old negotiation trick, everybody does it. But at the end of the day, I got it all marked down on my listing in my head. Every punch is going to mean something in 17 years, so that means I have to be pulling a lot of combinations.

Was that the time when you went to the farm and when you were done, you said you had been to Roy’s farm and after the negotiations didn’t work out, you realized that, I believe you said he was a chicken and a pig.

B. Hopkins

Yes, exactly.

So even though Roy is at the end of his career, you will take equal satisfaction of beating him down on April 3rd as you would have, had it been four or five years ago when you were both still at the top of your game.

B. Hopkins

Yes, and the thing is this. I think anybody if they’re still in the game has one great game left in them and really looking at take that out there and I know I have to be right. Just like the football player, Brett Favre. He knows he has one more game left in him and he knows he’s going to try to get that Super Bowl, win, lose or draw. But he just wants to make it there by being 38, 39. That’s how athletes think, the ones on that level.

I can’t speak for anybody else, but I know for a fact that Roy Jones, Jr. is not coming in no fight to lay down. He’s going to try you. He’s going to try me and he’s going to try to make up for everything that happened to him or over the last five or six years because he’s batting 500 right now. If he was a baseball player, 500 isn’t bad, 500 isn’t good. But guess what? He thinks that if he can go ahead and accomplish a big bang with me, that in his mind, not yours, but in his mind the way he thinks, he can erase anything that you thought or said about him prior to April 3rd.

I know how this guy thinks. He thinks he knows me. I think I know him. This fight here is a fight that the winner is going to get rewarded if he gets the knock-out. That’s the great thing about this fight because it isn’t winner take all, all that crap you said, the hype of the press conference, no, no, no. We know that we have an incentive that you have to be out of character for this fight. Roy Jones Jr. has been vulnerable only because the things that he had when we first fought. If you stay in the game, we all lose something in this game if you stay around long enough.

Now, Ray, few people can stand around in their mid 30s, let alone 40s. So we all lose something, but some can adapt to other things and camouflage it. And some where so special, so talented, where they didn’t have to have the basics. They didn’t have to have the jab. They’d get you with your left foot, jumping from one side of the ring. But when you stay in the game long enough and the basics become now your lifesaver, oh, boy, oh, boy. I don’t have to tell you what the ending will be.

Roy just said on the conference call that he knows you as a fighter and there’s no way today you can beat him. And also he said that he’s going to knock you out. I just wanted to know if you had a version of how you thought the fight was going to come out and how you felt about him saying that.

B. Hopkins

Well, first of all, he’s lying. He’s not going to do anything to me, especially knock me out. But I know that when you’re going to get somebody, things happen. And so one thing about being aggressive, when you’re being aggressive and you throw punches, things can happen. So I’m not saying that I can’t get knocked out. I’m telling you that Roy is not going to knock Bernard Hopkins out. See because I believe I’ve done everything I had to do in camp to be victorious in this fight.

I know we have to promote the fight, but I’m trying to restrain from getting into a verbal war with Roy Jones Jr. because I’d rather be an executioner leading up to this fight because the executioner really doesn’t talk. He just show up, do his job and leave. But I know this is an executioner that happens to be a promoter and I have to do the things and answer the questions the best way I can.

So Roy Jones is saying these things. Do I think he believes this? Yes. I think Roy…one thing he’s right about, even though he probably didn’t mention it. He’s one up on me. I’m not one up on him. He’s one up on me. Right now he’s one up on Bernard Hopkins. I don’t care if he’s old or have the things he used to have what everybody says, fine, great. But right now, he’s one up on Bernard Hopkins and it’s my job to even that up. I’ll be two up on him when I knock him out. That counts for two.

So just one more question, after 56 professional fights, you’re 45 years old and it comes to the point of you agreeing to do this fight. I know you’re one of the most prepared boxers coming into the ring. But does it ever come into your mind about the fact of injury maybe happening?

B. Hopkins

Fighters go through injuries all the time in training. We’re no different than football players and basketball players when they go on the court and go on the field with their ankles bandaged and they play through it. Athletes, 90% of them will tell you even in high school and college, we fight and play with injuries all the time. They just don’t tell you. This is just something we live with. That’s just the way it goes. No matter what kind of athlete it is, he’ll tell you Bernard is right. That’s what we do. We don’t worry about those things, man. We don’t worry. Reporters don’t have to worry about if he doesn’t have ink in his pen. We don’t worry about it.

