It took 16 years, but Hopkins, Jones finally set for rematch

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the world's longest-delayed rematch finally will take place sometime within the first 3 months of 2010.

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr., who first swapped punches on May 22, 1993, in Washington's RFK Stadium (Jones won the vacant IBF middleweight championship on a unanimous decision), faxed signed contracts to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer on Friday for a 12-round bout to be contested at the light-heavyweight limit of 175 pounds.

Asked how long Jones-Hopkins II had been in the making, Schaefer chuckled and said, "16 years," although he admitted negotiations between Golden Boy, which promotes Hopkins, and Square Ring, Jones' promotional company, had been held on and off, "most recently for about 12 months."

Before he fights Jones, Hopkins said he intends to take an interim fight against an opponent to-be-named on Dec. 2, in Philadelphia, although officials with Comcast-Spectacor said they have not been contacted about the use of either the Wachovia Center or the Liacouras Center on the Temple campus.

Now the question is whether boxing fans, who have watched these vain old warriors - who will have a combined age of 86 when they enter the ring at the yet-undetermined location - taunt one another for what seems like forever, buy into the idea of a Hopkins-Jones pay-per-view showdown that seemingly passed its expiration date long ago.

Schaefer, for one, thinks both men - particularly Hopkins, who turns 45 on Jan. 15 - have retained enough of their skills to put on a scrap that not only will enhance the winner's legacy, but produce a higher level of action than one might expect from fighters of their advancing years.

Although the contracts call for a 50-50 allocation of the cash pool, there is a clause that stipulates that the winner receive a favorable 60-40 split if he wins by knockout or technical knockout.

Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) and Jones (54-5-0, 40 KOs) are in agreement that the knockout clause should provide additional incentive to hold nothing back.

"I'm willing to gamble on myself," said Hopkins, who never has been stopped in his 21-year career but hasn't stopped anyone since he put Oscar De La Hoya down-and-out in the ninth round on Sept. 18, 2004, a span of seven fights. "I'm not saying I can't get knocked out, but nobody's done it yet. Roy Jones has been knocked out, twice [by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson]. I'm going to put him to sleep, too."

Said Jones, who fancies himself the bigger banger: "I don't like [the knockout clause] at all. I love it. I absolutely love it."

Whether the end comes inside the scheduled 12-round distance, Schaefer believes fans will believe this fight will prove to be worth the wait.

"I think it's a big fight, a super fight, a megafight," Schaefer said. "I believe it is a fight the American public will embrace. Both of these guys are superstars. They're ring royalty.

"At this point both Bernard and Roy realize this is the fight people want to see. They don't want to see Bernard Hopkins fight anybody else, and they don't want to see Roy Jones fight anybody else."

Hopkins had been angling for a matchup with IBF cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek, who instead opted to move up to heavyweight and an Oct. 24 bout with fellow Pole Andrew Golota in Lodz, Poland. The North Philly native also had expressed interest in possibly tangling with the winner of the Nov. 7 light-heavyweight rematch between Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson. But it has been nearly a year since B-Hop's last fight, a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Kelly Pavlik last Oct. 18, and he said it was imperative that he nail something down with an attractive opponent instead of continuing to play the waiting game.

"Things happen for a reason," Hopkins said.

There are hurdles both fighters will have to clear. Jones, who has never fought outside America as a pro, is journeying to Sydney, Australia, for a Dec. 2 fight with Danny Green (27-3, 24 KOs) for a meaningless trinket, the IBO International cruiserweight title. Jones should win, but Green is younger (36 to Jones' 40) and fighting before a home-nation crowd.

Hopkins said he did not want his absence from the ring to be 17 or 18 months between the time he fought Pavlik and the date with Jones. That is what led to the anticipated Dec. 2 bout.

"I want it to be against a credible guy who will stand in there and fight back," Hopkins said.

The most recent of the 10 times Hopkins fought in his hometown was on March 29, 2003, when he defended his undisputed middleweight crown on an eighth-round stoppage of frightened Frenchman Morrade Hakkar, who spent nearly every second in full retreat at what was then known as the First Union Spectrum.

Hopkins said a significant portion of the revenues generated from his Dec. 2 fight would go to the Fraternal Order of Police, to distribute to the families of police officers slain in the line of duty, as well as the Make-A-Wish Foundation in memory of his most loyal fan, Shaun Negler. Negler was only 18 when he died of brain cancer last Oct. 23, just 5 days after he watched his hero defeat Pavlik, on television.