Bernard Hopkins Over Rated! any one agree?

[bojangles1987]

I think he's slightly overrated, too many people think he might be the best middleweight ever. His longevity is impressive but he is not among the top 5.

[General Zod]

You can class a lot of people as bigger fighters if you monitor the night of the fight weights. Hopkins was not a natural LHW when he started his career, he merely was unconditioned at the time.

I find that hard to believe that, this was his big chance to do something with his life and you want me to believe that he turned up out of shape? Also just because A fighter doesnt drain himself doesn't mean he doesnt belong in that wieght class see Mayweather, Corley and now Pac, who come fight night are always near the official weight limit. Im also interested in where you got this info from?

Hopkins was willing to make 154 lbs up to age 39, so it's quite foolish to suggest he was natural for 175 when he was 23. Hopkins actually offered to fight DLH at 154, but DLH pushed the weight up to 156 just so Hopkins would put his MW titles on the line.

Come fight night Hopkins was back up to 169 lbs (lhw).

[General Zod]

Marvin Hagler fought big men like Juan Roldan,Fully Obell, Sibson (huge) but no one gave him the problems the smaller Leonard, Duran did, reason? Duran, Leonard were elite where as the aforementioned were just solid fighters.

Hagler fought the wrong fight with Duran he was way to cautious, his best rounds were went he started turning up the pressure in rounds 6,7,14 and 15. He was over the hill when he fought Leonard, which is why Leonard chose to fight him at that time.

Well Duran achieved what as a Middleweight?

Beat Barkley to get the WBC belt

I did not say Pavlik was a great win i said it was a solid win, Winky walks around at 175 as Roy Jones has stated, plus when is all said and done he is/was an elite! fighter. Again i did not call Johnson, Joppy and Echols great wins, infact i specifically stated they were solid wins.

Fair enough, my mistake

I dont have an ATG list because they are too contentious. I rank him above Roy Jones though.

We will have to agree, to disagree.

[oaklandstephen]

good post, i also think in middleweight match ups, monzon, hagler, greb, la motta, burley and billy conn all beat hopkins

i think hopkins beats all of them

[Obama]

I find that hard to believe that, this was his big chance to do something with his life and you want me to believe that he turned up out of shape? Also just because A fighter doesnt drain himself doesn't mean he doesnt belong in that wieght class see Mayweather, Corley and now Pac, who come fight night are always near the official weight limit. Im also interested in where you got this info from?

You find it hard to believe that he wasn't in top physical condition yet he lost his first fight against a nobody? .......

Whether or not fighters belong in their weight class is entirely dependent on how good they are and how good the division is. If fighters are simply good enough, they can compete successfully above their natural weight.

As for Hopkins, he didn't drain himself to make weight, he did it comfortably, illustrated in his performances.

Also, I'm old enough to be around when it happened, I don't need to be pulling sources out of my ass.

Come fight night Hopkins was back up to 169 lbs (lhw).

You do realize Junior Middleweights often come in that heavy? Chad Dawson is a Light Heavyweight. He comes into the ring at 190 lbs.

[Dynamite Kid]

Hagler fought the wrong fight with Duran he was way to cautious, his best rounds were went he started turning up the pressure in rounds 6,7,14 and 15. He was over the hill when he fought Leonard, which is why Leonard chose to fight him at that time.



Beat Barkley to get the WBC belt


Fair enough, my mistake



We will have to agree, to disagree.

Or you could say that Hagler fought two of the best Boxers!! he has ever been in the ring with. Its okay being bigger but being bigger with inferior skills is what got Iran Barkley an ass whoopin against (blown up LW)Duran, Barkley was a very big MW to, possibly a natural LHW.

If Iran Barkley win validates Duran as a great MW win for Hagler then do you concede that Tito annihilating William Joppy legitimatized Tito as a good MW win for Hopkins?

[Obama]

It doesn't matter if he was in shape or not, he lost that fight and was given a gift decision. His record at mw should be 0-2, hardly the record of a great mw. Duran after losing to Hagler went on to beat Barkely, DLH after losing to Hopkins went back down to jmw.

Duran also went on to lose to Robbie ****in Sims. Sturm > Sims. Both DLH and Duran were out of shape in both fights. Duran officially lost to the lesser opponent, DLH officially beat the better opponent.

And of course DLH went back down in weight, he hadn't given up on staying in the best possible shape (unlike Duran). And if Hopkins didn't hold ALL the belts at MW, DLH could easily have entertained other bouts.

[Dynamite Kid]

Duran also went on to lose to Robbie ****in Sims. Sturm > Sims. Both DLH and Duran were out of shape in both fights. Duran officially lost to the lesser opponent, DLH officially beat the better opponent.

And of course DLH went back down in weight, he hadn't given up on staying in the best possible shape (unlike Duran). And if Hopkins didn't hold ALL the belts at MW, DLH could easily have entertained other bouts.

Just wondering, who do you reckon would win in a fight between DLH & Robbie Sims at MW?

Just curious, no reason.

[Obama]

Just wondering, who do you reckon would win in a fight between DLH & Robbie Sims at MW?

Just curious, no reason.

If DLH came in the same condition he fought Sturm in, Sims has a chance but still probably loses. If he came in the condition he fought Hopkins in, Sims doesn't win 4 rounds.

[SplitSecond]

You find it hard to believe that he wasn't in top physical condition yet he lost his first fight against a nobody? .......

oh wow, so you and some fans just made that excuse up, you dont really know what happened right?

i think it's more a case of if hopkins can't bully you he can't beat you, that's why he lost to taylor and probabley mitchell, that's why he stays down at the lower weights, smaller guys, he can sap the energy out of through clinching and just being all round bigger and stronger

lets also ignore that the hopkins-hoya fight was fixed

and glen johnson was simply just a good win back then, he literally lost to bums after that and fought nothing but bums beforehand, he was much better when he switched to his aggressive style