I’m not saying it’s bad because you have to write. So you have to write, you have to make sure you have a couple pens on you. With fighters and athletes, we might do that stuff, man. We go to the store and may get some Ben-Gay and get some whatever we have to get and get through it.

I have a question for you on Roy Jones. On the previous call he said that he was knocked down by Danny Green as a result of an illegal hand wraps. What strikes you about that? Does that hold water to you?

B. Hopkins

Yes, absolutely, as far as possibility or allegedly because I wasn’t there, but I’ve the ….hand wraps compared to his right hand wraps different, goal, different texture, different inches of it. And I tell you my personal experience, as you know and you probably remember it just as clear as I do, 2001 with Felix Trinidad and with Nazene Richardson, who just happened to disclose two incidents where he had a piece of plastic substance in his hand wrap and obviously got suspended. Well, Felix Trinidad, it didn’t get that far. But the commission made him wrap his hands all over again and he was ticked off, threatening to not fight, threatening not to go out there. Come on, man, your hands is wrapped the way you used to get it wrapped, but you think it gives you an advantage and you have to rewrap, the man was thinking about not fighting again.

So that’s the psychological defeat there and then you have to go in the ring. That’s not good. So, yes, now let’s go to the fight. Let’s go. I saw the fight right after I got out of the ring, December 2nd in Philadelphia. They showed it to me on the monitor. I also have a DVD. Roy Jones got hit in the back of the head. His equilibrium was off, got up, didn’t get hit with a big shot, a big throwing shot. They stopped it. Based on that, I think he didn’t get the benefit of the doubt.

The hand wrap thing came later on. But when I saw the fight, I said wait a minute. I’m thinking before he got knocked out, the minute 50 seconds, he never got up. He was stretched out like he was when he fought Glen Johnson who I knocked out when he was undefeated. I did Glen Johnson, he was 37-0. When I saw the tape, they stopped it because of that? They were in Australia, you understand that.

I’m saying they stopped the fight because of this because of that to me was a premature stop. I don’t think he got for the legacy that he carries and what he brings to the table, I don’t think that coming off of three or four wins prior to that, I don’t think he got the benefit of the doubt for the legacy he brings to the game. That’s my personal opinion. I said it before the contract I signed because I didn’t this fight was really going to take off until the tape was shown. When I saw the tape and the three other people saw the tape, especially Golden Boy, we made a decision. People in American didn’t get a chance to see it unless they watched it on YouTube. But if they ever got a chance to see it, I believe a lot more people would have said that Roy Jones Jr. didn’t get the benefit of the doubt. I really believe that and I’m a safety first fighter. I believe they stopped the fight based on where Roy Jones Jr. knocked on punches.

I’d say you agree/disagree though. I think you’re in a bit of a Catch-22. I think it’s possible that his chin is fatally compromised. If you don’t stop them, then people say Bernard beat a shot Roy Jones, what about that? Are you in a Catch-22?

B. Hopkins

I think it’s a situation where we’re both in a Catch-22. Saying more about my age when I’m doing interviews, but they forgot I just got finished beating up a guy 17 years younger that’s a killer named Kelly Pavlik. It’s funny how people keep forgetting and they have short memories. So as I keep being reminded that I’m 45 like it’s a death sentence, I’m trying to remind them that yes, I am, but have I given you any evidence that I fight like I’m 45? I’m not talking about your personally. I’m not talking about you personally. But to me, I think we’re both in a Catch-22.

I said this for my future career. Yes, I still have a career. I hope to come out healthy. What I mean by that is I hope to win this fight not only impressively. I probably won’t get the credit because of what’s out there about Roy. But Roy is setting up the next big thing for Bernard Hopkins that’s going to have people saying has he lost is mind. But then you’re going to have people saying, man, it was done before. It already done by two people who happened to be middleweights at that time.

So my whole thing is, I’m in a Catch-22 personally to answer your question, because of my age, because I think there’s some entities out there that want me to just go away, go away, Bernard.

Who wants you to go away?

B. Hopkins

Oh, the mob.

The mob?

B. Hopkins

Yes.

Talk to me, the mob, who?

B. Hopkins

In boxing.

Yes.

B. Hopkins

The mob to me in boxing means the entity of powerful people that runs and calls the shots to make things happen when they want it to happen. Now you fill in the dots.

Does that mean you’re going to be fighting David Haye next?

