Hopkins-Jones on Again, 17 Years Later

Not long before Shirley May Hopkins' death, her son, Bernard, promised that he would not fight too far beyond his 40th birthday.

"Having grown up in the boxing town of Philadelphia, my mom had seen too many fighters' lives go badly," said Bernard Hopkins. "She had seen the way fighters wind up being punch-drunk, broke, with no money, and their names written in an undertaker's book. She didn't want that to happen to me."

But Hopkins, 44, still is fighting.

In fact, sometime early next year, perhaps in early February, the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion will battle Roy Jones in a rematch of a bout won nearly 17 years ago by Jones when the boxers were rising stars in May 1993.

Jones (54-5, 40 knockouts) will turn 41 on January 16 -- one day after the 45th birthday of Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs).

"Since I made the promise, I've been able to do a lot of things for people who are not in my family. There's a lot of things that I've been able to do for different foundations without the cameras rolling," said Hopkins, who made a record 20 middleweight title defenses over the course of nine years through July 2005.

"You can't buy your way into a comfort zone, but what you can tell yourself is 'Mom would have understood' that I'm in great shape," said Hopkins, adding that he will retire "when I get tired."

"My mother would understand if she could be around to see that I've been blessed not to have taken any substantial abuse or punishment in boxing, physically or mentally," said Hopkins. "If she were around to see that, I think that she would go ahead and say, 'Rumble, young man, rumble.' "

During his youth, Hopkins was a Philadelphia street thug who survived three stabbings.

Imprisoned at Graterford of Philadelphia for five years at the age of 18 for nine felonies, Hopkins was freed in 1988 and immediately turned to boxing.

One of Hopkins' biggest wins was on Sept. 29, 2001 -- 18 days after the 9-11 terrorists attacks -- when he knocked out Puerto Rico's Felix Trinidad at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Hopkins tells a harrowing tale of an experience the morning of the attacks after completing a run through New York's Central Park.

"I was staying at the St. Regis right there in lower ManHattan, and I came in, turned on the television and saw an airplane burning," in the world trade center building, Hopkins said.

"Like everyone, I thought that it was an accident -- you know, the plane flying too low," Hopkins said. "Then I saw the second airplane crash, and, you know, that's when everyone knew something was going on."

The gymnasium where Hopkins was scheduled to do a workout later that morning "was only two blocks" from the world trade center building.

Needless to say, Hopkins did not go.

One of the more stirring events for Hopkins recently involved Shaun Negler, a young man who died in October, a few days after Hopkins' victory over Kelly Pavlik.

A big fan of Hopkins', Negler lived months longer than doctors had expected before succumbing to cancer.

"We became friends shortly after he found out he had cancer. Shaun wanted to be a fighter," said Hopkins, who contributes to a foundation on Negler's behalf. "Shaun came to my fights and watched them. He watched the last fight with Pavlik and slipped into a coma the next day."

While Hopkins has been out of the ring for nearly a year since beating Pavlik, Jones is coming off of August's ninth-round knockout of former super middleweight champion, Jeff Lacy, who was stopped for the first time in his career.

With Jones already set to face Austrailia's Danny Green (27-3, 24 KOs) on the latter's home turf on Dec. 2, Hopkins is looking for a tuneup on the same night of Jones' fight in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Proceeds, said Hopkins, would benefit the widows of fallen Philadelphia police officers.

"It's another way of lending a helping hand to those who need it," said Hopkins, whose Golden Boy East Promotions of Oscar De La Hoya is at work securing his opponent as well as a venue.

"Philadelphia is a town that has supported me, and has a rich legacy of fighters, and I want to give this town the last chance to see me fight," said Hopkins. "I'd like to bring a show to my hometown at least once a month."

The undercard would feature Mike Perez (5-0-1, two KOs) of Newark, N.J., and Philadelia's Danny Garcia (14-0, nine KOs) "as a way of reaching out to our talent pool of the future," Hopkins said.

The rematch with Jones isn't so much about revenge as it is about giving boxing fans a fight he believes is long overdue, Hopkins said.

"I was content with never having to fight Roy Jones again because I beat two guys who knocked out Roy Jones and who sort of put Roy's career in a different perspective," said Hopkins, referring to his decisions over Glenn Johnson and Antonio Tarver.

"As great as Roy is, when you lose that speed, and you lose the things that made you who you are, then the basics come in. But Roy Jones never learned the basics because he didn't need the basics," Hopkins added.

"I have that. I have it even more than I had then. Roy never had the basics down the way that I had them down. It's what I've built my career on, and I'm going to show that to the world when I get into the ring with Roy Jones."