why did oscar fight hopkins?

Oscar fought Bernard because he thought he could win. Period. I mean isn't that why boxers fight? To win? Oscar deserves respect, even though he was the cash cow he never ducked a challenge. I wish my favorite fighter would take a page from Oscar, Oscar took the challenges and wasn't afraid to lose. Floyd was one of my favorites, but I saw a long time ago what people are starting to see now....A guy not willing to do the necessary things to be the greatest fighter of All-Time. It's as if he doesn't believe in himself, despite his braggard attitude.

Oscar fought Bernard because he thought he could win. Period. I mean isn't that why boxers fight? To win? Oscar deserves respect, even though he was the cash cow he never ducked a challenge. I wish my favorite fighter would take a page from Oscar, Oscar took the challenges and wasn't afraid to lose.

If you don't think B-Hop wasn't more marketable after his win against Oscar than I don't know what to tell you. He certainly was. But I like your thinking, it's always about who benefits. B-Hop is a noisemaker. There is simply no better person to have on your team and if he wasn't on GBP, you better believe he'd be making their life miserable. Just ask Butch Lewis, Don King, or the host of networks and movers/shakers Hopkins spoke out against on trial. I thought it was a brilliant move by Oscar. And it all made sense when I saw that farce of a fight. I could list plenty of reasons but hey, what do I know? I'm sure I sound like an idiot. But I urge you - and anyone else - to go back and watch that fight again. Then think of the sequence of events that happened almost immediately after (weeks, if memory serves correct!). Partnerships, like negotiations, don't take place over night. To be honest with you, I can't even argue against your points, because what you are saying definitely makes sense. I just never heard about that theory and wanted to see why a fight between the two would be fixed. BTW...IMO I don't think it was the win over De La Hoya as much as it was a combination of GBP getting the right fights for b-hop, and the competition he faced after his win. B-hop did what he had to do for his first 5-7 years as MW champ. It's just that there were really no marketable opponents. The closest was William Joppy and Keith Holmes. Then all of a sudden Jermain Taylor emerges as a star, Winky beats Shane, and suddenly B-hop has some high profile fights available for him. I mean if anything B-hop should be very fortunate, because while he kept it real by putting promoters like King on blast, he also burnt bridges. Oscar is the type that really doesn't give a fukk and just wants to get money. Oscar also has a great staff at GBP that knows how to put together fights and cards, so considering B-hop circumstances, signing to GBP made sense as it may have been his only option at the time. BTW it was a classic moment when he put don king on blast after the Trinidad fight. If you watch closely Don King tried to hug b-hop and bernard said get the fukk off me, if it was up to you I wouldnt be were Im at today (or something along the lines).

DLH's job is to MAKE fighters....you know, make them a household name!!....B.Hop got a "Beyond The Glory", Floyd got a spot on WWE and Dancing With The Stars, Manny got the front of TIME magazine and now has Hollywood stars as groupies......DLH is the man!!! :lol1:

BTW even though my topic had nothing to do with the actual fight (as far as what happened in the ring)....since you believe it was fixed, what benefit would it be for Oscar to let Bernard beat him. B-hop had way more to gain from signing to Golden Boy than Oscar had to gain for signing Bernard. Bernard wasnt more marketable after his win against Oscar or anything either. I'm just curious as to what could either gain from having the fight fixed. If you don't think B-Hop wasn't more marketable after his win against Oscar than I don't know what to tell you. He certainly was. But I like your thinking, it's always about who benefits. B-Hop is a noisemaker. There is simply no better person to have on your team and if he wasn't on GBP, you better believe he'd be making their life miserable. Just ask Butch Lewis, Don King, or the host of networks and movers/shakers Hopkins spoke out against on trial. I thought it was a brilliant move by Oscar. And it all made sense when I saw that farce of a fight. I could list plenty of reasons but hey, what do I know? I'm sure I sound like an idiot. But I urge you - and anyone else - to go back and watch that fight again. Then think of the sequence of events that happened almost immediately after (weeks, if memory serves correct!). Partnerships, like negotiations, don't take place over night.

He did it for both money and history. BHOP also was the guy who beat TITO and he wanted that over TITO, to say i beat the guy who beat trinidad. Everyone thought BHOP would KO him. I was one of the few who thought Oscar had an outside chance if he would use hand speed and move around the ring ala SRL vs Hagler. But OScar stood in front of him and tried out jab him. I was suprised that one body shot KO him. But i had BHOP winning the fight after 8 rounds 77-76, had one round even. Physically BHOP was too much for Oscar. I still give him credit for fighting numerous great fighters in 6 different weight classes. Also DLH never lost a fight at 130, 135, or 140. He also had controversial wins vs Quartay and Whitaker at 147, i thought he did deserve atleast a draw against TITO even if he ran the last 4 rds, got robbed in the 2nd Mosley fight and did KO his nemesis Vargas and Mayorga. He also was winning against PBF after 8 rds, and ran out of gas. His perfomance against pac was horrible, but i give him credit for taking blows and not getting knockdown, it demonstrated he has heart even though he was past his prime.

nobody would have blamed oscar for not fighting oscar, if he wouldnt have fought trinidad or quartey i could only imagine the ridicule. i mean look what he gets called as it is. although it seems he is finnally starting to get some of the credit he deserves at least in this thread anyway.

