How biased is HBO against Hopkins?!?

yes they have hated him since day one cause he didn't play ball like all the other fighters. they set up jermain taylor to be the heir to his throne for a long time and when he finally got a shot against hopkins he lost miserably and was give a gift. they have always talked shit about him while at the same time using his boxing star to big up their own company. HOPKINS KO MERCHANT If Taylor was given a gift by anyone it was by Bernard Hopkins who took rounds off. Specifically he took the first eight rounds off. And he did the same again in the second fight.

I dont think Larry actually dislikes Hopkins at all. Infact, I have heard him talk about Hopkins and say something to the effect of "We just expect more out of him then he gives us sometimes." He made it sound like he believed Hopkins is good enough to be able to win, and take some chances and put on an entertaining show, rather then always coast to an easy win. Everyone knows that Larry likes "exciting" fighters, and Hopkins isnt exciting.

the thought that provoked this thread is how kellerman promoted the dawson fight so hard, and deliberately avoided all mention of BHOP. his attitude was like "clearly there is no one out there in boxing, other than this young undefeated stud named chad dawson who could possibly be thought of as an opponent for Joe Calzaghe. There really is NO ONE else. The mandate is clearly for Chad - a mandate from the "people" (aka HBO- ahem *cough). I can't think of anyone else on the scene who deserves a shot at Joe, and that must be because there IS no one else?!? can anyone else think of another possible opponent?!? NOPE! It's settled then. Bad Chad or nothing. That's It!" bullshit. he didn't even casually mention the mere possibility of a rematch with BHOP....

They respect Hopkins but they don't like him. He don't have the kinda star image they can be fanboys and jack off to like some other fighters. i think he has that kind of image. they key lies in his winning smile... you can't deny the man is a looker!!!

We all know that there is little love between Larry Merchant and BHop, but it goes even further. Even the highlights of Hopkins on Demand in the pre-fight buildup for his last 5 or so fights have been skewed. they show the oscar highlight and some other sh1tty highlights. then they focus on the JT losses. there is no mention of trinidad, let alone any footage of the brilliant performance. he has been highly criticized by the crew for not being "exciting." even in the Tarver fight when he was putting on a clinic, Merchant was saying he was falling asleep... instead of praising hopkins in his shutout, hbo denounced pavlik and jumped all over him and his team for taking the fight, claiming it they sold out for the money. in reality, hbo had shut down every proposed fight, from marco rubio to Paul Williams by offering bread crumbs to the fighters as purses. finally, post calzaghe-jones, Kellerman and Lampley just assume that BHop isnt gonna get a rematch, and instead push for a fight with Dawson. BHop had not been beaten convincingly, or even beaten at all in the eyes of many, yet he doesn't even deserve to be mentioned?!? how bad does hbo hate hopkins?!? they don't like bhop because he's anti-establishment and an outsider.

yes they have hated him since day one cause he didn't play ball like all the other fighters. they set up jermain taylor to be the heir to his throne for a long time and when he finally got a shot against hopkins he lost miserably and was give a gift. they have always talked shit about him while at the same time using his boxing star to big up their own company. HOPKINS KO MERCHANT

They respect Hopkins but they don't like him. He don't have the kinda star image they can be fanboys and jack off to like some other fighters.

i dont think they were really hating on him.. more just comparing him to jones jr and they were suckin jones jr's wanker for most the night.

Hopkins will forever be the thorn poking HBO in it's proverbial side until he is finally long gone from the sport.

We all know that there is little love between Larry Merchant and BHop, but it goes even further. Even the highlights of Hopkins on Demand in the pre-fight buildup for his last 5 or so fights have been skewed. they show the oscar highlight and some other sh1tty highlights. then they focus on the JT losses. there is no mention of trinidad, let alone any footage of the brilliant performance. he has been highly criticized by the crew for not being "exciting." even in the Tarver fight when he was putting on a clinic, Merchant was saying he was falling asleep... instead of praising hopkins in his shutout, hbo denounced pavlik and jumped all over him and his team for taking the fight, claiming it they sold out for the money. in reality, hbo had shut down every proposed fight, from marco rubio to Paul Williams by offering bread crumbs to the fighters as purses. finally, post calzaghe-jones, Kellerman and Lampley just assume that BHop isnt gonna get a rematch, and instead push for a fight with Dawson. BHop had not been beaten convincingly, or even beaten at all in the eyes of many, yet he doesn't even deserve to be mentioned?!? how bad does hbo hate hopkins?!? That also got me mad, Calzaghe should give Hopkins a rematch.

even when bhop turns in a vintage performance, their praise has tinges of resentment in it... Yup. Automatically it becomes about how shitty the other guys look instead of how amazing Hopkins looks. I relate to Calzaghe fans on that respect. I feel their pain.

I'm not sure why really, but I think it's pretty obvious they don't like him. Sure they love him when he dominates when he's not supposed to (Tarver, Tito, Kelly), but when he puts on a lackluster performance they're ready to burn him at the stake. even when bhop turns in a vintage performance, their praise has tinges of resentment in it...

I'm not sure why really, but I think it's pretty obvious they don't like him. Sure they love him when he dominates when he's not supposed to (Tarver, Tito, Kelly), but when he puts on a lackluster performance they're ready to burn him at the stake.

poll added!

We all know that there is little love between Larry Merchant and BHop, but it goes even further. Even the highlights of Hopkins on Demand in the pre-fight buildup for his last 5 or so fights have been skewed. they show the oscar highlight and some other sh1tty highlights. then they focus on the JT losses. there is no mention of trinidad, let alone any footage of the brilliant performance. he has been highly criticized by the crew for not being "exciting." even in the Tarver fight when he was putting on a clinic, Merchant was saying he was falling asleep... instead of praising hopkins in his shutout, hbo denounced pavlik and jumped all over him and his team for taking the fight, claiming it they sold out for the money. in reality, hbo had shut down every proposed fight, from marco rubio to Paul Williams by offering bread crumbs to the fighters as purses. finally, post calzaghe-jones, Kellerman and Lampley just assume that BHop isnt gonna get a rematch, and instead push for a fight with Dawson. BHop had not been beaten convincingly, or even beaten at all in the eyes of many, yet he doesn't even deserve to be mentioned?!? how bad does hbo hate hopkins?!? I don't think they're biased towards hopkins. They're in business with Golden Boy for one, And Max Kellerman is like a fan, He asked what most fans want to know. I think most fans want to see a prime skilled fighter who is as fast as Calzaghe or probably faster face Calzaghe. Hopkins doesn't throw enough punches to really get a decision. I rather see Calzaghe fight Dawson.