B. Hopkins

To me the mob isn’t the whole ’50s and ’60s guy with a cigar in his hat and cigar in his mouth and a hat tilted to the side sitting ringside waiting for somebody to die. That’s old school. That’s all played out right now. They don’t get any respect in America any more. I’m talking about when you look in the dictionary and you see the word mob, that’s a group of people. So let me define mob, so everybody understands. Mob is a group of powerful people that have their goal is to make things happen when they want it to happen. Now you fill the dots in who you want that to be.

Bernard, last thing. Are you going to fight David Haye next. Is that what you were referring to before?

B. Hopkins

I’m going to fight David Haye? I think he has a fight with John Ruiz.

I think he beats John Ruiz and I think you beat Roy. That’s just my guesstimation. If both those things happen and you fight Haye?

B. Hopkins

Well, we need you to start pumping that right now because you like me. If you want to start writing, I might use you for like, I guess a PR person for me.

You got a good one. You have Kelly. You don’t need me, you know that.

B. Hopkins

I need you since you got that pen. You can go ahead and write that scenario because that scenario sounds good to me. But I have to come through April 3rd. I have to come through April 3rd. I’ve seen John Ruiz pull out a rabbit out of his hat a couple times in his career. Let me tell you, I’ve seen John Ruiz pull up some rabbit hats, the rabbit out of a hat so much that wasn’t good for the next big thing, that style he has is real funky. I have my fingers crossed, though.

That’s some big news. That would be interesting. If you don’t do that, I’d like to see you fight Chad Dawson, though. You did it against Pavlik, what about Dawson?

B. Hopkins

What do I gain fighting Chad Dawson?

I don’t know, more respect.

B. Hopkins

I don’t know. Do you know what that means? Let’s not get into this right now, they would say, “What’s Chad Dawson going to do to enhance my career? How does that change Bernard’s life? He just beat up on a guy 17 years younger, a star in boxing called Kelly Pavlik. Why do you want me to continue to destroy the future of boxing and once I’m done I want to promote the guy later on?

Because you got more respect out of that fight than you’ve gotten in I don’t know how long. I would like to see an older guy take down a young guy.

B. Hopkins

I understand that and I agree with you, but it’s not my fault that they want to respect me when they want to respect me. To me it’s like a thing where is that as long as people know that I’ve always been a guy outside looking in, even though they act like I was in, I like that role. I like the Robin Hood role. I like the renegade role, because the renegade role has its own dignity and he can’t be told when he don’t agree on something that you’re an ingrate. Nobody can call me an ingrate because I’ve never been their boy, man. I’ve never been an industry boy and everybody that’s groaning on this phone understands what that means. Let’s not play games. So if I never was the industry boy then, then why would I try to be industry boy now because first of all, I’m too far in right now to do the things I’ve done my way, the Frank Sinatra way. Why would I turn back now and I got in this position with some help from some people? I got here in spite of a lot of things, why would I sell out now? It doesn’t make sense. If I was going to do that, I should have done that prior to being who I became.

What about fighting Chad Dawson is selling out? I’m not understanding that. Why is that selling out?

B. Hopkins

Because Chad Dawson hasn’t sold out the way you sell out. Chad Dawson hasn’t sold out any arena, not even in Hartford, Connecticut. He has no history in pay-per-view. He hasn’t beaten anyone of significance other than who, Tarver who lost to a middleweight, Bernard Hopkins? I think it was a split, one and one, he beat and lost to Glen Johnson who I beat undefeated and knocked him out onto the ground. Where do I gain beating Chad Dawson when the money doesn’t make sense because HBO doesn’t want in on that? The money doesn’t make sense. The money is not there. The risk is higher than the reward. What do I gain fighting a Chad Dawson where that brings nothing to me historically? It brings nothing to me financially.

There are two key things at 45 years old that get me aroused, financially and history. If it isn’t that, I don’t get aroused.

Bernard, you know how some fighters just feel that they own another guy, like maybe you felt that way when you fought Tarver and Tarver feels that he sees Roy Jones in front of me and says I know I can’t beat that guy. I just asked Roy that question. He says he knows he owns you. Can you relate to that?

B. Hopkins

Nope.

You don’t see that in other fighters that you faced, like how you just knew you had Tarver in your pocket and where that kind of elevates your game?

B. Hopkins

Mentally, mentally, I think I have every guy in my pocket when I go in there. Sometimes I’ve been right more than I’ve been wrong. But me, that way, why take 17 years for us to fight?

I’m just telling you the impression, what he said. But let me ask you this.

