It seems to me that Hopkins has gotten screwed over by judges or at least not given the benefit of the doubt. The Shumenov fight being a split decision was crazy, that was a clear Hopkins' win and a near robbery. I also thought the first Pascal fight was a clear but close win for Hopkins. And a lot of people think B-Hop should've gotten the win over Calzaghe, I'd have to rewatch it to give my opinion there. And we can't forget both Taylor fights.
Hopkins sometimes doesn't seem to be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to judges which surprises me considering his close ties with Golden Boy and his legacy.
Why? And could this be a factor against the aggressive Kovalev?
His style is just not very appealing and a lot of his moves are very subtle which leads to the appearance that the opponent is doing more than they really are.
With his lack of activity he is always going to be dancing on a knife edge anyway no matter how ineffective he makes the other guy.
I agree that judges may not find him appealing due to his lower output but I'd think his connections with Golden Boy would fix that but I guess not.
His style is just not very appealing and a lot of his moves are very subtle which leads to the appearance that the opponent is doing more than they really are.
With his lack of activity he is always going to be dancing on a knife edge anyway no matter how ineffective he makes the other guy.