We've been here before: Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones defend their titles against weak opposition in hopes of generating interest in a rematch of their 1993 showdown. Two years ago, the victims were Syd Vanderpol and Richard Hall. After that showcase, the Jones-Hopkins finale never took place... and after Hopkins and Jones beat up the hapless Carl Daniels and Glen Kelly in a double-header in 2002, the showdown doesn't look any closer to happening than it did in 2000.

The roadblock to Jones-Hopkins II is money. But here, neither Jones nor Hopkins is concerned with how much they'll earn for the fight... both are concerned with how much the other guy is getting. Hopkins feels that his thrilling victory over Felix Trinidad entitles him to a majority of the cash, while Jones insists that he's the one who deserves the bigger percentage. During a heated exchange between the two undisputed champions between their title defenses, Hopkins was wise enough to suggest that both men could split the mountain of gold, 50-50. It was a suggestion that Jones scoffed at. The fact of the matter is that both of these guys needs this fight: their current weight divisions are practically void of talent.

Roy Jones, who has fed on a steady diet of no-hopers, faced his weakest competition since the Hall fight in Australian Glen Kelly. Although undefeated down under, Kelly's lack of skill was apparent from the bout's opening moments. With his hands covering his face from the opening bell, Kelly approached Jones in the first as though he were scared for his life. Staring at Jones in wide-eyed amazement, Kelly seemed too frightened to return fire when Jones began pounding him. Despite advantages in fight-time weight, reach, and height, Kelly's slow hands and comical lack of balance made him an easy target for the lightening quick Jones. It didn't matter what punch Roy wanted to throw: lead rights, lead hooks, lead body shots... they all landed flush.

Despite repeated verbal lashings between rounds by trainer Jeff Fenech, Kelly just couldn't get his own fists moving. Moving his hands left him open for Jones' speedy counters, so Kelly was mainly content to stand still, except when flinching away from Jones' feints. But even with his hands over his face, Kelly was vulnerable to Jones' accurate punching. Big Jones rights staggered Kelly twice in the second. A dazzling Jones left hook/uppercut dropped Kelly to all-fours in the third. The fourth and fifth rounds saw a timid Kelly wobble with nearly every Jones blow. And Jones dumped Kelly to the canvas again in the sixth with a vicious left hook to the body. Get the picture?

Kelly was the perfect opponent for Roy Jones to show off his tremendous skills, and never was that more clear than in the seventh round. After toying with Kelly for half the round, Jones backed to the ropes and put both of his gloves behind his back. Kelly threw three jabs at the defenseless Jones. The light-heavyweight champion slipped all three with ease, then uncorked a right from behind his back. The punch was a blur even in slo-mo replay, and it bounced off the top of Kelly's head, sending him to the canvas in a heap. He would not beat the 10-count. Save that one for the highlight reel.

After the sensational knockout, Jones (46-1/37) put on his championship belts, which not only include those of the WBC, WBA and IBF, but also straps from the IBO, WBF, IBA, and two belts from the NBA (no, not the basketball league). In a post-fight interview, Jones ranted against Hopkins, claimed for the umpteenth time that he was finally ready for Dariusz Michaelczewski, and gave shout-outs to the cel-phone wielding homies that make up his crew. At some point during his half-serious tirade, even Jones had the audacity to insult Hopkins' choice of opposition on the undercard.

Not that Carl Daniels was worthy of much praise. Somehow Daniels was deemed to be Hopkins' mandated challenger... despite having not fought since December of 2000. It showed. The awkward southpaw stuck a few decent straight lefts into Hopkins' face in the opening round before settling into a more comfortable groove of absorbing near-constant punishment.

Hopkins took his time breaking Daniels down, landing a much-harder lead cross of his own, a series of hooks to the chin, and a barrage of body punches that punctuated Hopkins' effort in every round. Those body shots had the flabby Daniels visibly wincing by round six, but the game challenger kept trying to make a fight until the end of the tenth. By then, having dropped every round to Hopkins, Daniels' corner wisely decided that enough was enough. He would not leave his stool for round eleven.

While Roy Jones clearly needs Hopkins because his division is void of serious opposition, Hopkins isn't in a much better position. With the dispatching of Felix Trinidad, the middleweight division is looking almost as empty as the light-heavyweight class. While there are a lot of big names one division south, few of those fighters will be venturing to 160 in the near future. Once negotiations with Jones stall out, Hopkins (now 41-2-1/30) will likely move down to 154 to get his share of the big money. Despite making his pro debut at 177 lbs., Hopkins has had no problem weighing-in below the middleweight limit for his last several defenses. A few more pounds to 154 shouldn't hurt him too badly.

Lost in the back-and-forth between Jones and Hopkins, and the attention paid to the lack of talent in this night's opposition, was the fact that Hopkins broke Carlos Monzon's outstanding record of 14 successful middleweight title defenses. While few people will remember #15 against Daniels, the win is a major milestone for Hopkins, and a world record that will likely stand for years, if not decades. And let's not forget... the streak continues. Unless Hopkins moves up to face Jones or down to face the talent pool at junior middle, the record will only grow.

The bottom line: will Hopkins and Jones ever fight? Probably... but not soon.

.....Chris Bushnell