With all of the talk about Hopkins moving up in weight class, it is interesting...and would make him even greater to move up and beat the light heavyweight champ...but he doesn't NEED it...unless he just wants it...

many internet fans bash Hopkins for not moving up in weight...I praise the man for always staying in top shape and actually dominating a division...fans don't know what they want...a fighter moves up in weight...fights a paper champ, wins a title...then moves up again...fights a tuneup and a paper champ...then moves on...and that fighter is berated for not sticking to a division and dominating...unifying...so why is it so wrong for Hopkins to have stayed in shape and focused at 157-160lbs? why is it so bad that Hopkins who came from nothing has waited patiently to take advantage of his opportunities...so what if those opportunities were natural welterweights...both of them are HOFers, great fighters, one with good skill and speed, the other will awesome power and determination...imagine if Hopkins turned down a fight with either one of those two...he would be called a coward for not fighting a smaller man or stupid for not taking advantage of the money...

anyway, I feel there are more better fights for Hopkins at 160 where more money is involved...Hopkins vs Johnson whom he already beat is not marketable...Hopkins vs Tarver is a no win situation that is not marketable...

Hopkins has:

Winky Wright
Tito Trinidad II
(hopefully there will be no need for Eastman II :rolleyes: )

and of course the one everyone wants to see...especially if it is held in Little Rock...

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins vs Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor

Winky may not make a whole lot of money...but if Winky can beat Tito impressively, it will be a good amount...

Tito II will make good money assuming Tito can beat Winky impressively...

Taylor will make good money assuming they both are impressive tommorow, hype up the fight, and fight in Little Rock or a major Boxing venue/city...

Hopkins, don't move up...be one of the few who dominate the division you began in...

Hopkins needs to take a huge risk sooner or later. Hopkins has yet to take a fight where people thought he was going to actually lose. I know people had him as the underdog in the Trinidad fight, but most insiders knew Tito was not going to win that fight.

It's almost too late for Hopkins now. I mean the guy's what, 40 years old? He's probably only got a couple quality fights left in him. If he hasn't taken any risks by now I doubt he ever will.

I agree, TyranT316. I totally respect Hopkins for staying at 160. I hope that he takes on Taylor before he retires. That will be a very intersting matchup ... the old veteran versus the young buck. :)

i think hopkins shud retire, hes 2 old, 40yrs old. if he beats eastman, he will be a legend for life

Hopkins needs to take a huge risk sooner or later. Hopkins has yet to take a fight where people thought he was going to actually lose. I know people had him as the underdog in the Trinidad fight, but most insiders knew Tito was not going to win that fight.

I agree. Alot of people bash Roy Jones Jr. for not doing the same yet Roy moved up alot in weight & won world titles in every division he was in. Hopkins needs to take a risk & do the same, even if he lost no one would question his legacy afterwards. I personally would like to see him fight either Tarver or Johnson. Johnson is a different fighter than when Hops fought him & he's very confident in his skills.

I just don't think Hopkins "needs" to move up...he has nothing to prove by moving up...I think he has more to prove by beating Eastman and Taylor...beating two true and prime middleweights who pose a threat to him...

I think Hopkins vs. Johnson or Tarver is very marketable. The first Johnson/ Tarver match was great, and the rematch will be just as good if not better, thus giving the winner of the bout even more fanfare. Adding the fact that a 40 year old undisputed MW champ jumping 15 pounds to fight the undisputed LHW champ is a watershed moment in boxing history, the only other option that would be more marketable would be a Tito rematch. Taylor needs a convincing win over a top middle such as Sturm or Soliman (assuming he beats Eduoard in impressive fashion) to make a fight with Hopkins an intriguing PPV event and I'm not sure when Winky would even be available to fight Hops. There's an immediate rematch clause in his contract with Tito so that would leave him unavailable until at least the winter in the unlikely event he's able to beat Trinidad twice.

Legacy wise, I want Hopkins to beat the LHW champ just to shut the haters up. I think he has a pretty good chance at pulling it off too.

The only way I would like to see Hopkins move up in weight is if he is having a rematch with RJJr.

I just don't think Hopkins "needs" to move up...he has nothing to prove by moving up...I think he has more to prove by beating Eastman and Taylor...beating two true and prime middleweights who pose a threat to him...
Thats bull****. Take a risk. Floyd could be considered the greatest fighter evey by you guys if he wouldve stayed at 130. Who wouldve beat him? He wouldve been bigger, stronger, and faster then Pac, Morales, or MAB but he didnt take the easy way out and X shouldnt either. Now he's talking about maybe moving up, but to fight who? Tarver who everyone knows is a overhyped joke but X is still scared to fight him or Johnson a guy who X has already beat. Hopkins is a good fighter but he has played alot of you boxing fans.

