Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Louis

[Poet682006]

well,

Louis and Hopkins are near Identical in size, that was my main reason. Seeing as he comes in at 200+ maybe I don't have an argument anymore.

Previously, thinking Louis came in at around 200, meant he has about 10 lbs on Hopkins, the reach and height was near Identical. That was my initial argument. In my personal opinion Hopkins is a more skilled fighter than Louis p4p wise, so if they were similar in size I would give Hopkins a good chance.

If Louis is as big as you say he is though, perhaps I am wrong.

Got to stop you there. Even a Joe Louis at an even 200 is still a Heavyweight while a prime Hopkins is 160: A Middleweight. Bernard has fought recently (ie. as an old man and way past his prime) at 175 in a couple of fights: Still significantly smaller than a 200 pound Heavyweight.

Poet

[them_apples]

Got to stop you there. Even a Joe Louis at an even 200 is still a Heavyweight while a prime Hopkins is 160: A Middleweight. Bernard has fought recently (ie. as an old man and way past his prime) at 175 in a couple of fights: Still significantly smaller than a 200 pound Heavyweight.

Poet

my initial argument was that Hopkins comes in at about 190 (after weigh in, during Louis' day it was "same day" weigh in) as of recently, That was my argument. I'm a pretty huge Hopkins fan so maybe I'm just digging to far.

As for the size comparison you would think Liston was much larger than Louis' he even looked bigger than his weight is listed at? Jab has told me otherwise. (this isn't really relevant, I just wanted to hear your opinion)

[TheGreatA]

I believe Louis was at his peak when he fought against Abe Simon for the second time (some wouldn't agree) and he weighed 208 lbs. His opponent was nothing more than an over-sized punching bag (or atleast was made to look like one) but it's as impressive as any other performance I've seen of Joe Louis, despite the opposition.

It was his last fight before he took 4 years off from professional boxing because of the second World War.



Pictures:





Liston actually weighed 204 lbs here against Wayne Bethea:

[Classic]

Hmmm

I dismissed this thread at first thinking it was pure garbage. The more I run it through my head, it gets fairly interesting. I've also learned to stop counting Hopkins out.

I don't think it's right to just say "slick" guys gave Louis trouble generally. Although, most of them stood a better chance against him than guys who were willing to trade.

Conn and Hopkins have different styles. Both can be thought of as "slick" but that slickness isn't the same. Seems to me that Conn was more of a mover than was Bernard whereas Bernard fights well in the pocket. Here's the thing. Louis had slow feet fast hands. Against a mover (Conn) Louis looks plodding and ineffective. But Bernard would be in front of Louis, eluding punches by giving him angles, tying up, and all the neat little things that Bernard does. Thing is people often overlook just how fast Louis' hands were. They associate Louis with punching power. If Hopkins stays in front of Louis, I think he gets tagged eventually. I think Bernard could possibly make things interesting until he gets hit flush with a combination or two. Louis KO 11.

[Classic]

Actually...

KO 11 is too generous. Make that Louis KO 9.

[Poet682006]

my initial argument was that Hopkins comes in at about 190 (after weigh in, during Louis' day it was "same day" weigh in) as of recently, That was my argument. I'm a pretty huge Hopkins fan so maybe I'm just digging to far.

As for the size comparison you would think Liston was much larger than Louis' he even looked bigger than his weight is listed at? Jab has told me otherwise. (this isn't really relevant, I just wanted to hear your opinion)

Well, both were about 6'1" in height. Louis in prime came in around 200 pounds while Liston was 210-215 in prime so yeah Liston WAS actually larger by a moderate amount (10-15 pounds). Liston generally LOOKED much larger for some reason and I know for a fact he came to the ring with his robe packed with towells so he'd look even bigger to his intimidated opponent.

Poet

[Terry A]

The problem I see with threads like this is that with a few paragraphs, someone can wipe out a great fighters legacy.

So to say this another way, if Bernard Hopkins can beat a Joe Louis, one of the best heavyweights to have ever fought and someone who is just about universally on everybody's Top 5 list of A.T.G.'s at heavyweight, does this mean that Hopkins is now one of history's all time best heavyweights as well?

Am I missing something here? How many heavyweights has B-Hop knocked out? How many times has he defended the heavyweight championship of the world? How, when he never fought over 174, can he really be favored over Joe Louis. Based on what? His body of work vs other heavyweights?
He never fought a heavyweight.

These are all in fun and I know everybody's opinion is not the same as mine.
But this is a little disrespectful to Joe Louis, don't you think?
I like Hopkins as much as the next guy here, but if somebody asked him "Do you like your chances against Joe Louis?", what do you really think he'd say?

Joe Louis beats him. And Monzon. And Hagler. And Ketchel. And Ricky Hatton. And Joe Louis beats Floyd Mayweather JR. And Manny P. And Salvador Sanchez. I'll take Joe over Lupe Pintor also.

[them_apples]

The problem I see with threads like this is that with a few paragraphs, someone can wipe out a great fighters legacy.

So to say this another way, if Bernard Hopkins can beat a Joe Louis, one of the best heavyweights to have ever fought and someone who is just about universally on everybody's Top 5 list of A.T.G.'s at heavyweight, does this mean that Hopkins is now one of history's all time best heavyweights as well?

Am I missing something here? How many heavyweights has B-Hop knocked out? How many times has he defended the heavyweight championship of the world? How, when he never fought over 174, can he really be favored over Joe Louis. Based on what? His body of work vs other heavyweights?
He never fought a heavyweight.

These are all in fun and I know everybody's opinion is not the same as mine.
But this is a little disrespectful to Joe Louis, don't you think?
I like Hopkins as much as the next guy here, but if somebody asked him "Do you like your chances against Joe Louis?", what do you really think he'd say?

Joe Louis beats him. And Monzon. And Hagler. And Ketchel. And Ricky Hatton. And Joe Louis beats Floyd Mayweather JR. And Manny P. And Salvador Sanchez. I'll take Joe over Lupe Pintor also.

this whole thread started as "Hopkins has a chance" when you break it down. It escalated into "Hopkins beats Louis". Hopkins has never fought at HW so we will never know.

Louis is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, a very sharp puncher.

[JAB5239]

The problem I see with threads like this is that with a few paragraphs, someone can wipe out a great fighters legacy.

So to say this another way, if Bernard Hopkins can beat a Joe Louis, one of the best heavyweights to have ever fought and someone who is just about universally on everybody's Top 5 list of A.T.G.'s at heavyweight, does this mean that Hopkins is now one of history's all time best heavyweights as well?

Am I missing something here? How many heavyweights has B-Hop knocked out? How many times has he defended the heavyweight championship of the world? How, when he never fought over 174, can he really be favored over Joe Louis. Based on what? His body of work vs other heavyweights?
He never fought a heavyweight.

These are all in fun and I know everybody's opinion is not the same as mine.
But this is a little disrespectful to Joe Louis, don't you think?
I like Hopkins as much as the next guy here, but if somebody asked him "Do you like your chances against Joe Louis?", what do you really think he'd say?

Joe Louis beats him. And Monzon. And Hagler. And Ketchel. And Ricky Hatton. And Joe Louis beats Floyd Mayweather JR. And Manny P. And Salvador Sanchez. I'll take Joe over Lupe Pintor also.

This is just a straight up good post with a sense of humor to it. Green K given.