After nearly two decades of bitter squabbling, Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins still can't share the same table. Instead, the former champions appeared behind separate podiums Tuesday with placards that had only their own names and likenesses. The stage inside the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square was set up to resemble a debate, with each of the 40-something fighters given time to explain why they believe they'll win their long-awaited April rematch. “Roy Jones ain't nothing to do with Bernard Hopkins' legacy and career, up to now, because there will be a final chapter, and that's important to me,” Hopkins said. To which Jones simply replied: “He didn't win the first time and he won't win this time.” Yes, it's been 17 years since Jones defeated Hopkins to win a middleweight belt, and they've both built Hall-of-Fame-worthy careers. Jones won eight titles in four divisions and became the first fighter in a century to climb from middleweight champion to heavyweight champion. Hopkins set a record with 20 straight defenses of the middleweight crown and went 12 years without a loss. Now in the twilight of their careers, two fighters who could never agree on much of anything have agreed to fight, perhaps finally realizing that they need each other. “This fight is very important to me because it's personal,” said Hopkins, who admitted he's watched his 1993 loss to Jones “about a million times.” “A lot of fighters don't have history,” Hopkins said. “We've got 17-plus-year history.” For years they talked about a rematch, and it almost happened after Hopkins knocked out Felix Trinidad to become undisputed middleweight champion in 2001. Hopkins remembers visiting Jones in Pensacola, Florida five or six years ago and waiting in a hotel lobby for hours until they finally met – but nothing came of it. Executives from HBO tried to get them to agree to terms, back when a rematch would have been the biggest thing in the sport, but egos and self-interests always intervened. They even wound up arguing over who was to blame for the fight not happening. Finally, it is. Guerrero backs out Super featherweight champion Robert Guerrero withdrew from his scheduled fight against interim WBO lightweight titleholder Michael Katsidis this week to spend more time with his wife, who has been battling cancer. Guerrero was scheduled to fight Katsidis on March 27 in what would have been a major break in his young career. His wife Casey was diagnosed with leukemia two weeks before Guerrero defended his IBF featherweight title in November 2007. The cancer went into remission but recently returned. Promoter Richard Schaefer said on Tuesday that Casey Guerrero had received a bone marrow transplant but she remains in critical condition.