He's like 50 cent. He talks all this **** about Ja making love songs and now thats all he does.
X talks all this **** about why Tito and Oscar wont move up to fight him but he never goes up.

If Glenn Johnson beats Tarver again this summer and Hopkins gets by Jermain Taylor I think Hopkins vs. Johnson should be scheduled instead of a rematch with Tito.

Hopkins isn't going to move up. Too much risk with too little reward. Nobody cares enough to see Hopkins vs. Tarver or Glen Johnson (who he already knocked out). They sure don't care about him fighting anybody at 168. His best move at this point is to stay put. Wright and Tito are both bigger fights anyhow. And there's a possible Vargas fight, depending how El Feroz does on his return.

Hopkins has made his name beating up former welterweights. Why stop now?

My biggest criticism of Hopkins is his hypocracy. He has said, in the same week, on BT, that the welterweights need to quit being ******* and move up and fight him, that it isn't that much weight. Then he'd turn around and say that he can't move up to fight Jones because the weight difference is too great. Welter to Middle is 2 classes up. Jones would've met Hopkins at 168. I can't believe Jones even offered Hopkins a 60-40 split. Hopkins didn't deserve it. At best, he deserved the 25-75 split.

Hopkins may bull**** everyone about his "master plan" to get the DLH fight but that is bull****. I just don't believe that he beat Trinidad, and constantly priced himself out of match after match because he knew he was going to fight DLH 3 years later. Why not make all those big matches as well and make even more money? Then he could've built himself up into a big enough star to ask for even more money against DLH. Hopkins does a lot of talking, but he speaks in half truths.

Thats bull****. Take a risk. Floyd could be considered the greatest fighter evey by you guys if he wouldve stayed at 130. Who wouldve beat him? He wouldve been bigger, stronger, and faster then Pac, Morales, or MAB but he didnt take the easy way out and X shouldnt either. Now he's talking about maybe moving up, but to fight who? Tarver who everyone knows is a overhyped joke but X is still scared to fight him or Johnson a guy who X has already beat. Hopkins is a good fighter but he has played alot of you boxing fans.

He's like 50 cent. He talks all this **** about Ja making love songs and now thats all he does.
X talks all this **** about why Tito and Oscar wont move up to fight him but he never goes up.

You know as well as every other Floyd Mayweather Jr. fan knows that he even told Larry Merchant, in the post fight interview, following his victory over Jesus Chavez that he couldn't make 130lbs. anymore. I believe Mayweather could have stayed at 135lbs., but there was nothing there for him, no more good fights. Why should Hopkins move up now? What fight in a different division can give him more money than Trinidad II? I mean he even said he's in it for the money now, he's secured his legacy as being the first undisputed middleweight champ is "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler and having 20 consecutive title defences. Since you keep finding ways to bash him, how would you have managed his career, what in your opinion, did Hopkins do wrong?

He has at most two more fights this year, if he wants to end his career big he will fight Taylor or Sturm first and then the winner of Trinidad/Wright. There is more money at middle than LH and he can go for his 21st and 22nd defense...

You know as well as every other Floyd Mayweather Jr. fan knows that he even told Larry Merchant, in the post fight interview, following his victory over Jesus Chavez that he couldn't make 130lbs. anymore. I believe Mayweather could have stayed at 135lbs., but there was nothing there for him, no more good fights. Why should Hopkins move up now? What fight in a different division can give him more money than Trinidad II? I mean he even said he's in it for the money now, he's secured his legacy as being the first undisputed middleweight champ is "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler and having 20 consecutive title defences. Since you keep finding ways to bash him, how would you have managed his career, what in your opinion, did Hopkins do wrong?
I honestly just can not have a guy #1 on my #4# list who stayed at one weight his whole career, especially if it wasnt a good weight. There recently haven been no good fighters at 160 until Oscar and Tito went up. Back in the day there were alot of good guys at 160 and X didnt fight any of them except for Roy and we all know what happened

#4# was made because guys like Ray Robinson was fighting guys much bigger then them. It isnt fair for people to criticze Tito, Oscar, Roy, and so on if they lose but they took the risk. What if X wouldve moved up? He may have lost and then would you call him the best? If other guys move up and lose but he stays there it isnt fair to give him the #1 spot.

The same goes for Zoo. Zoo had plenty of time to move up when 140 stunk and 147 was great but he didnt. People say he is the best at 140 but he hasnt beaten any of these guys and the division wasnt good at first. He should stay there now because there are good fights but he stayed way too long and shouldnt be able to be considered #1