By Mark Vester
Former multi-division champion James Toney had to laugh when he heard Bernard Hopkins was calling for a fight with IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. He doesn't find it amusing because Hopkins wants Bute. He finds it amusing because Hopkins is the master of flip-flopping opponents.
Hopkins wanted to fight then WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev in 2007 and instead he made Winky Wright move up by two weight divisions. Last year he wanted to fight then IBF cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek and current IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green. Instead Hopkins accepted a rematch with a very past his prime Roy Jones Jr.
A few weeks ago Hopkins was beating the drums for a jump to heavyweight to challenge WBA champion David Haye, and now he wants Bute to move up in weight for a fight at 170-pounds. Toney predicts a knockout win for Bute if the fight ever happens.
"Bernard Hopkins was saying he wants to fight Lucian Bute? Come on, dog! Bute would knock Bernard Hopkins out. I have been telling ya'll for years Hopkins is a fraud. He went from calling out David Haye, a heavyweight, to calling out Bute, who is a super middleweight. He saw something in Bute and wanted that fight. After [Bute's win over Miranda], he may be asking for a Pavlik rematch," Toney told fighthype.com.
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