BTW even though my topic had nothing to do with the actual fight (as far as what happened in the ring)....since you believe it was fixed, what benefit would it be for Oscar to let Bernard beat him. B-hop had way more to gain from signing to Golden Boy than Oscar had to gain for signing Bernard. Bernard wasnt more marketable after his win against Oscar or anything either. I'm just curious as to what could either gain from having the fight fixed.

Amazing how that obviously fixed fight has pulled the wool over fans. WTF does that have to do with anything I posted? No hate on your response because everyone is entitled to an opinion, but the theme of my reply was: 1. If Oscar would have won he would have been undisputed champ at MW, which was in response to the question of why he would fight hopkins instead of taking a safer fight. 2. Oscar has fought some of the best competion during his career. Alot of them were fights he didnt have to take such as Quartey and Trinidad. So basically your saying just because I believe Oscar has faced some of the best competion through his career (which is an opinion) and that beating hopkins would have made him the undisputed champ at 160 (which is fact), that I'm a fan with wool over my eyes? :thinking:

it was just a glorified sparring session

Oscar did the fight for his legacy. If it was about money, I believe that Oscar could have fought a paper bag and still earned a paycheck.

Oh shit it's the great djtmal, the same guy that's been hating on hopkins for 6-7 years on the internet on dozens of websites, who only talks about how he hates hopkins so much! That quote just proved your point - he was weight drained for over 15 years. Quite amazing. Also amazing is the fact that this supposedly light heavyweight would weigh in at 156-158 pounds and only rehydrate to 162-168 pounds. That's quite astonishing for someone who is supposedly a light heavyweight! He also walked around between 160-165 between fights. Again, amazing for a supposedly light heavyweight, wouldn't you think? oh shit its natas...the ignoramous who can't count in ascending or descending order...who loves to hang on dese nuts whether i'm in the boardroom or the bathroom... frankly i don't give a f**k how amazing it is that nard was able to make 160lbs to feast on little men...especially when the point of the exercise is why oscar, who was shiite at 160, had any business fighting a scaled down lightheavy who everybody can see was far bigger and stronger than him... i give oscar all the credit in the world for fighting the natural lightheavy nard hopkins...he could have easily made a ton of money fighting little guys...unlike hopkins, who could never shut his critics up with taking a risk against a fighter his size or bigger with equal talent...just a lot of unbacked talk as usual...did i read somewhere that he was trying to make a fight with adamek? instead its jones...then i read somewhere that he's trying to make a fight with haye?....lol..unless haye starts shooting movies with sly stallone, don't wait on it...

seriously he could have fought anyone and made money. i think oscar should be looked at differently, he fought that fight knowing he was not as strong especially after seeing what hopkins did to trinidad. i'm not saying it makes him any greater but he doesnt need to be called gay or anything. anyone fighting hopkins when they didnt have to or expected to is a man. Because he always fights guys that Trinidad fought first, trying to outshine him. For example Vargas, Myorga, Hopkins. He didn't want to mess with Winky though. If Oscar comes back, I would love to see him get it on With Tito so Tito can brutalize him since he can't run away anymore.

He made $30 million for it, and it would've helped his all-time standing immensely if he'd been able to pull off an upset victory.

in response to the threadstarter, looking back at that fight, i always remember the result (oscar getting hit in the body) and didn't take everything into consideration. I was very biased towards him for the rest of his career, and now that you brought it up he does deserve more respect for fighting a bigger man that was the best mw around since hagler.

some people are just closed minded I know. No such thing as fixed fights, arranged affairs, performance enhancers, corruption. Nothing. Maybe Bob Arum should buy KO Magazine.

Amazing how that obviously fixed fight has pulled the wool over fans. some people are just closed minded

Because he would have became the undisputed champ at middleweight with a win over Hopkins. He would have also made history in the process since there are only a handfull of guys to unify the titles at that weight (only Haglar and Hopkins off the top of my head). Your right though because after seeing what Hopkins did to Trinidad I thought Oscar was a fool for taking this fight. That just goes to show you what type of champ Oscar was, and how he fought all the big names in his prrime. I wish we had more champs like that. Amazing how that obviously fixed fight has pulled the wool over fans.

LOL if Hopkins was a "natural light heavyweight" then how the fuuck did he weigh 156 pounds? And most all of his fights he weighed in at 157-158. So You're telling me he was weight drained for over 15 years? My god if that's true what an accomplishment! Hopkins legacy is even GREATER if you put it that way. QUOTE] Quote from your boy Hopkins: "If they knew what I had to go through all those years to stay at middleweight and rack up those 20 defenses, I'd get a blue ribbon for that." please don't retort with that lame 'just got out of prison' excuse either...

seriously he could have fought anyone and made money. i think oscar should be looked at differently, he fought that fight knowing he was not as strong especially after seeing what hopkins did to trinidad. i'm not saying it makes him any greater but he doesnt need to be called gay or anything. anyone fighting hopkins when they didnt have to or expected to is a man. I think he had various reasons: the cash, maybe he wanted to sign Bernard in the GBP eccetera. The real reason I think it was the fact that DLH did fight always the best and I also think that he was thinking about himself as done in the SW division beating Vargas and Mosley II (yeah he defeated Mosley II). He had big balls even if that fight was a clear mistake. I like to remember that he had a competitive fight until the KO, he was clearly doing better than Tito and Joppy did, for example.