When was Bernard Hopkins prime?

He's prime, but you just called him old. :lol1: How is an old man in his prime? I'm sure Tim Duncan's learned every trick in the book at this point, but is he a better player now? Case closed. And don't talk about his recent performances. If the B-Hop of today fought a prime Jermain Taylor, you REALLY think it would look the same as when they fought before? :lol1: Why are you getting all excited.:boobies: All I said originally was that he is more comfortable in the ring now.

He is an odd case it seems This is an interesting post b/c, if you are referring to his physical prime - his days are long gone- one can make the argument that he was well past his prime before his victory over Tarver, or even before his losses that ended his streak in the Taylor era. However what makes him special or outlast his physical prime is his skills and experience. The man can out think you in the ring which makes him timeless. He's preserved himself well to go beyond just physical talents which fade over time with age (i.e., Roy Jones Jr).

1997-1999, Bernard Hopkins was a f*cking beast. That guy was damn near unbeatable. Even by the time he fought Tito I felt like he had slowed just a tick. But a couple years before that...good Lord. I understand why no fighter wanted to be anywhere near him.

What old person wouldn't dumba$$ :lol1: He's prime, but you just called him old. :lol1: How is an old man in his prime? I'm sure Tim Duncan's learned every trick in the book at this point, but is he a better player now? Case closed. And don't talk about his recent performances. If the B-Hop of today fought a prime Jermain Taylor, you REALLY think it would look the same as when they fought before? :lol1:

This is what I'm talking about. I'm Clueless. The B-Hop of today would give up 20 fights worth of knowledge for his athleticism back. :lol1: He wouldn't even have gotten touched by a fighter like Pascal, let alone knocked down twice. Or however many times he got knocked down, I forget. What old person wouldn't dumba$$ :lol1:

Yeah it really seems like it or he's just becoming more comfortable in the ring like Floyd. This is what I'm talking about. Clueless. The B-Hop of today would give up 20 fights worth of knowledge for his athleticism back. :lol1: He wouldn't even have gotten touched by a fighter like Pascal, let alone knocked down twice. Or however many times he got knocked down, I forget.

SMH at people thinking a persons prime boils down to one fight :lol1: (He was in his prime when he fought so&so :argue: No he was in his prime when he fought bra) :argue:

not sure, but he was prime when roy jones took him to the school of talking without nouns

He is clearly just beginning it lol Yeah it really seems like it or he's just becoming more comfortable in the ring like Floyd.

yea. experience is a huge factor. its difficult to say what hopkins' physical prime was because hopkins fought differently against tito. used his legs to move around the ring, used defense, feints, other moves that depend more on sharp reflexes. but its hard to say a mans physical prime is at the age of 36. but for me, hopkins absolute prime factoring in a culmination of facets was shown when he was 36 against trinidad. everything in the trinidad fight was on point and it required all the experience he acquired that led up to the moment. i am sure that the hopkins of that night would have put any middleweight in history in an hospital, and if that middleweight was someone named marvin hagler, bernard would in the hospital bed next to marvins. Yeah, if you want to show a masterpiece performance of B-Hop, you show that fight. Of course based on performance and the opponent he was fighting.

Probably when he beat Trinidad in 2001.

...........1912.........!

I would say he was prime when he beat down Glen Johnson. Anyone who says he was prime after the age of 35 is just being silly. Just look at the Johnson fight and the intensity he fights at.

boxing IQ does have a lot to do with prime. There's a point of diminishing returns. When I look at someone's prime, I try to find that perfect sweet spot where they were physically at their strongest and fastest, AND they had the required amount of fights where I can confidently say that he's learned enough to consider that the best version of said boxer. I'm not saying prime starts exactly when you hit your physical peak.

People need to stop acting like he learned the secret zen teachings of boxing as he got older. He just had very good match making to make his veteran skills shine through.

I'd go as far back as the second Mercado fight Yeah, anywhere around that time period, you can make an argument, and you'd probably be right. I'm lmao @ people that think the Hopkins that fought Calzaghe was prime Hopkins. That's only 3 fights away from his rematch with RJJ. :lol1: I don't care how much "smarter" he got. That's in no way, shape or form his prime. Prime is the perfect storm of physical and mental. That's like saying post retirement MJ was more "prime" than 92' MJ.

Calzaghe bummed the prime out of him. He was never the same again. You are one of the biggest idiots to ever post on this forum.

Taylor fights were him exiting his prime. Now that doesn't mean he still can't get better or worse.

He lost to Calzaghe in 2008, and don't even try to give me that "B-hop wuz robbed yo" bullshit either. you are entitled to your opinion, i thought hopkins put on a clinic and clearly won. i have seen the fight several times and even if i give joe every single competitive round in addition to the ones he won i still have hopkins winning the fight. the only bull**** is your "wuz robbed yo" crap. almost as unnecessary as it is ignorant. tells me why you had calzaghe winning though so i wont have to bother breaking down the fight.