B. Hopkins

No, no, I agree with you. I was always told you listen to what people say can tell you how really smart they are. I agree with the question. The question you asked me, I understand the question. I tried to figure out if a guy has me the way he says he has my number, then why did it take 17 years for us to fight again? I’m not really asking you to answer; I’m just answering that question because I really can’t. But all I have to do is say, “Hey, we should have thought like that eight years ago after I beat Tito and became the undisputed champ and he was the undisputed champ.” That would have been great, middleweight undisputed, light heavyweight undisputed. That would have been great. Or maybe he just got my number now, maybe that’s it.

Let me ask you this. Nobody is talking about this, but, Bernard, do you believe that Roy’s style presents you trouble for the fact that you like your opponent to come to you. You take the bullets out of their guns and you take him out to sea and you drown him. Where Roy, he’s not going to come to you. He’s going to force you into fighting a fight that I believe he’s going to make you go to him. It’s been while since you’ve had to fight as the attacker.

B. Hopkins

I can go back to that. That’s like, if he stays on the ropes because of me and he’s not like he used to be, we’ve been watching. We’ve been watching tapes. We’ve been doing our homework. This is called homework. I got one of the best strategists in boxing in the last 50 years and that’s Naazim Richardson. Listen, if Roy is still on the ropes and hold his hands like he’s been doing for the last ten years you’ve been covering him, the fight won’t go past five rounds.

Okay, because he’s going to make you lead, which he probably feels that you’re not at your best. Would you agree with that?

B. Hopkins

I disagree. I think I’m multi-styled. I think that all depends-

You could fight both ways, but you like-

B. Hopkins

I can fight any way. See, first of all, backtrack for a minute. Roy being the dictator on what and how I fight. It’s the game of the war of the minds and the war of the experience. See, Roy can get me to do what you say that he wants me to come forward, he wants me to lead, that I’m fighting the way he wants me to fight. See, I could have answered that two, three minutes ago when you first with that, but I wanted to go and do some sound bytes. But see the name of this game, we call me a veteran, where people call a veteran, they don’t call me that because of my age. That plays a little part. But I’m not going to let Roy tell me and show me physically or how we fight in the ring, that I’m going to come to him. Hey, when you crack that joker, he might want to get back and come to me. The name of the game and the way I fought, and you’ve witnessed this and you’ve written about this, I have a skill to take a guy’s best weapon, his style and somehow trick him and amaze him to do and fight down to the level of Bernard Hopkins or up to the level of Bernard Hopkins.

People have always spoken about how I dictated the pace, slow the pace or fasten the pace. I dictated the pace the way the fight was going to go without them really knowing it until the fight has already gone deep into the fight or deep into the rounds.

I would agree with everything you just said and you know I’ve written about that. But I would disagree with a little bit on one guy and I think that you couldn’t, Jermain Taylor you had a hard time dictating to early in the fight. It took you a while to set him up and that’s probably what caused the decision, even though I had you winning the fight.

B. Hopkins

Yes, that’s accurate. That’s accurate and even that fight there, that fight there was a fight where if it was started a little early and this and that, but again, I think those two fights, I think a lot of people on this phone may agree with that. Even though we’re talking about Roy Jones, April 3rd on HBO Pay-per-view, I think that those two fights with Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor ruined this guy’s career, I said it. Am I proud of that?

Look, I’m in the business. That happens. But I think those two 20 something rounds in the ring with Bernard Hopkins, a lot of fighters haven’t been right. I can name ten of them, which I’m not going to do right now. But it’s an unfortunate thing that happens. When you step into the ring with me, look at Kelly Pavlik. Do you think that Kelly Pavlik is the same?

No, his career is totally not the same and you would have undressed him if he fought at 150 or 190.

B. Hopkins

Roy Jones’ career right now, the little that’s left, will be gone April 3rd.

….Bernard, you don’t think he’s going to be any more trouble than he was last time.

B. Hopkins

I think it’s going to be a lot more competitive than the first time because if you go by the 17 years, Roy was unbelievable, unorthodox, did everything that we are told not to do in the gym. Look at his Tarver fight, the second fight, Tarver was just as nervous and scared as Roy, but Tarver took that jab out there and beat him and threw that right hand and Roy tried not getting hit. So when you think about getting knocked out, when you think about not getting hit, that’s when your worse nightmare happens. Roy Jones Jr. always had a problem on getting knocked out.

