Roy Jones Jr: Bernard Hopkins is a shark. He’s a bottom feeder. He’s catfish. He’s waiting around for someone to die, then he’ll bight into it. If something is dead, he’ll try to taste it. If something is alive, he doesn’t want any part of it. If something is close to dead he’ll try to eat it.
He wanted to wait until I was done. He didn’t have anywhere else to go and now he thinks he’ll get his revenge and ride out into the sunset. That’s the only way he is looking at it. It won’t be happening that way but that is the plot..
You are going to see the same thing that happened last time. The only difference is you’re going to see him go down this time. I am too young to be messing around with a guy that old…and as cut as I am. He can’t mess with me. I don’t even look like I’m 40 yet and he looks like he’s 52.
He’s a crazy men. That’s just the way he is, but I’m crazy too, just in a smarter way. That’s how I beat him the first time and he knows it.
He’s thinking Roy’s finished and all I’ve got to do is catch him behind the head and I’ve got him. He’s thinking “I’ll try to get inside, rough him up, hurt his shoulder, hurt his hands…try to physically hurt him so he can’t use both his hands on me. The I’ll hit him behind the head and knock him out.” That’s his whole game plan. Take my shoulders out, hurt my elbows and hurt my hands then hit me behind my head to take me out…and that won’t be happening. That’s all he has. He doesn’t have anything else.
It will last until I’m ready turn the lights out. When I hit the switch. FLICK. (singing) Turn out the lights and light a candle (laughing).
Bernard Hopkins Media Day Quotes
“I want it so badly and really I want Roy to be able to remember this beating I am about to give him for making me wait so long. But now the wait is over, I am going old school and back to the days of the Executioner. He delayed it too long but his days are now over, the Governor has spoken and April 3 will be the day.”
“My body and spirit still work because I always took the time to rest my body which helps me rejuvenate both physically and mentally.
“I really saw a difference in my career after I fought Oscar de la Hoya and then he gave me the opportunity to be his partner. It wasn’t the Tito Trinidad fight because they put me down and on the shelf after that fight. It was the De La Hoya fight that changed everything and if it wasn’t for my patience and discipline to weather the storms, I still wouldn’t be around.
“I look at Roy’s last fight as something different. Everyone knows how I feel about the stoppage, but I see it this way. Roy’s like a wounded animal which is a dangerous animal. Also if a guy has a chance to redeem himself, he is going to try. It would be especially sweet if he could get it against me too.
“I have to think about how I see the fight and also how he sees it. I have to try to think like he thinks, and take a look at both sides.
“Roy really has nothing to lose. That can be the toughest fight too when a guy has nothing to lose. And this fight is different as Roy would rather lose to anyone else but me. Everything is on the line for both of us.
“I have to go above and beyond. I know I can’t lose or win unimpressively. I want to win big and that has been my mindset for the last few fights like Tarver, Pavlik and now this one. I feel that I have to be near perfect to defend my longevity.
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“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 and AT&T. 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.