Could Taylor beat this Hopkins?

[K-Nan]

Hopkins 5th pro fight, and he looked like Oscar Delahoya. Of course the comp was worse...

[warp1432]

You think the Hopkins in the vid posted was sloppy? That was the epitome of economical and technical. What were you watching?

Well not sloppy as in "My god he's so off balance" and stuff, but "sloppy" comparing to the Hopkins in his prime so to say.

I'll take the 2nd Mecardo when he first won the IBF as an example. While he looked good with agression, I thought he wasted a lot of shots doing so.

He was sloppy comparing to his status of his prime basically.

[ИATAS]

Well not sloppy as in "My god he's so off balance" and stuff, but "sloppy" comparing to the Hopkins in his prime so to say.

He took a lot more risks back then, is what I would say, which at times left him open to get hit (something that never happens these days). He's a much smarter fighter in the ring now in the sense that he only throws punches when the opportunity is there and never wastes anything. This of course has to do with adapting to his age. Obviously a younger Hopkins could afford to waste energy whereas a 40+ year old hopkins must conserve energy.

[wmute]

The only reason Taylor beat Hopkins was workrate, which would clearly not be an issue in this one.

It's hard to pick someone with 4 pro fights against someone with 20+ and an olympic medal, but this might be the wise thing to do here here.

[Dorian]

Yes, yes he could,

[OptimusWolf]

Asian - you're a good writer and all, but I don't get the point of this. I can't tell much about Hopkins from this fight over a truly awful opponent.

Would Taylor have beaten Hopkins on his best day - probably not - but Hopkins has gone on to compete at a decent level since he lost twice to Taylor. That validates Taylor's victories in my eyes.

[Mr. Ryan]

For the record, these are the first words of text I've entered into this thread. I haven't endorsed any answer, whether yes or no, on the question of this thread. Posting of the afore-watched video is not a declaration of any kind.

[ferocity]

1. How did Bernard grow an inch after he was 25?
2. Easy to look good against a guy with a 1-1 record that has no jab or defence to speak of (that guy went on to finish his career with a 1-3 record.)
3. Bernard had 12 first round KOs and 23 fights and was 28 when Roy Jones beat him, and people try not to give any credit to Roy for this win.
4. Taylor would have easily beaten this Hopkins with only 4 pro fights under his belt.

i think posters will dodge your post.

Truth is Hopkins is still a threat and beat two top fighters in his last outting and Taylor still gets little respect, too bad.

[THE REAL NINJA]

I don't know,
the experience of Taylor now Vs that Hopkins who had youth and aggression.....

For the most part it seems that Hopkins lost those fights based more on the style in which he used on those nights and less a fact of Taylor being the better of the two.

I think that Hopkins would have made a Taylor fight into a classic battle.
I could see Taylor rocking Hop or even knocking him out but the same can be said of Hopkins.

I think Hopkins proven ability to think in the ring and adapt will somehow win him the fight.

Hey Ryan do you agree or disagree with my 'KO artist' thread :?

[wmute]

I don't know,
the experience of Taylor now Vs that Hopkins who had youth and aggression.....

For the most part it seems that Hopkins lost those fights based more on the style in which he used on those nights and less a fact of Taylor being the better of the two.

I think that Hopkins would have made a Taylor fight into a classic battle.
I could see Taylor rocking Hop or even knocking him out but the same can be said of Hopkins.

I think Hopkins proven ability to think in the ring and adapt will somehow win him the fight.

Hey Ryan do you agree or disagree with my 'KO artist' thread :?

Interesting that you would see Taylor stop Hopkins.

When Hopkins was never stopped

When Taylor could not stop Ouma, Spinks, Joppy and so on