See, I never think about that. Think about what I just said. Two things Roy Jones and I hope he’s listening that had a problem with and always thought about it, every fight and every time he’s stayed in his game, he never wanted to wind up and he never wanted to get knocked out. There was two major things that’s his weakness and his armor. Everything else is great, historic and legendary. But it’s two major things that haunt this guy, never to get knocked out or to get hit. That’s why his speed and he relied on these things and he mastered these things, but he was useful.

Do you think you can walk through him and make it a street fight?

B. Hopkins

I’m going to have to.

Listen, you look at the times you got knocked out and beat. Those guys weren’t fancy fighters. Glenn Johnson, flat-footed came right in, take a punch, throw a punch-

All over him.

B. Hopkins

Exactly, exactly. Everybody he knocked out other than Tarver was a no flash and pretty fighter.

Yes, Danny Green jumped on him and caught him.

B. Hopkins

Glen Johnson worked him down for nine rounds, worked him down. He’s a work horse. He’s like a termite.

I have one more thing for you. You hit on John Ruiz about how we could pull rabbits out of the hat and David Haye is not lock against him. If John Ruiz upsets David Haye and after you beat Roy Jones, would you have any interest in fighting Ruiz for the WBA title?

B. Hopkins

I want to fight the winner of that fight. They’re both under Golden Boy Promotions, I don’t know if you knew that.

Bernard, again, I hate to sound, to beat the subject to death, but Roy talked about stopping you. He sort of gave a game plan about stopping you. What is your game plan as far as maybe stopping him?

B. Hopkins

I’ll tell you my game plan is to wait to see him come and try to do something to me and do it to him before he do it to me. Because Roy Jones’gameplan that he told you, that’s a false decoy game plan. Roy Jones might act like he’s crazy, but Roy Jones is too smart to voluntarily give up his game plan to you, knowing that you’re going to ask me the same question. So my game plan is simple. My game plan is is that I want the 60% of this whole promotion, so I must get this guy of here within 12. I don’t know how the fight is going to start off. I don’t know how the fight is going to end, but I’ll tell you I want to stop Roy and I want to end his career where I help him start his career in ’93 and become a champion. And 17 years in between those sandwich years, I ended. That is so profound, isn’t it? He started his career with Bernard Hopkins, the first middleweight champion and his career being the champion and winning the first title of his career. And then he happened to see me when his career is over, that doesn’t happen all the time.

No, it doesn’t.

B. Hopkins

I helped start his career basically and now I’m helping end it. That’s is really profound.

It certainly is. My last question to you is this. In that first fight, I was there. He seemed to have got off to an early start. Will you allow that this time?

B. Hopkins

I can’t afford to do that and guess what, I’m not the same, as you know, I can’t. I don’t think would have been on this phone if I was the same fighter in ’93 than I am now. I had won titles, I had beaten guys that he lost to. Can you imagine what that would do to my psyche and my confidence? You’re talking about a whole new different Bernard Hopkins. The question is, Bernard has proven he’s has gotten better and getting better like fine wine. And can Roy say the same thing? Can Roy say that he’s gotten better? April 3rd is going to be doomsday. It’s going to be the day of questioning. Has Roy Jones Jr. gotten better since 1993 when we first fought or has Bernard Hopkins gotten better. I think that’s the major, major discussion that people are going to be discussing when they hear this between now and come fight time in another ten days.

That’s a very valid point you made. Good luck to you, Bernard.

K. Swanson

Okay, great, thank you, everybody, for joining today. Bernard, are you good. Do you want to say any last words? It’s been so profound today, I just want to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Are you good, Bernard?

B. Hopkins

I’m good.

K. Swanson

Okay, good, and we thank also Oscar de la Hoya for being on the call with Bernard. And everybody watch for a fight week schedule that’s coming out shortly in the next couple days. We have a great fight week lined up for Las Vegas. You heard the details of the fight before the call got started. So if you have any questions or need any information, please feel free to call my office and we look forward to seeing you next week at fight week and for your coverage of this great fight. Thank you, bye.

END OF CALL

“The Rivals: Hopkins vs. Jones II,” set for Saturday, April 3 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev., is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Square Ring Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T and Southwest Airlines. The event will be broadcast live on pay-per-view beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $750, $500, $300, $200 and $100 are on sale now at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

The Hopkins vs. Jones II pay-per-view telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and has a suggested retail price of $49.95. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. The main event will begin live immediately following the college basketball semi-finals. For Hopkins vs. Jones II fight week updates, log on to www.goldenboypromotions.com.

BERNARD HOPKINS AND ROY JONES JR. CALL TRANSCRIPT

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