Why's there always a "catch" to Hopkins' best wins?

[Ryn0]

yeah but lots of folks are picking hopkins to ud calzaghe which is laughable
because calzaghe is in his prime and hopkins is way pass his prime
all hopkin can do is hope the judges gift him the fight like the winky one
the winky fight was close but the scores were bs
calzaghe better take precautions so he doesnt get robbed

Calzaghe is not in his prime though he's 35 I believe and will be nearing 36 he says he has two more fights in him at most. I'm surprised he can keep his activity level the way it is now at that age.

I just hope that clash of styles makes it an exciting fight.

[ELPacman]

Oscar = too small
Tito = too small
Tarver = weight drained and unfocused
Winky = blown up Jr. Middleweight

Don't get me wrong, these are good fighters and solid victories, but are they enough to make him the legend he claims to be?

I'm not hating on Hopkins, he's a borderline great fighter, but when I see people talking about this "great resume" which he apparently has, I'm left scratching my head.

Is it just me, or does anybody else think that he fought these guys with an obvious advantage going into each fight?

You might find, many of the P4P greats have a "catch" to their resumes.

[moofo]

You might find, many of the P4P greats have a "catch" to their resumes.

Those that do seem to have been operating since the 1990's.
Prior to that we didn't have to put up with all this ducking **** and avoiding people.

[Shanus]

You might find, many of the P4P greats have a "catch" to their resumes.

But not to every big victory of their career.

[P4P Opinion]

There is a catch to nearly every victory if you search for one and some people will always search. These people just feel a need to discredit a fighter out of irrational hatred.

The fact is that Hopkins has always fought the biggest names he could get with the one exception of him originally ducking Calzaghe. He beat great fighters in De La Hoya, Trinidad, Tarver and Wright, regardless of the conditions. He even gave the greatest fighter of his generation the sternest test of his prime (Roy Jones Jr).

All that said though, in my opinion at least, Hopkins needs a fight with Calzaghe more than Calzaghe needs it. He needs at least one big victory that no-one can question for his own pride. I know a lot of you would say that Calzaghe needs to prove himself against a big American name, but for me he's already proved himself as a fighter against two great fighters in their prime (Lacy and Kessler), even if people have looked for excuses retrospectively. He doesn't need a big American name to cement his legacy anywhere other than America, although a victory over Pavlik would cement his legacy as far as I'm concerned.

[warp1432]

Why is it his fault? Why ISN'T it his fault?

It's his career, I'm not taking away any of his accomplishments, I'm just slightly critical about them.

And to me he is overrated, a borderline great fighter, but overrated.

He's no legend.

Why isn't it his fault? Because Oscar and Tito both volunteered to come up on there own and Bernard can't control Tarver to not be out of shape and overweight.

Winky also was willing to fight Hopkins, so if he didn't want to risk the L he shouldn't have fought.

edit:

But not to every big victory of their career.

Manny Pacquiao:

MAB I: Unfocused
Erik Morales 2: Shot
Erik Morales 3: Wayyyyyyyy older
JMM: Disputied decision that could go either way.
MAB 2: Old and just willing to hang in there.

See how easy that is?

[moofo]

There is a catch to nearly every victory if you search for one and some people will always search. These people just feel a need to discredit a fighter out of irrational hatred.

The fact is that Hopkins has always fought the biggest names he could get with the one exception of him originally ducking Calzaghe. He beat great fighters in De La Hoya, Trinidad, Tarver and Wright, regardless of the conditions. He even gave the greatest fighter of his generation the sternest test of his prime (Roy Jones Jr).

All that said though, in my opinion at least, Hopkins needs a fight with Calzaghe more than Calzaghe needs it. He needs at least one big victory that no-one can question for his own pride. I know a lot of you would say that Calzaghe needs to prove himself against a big American name, but for me he's already proved himself as a fighter against two great fighters in their prime (Lacy and Kessler), even if people have looked for excuses retrospectively. He doesn't need a big American name to cement his legacy anywhere other than America, although a victory over Pavlik would cement his legacy as far as I'm concerned.

You really believe that?
I've heard people ask on here why Calzaghe didn't move up the weights for the sterner challenges.
If ANYBODY should have done that it should have been Hopkins.
Truth is he chose to stay with the little fish and the easier paydays.
He could have been fighting at 168 or 175 the whole time he was at 160.
Hopkins is a legend in his own mind and some of his fans.
I am not "looking" for a "Catch" in his resume.
They are PLAIN TO SEE.

[warp1432]

The fact is that Hopkins has always fought the biggest names he could get with the one exception of him originally ducking Calzaghe.

But Calzaghe wasn't a big name back then.

The only big names he truely passed up on was Toney in 2003 (but the fight would have been at crusier ) and Jones a lot because they were both too stubborn to come to a contract negotiation.

[P4P Opinion]

But Calzaghe wasn't a big name back then.

The only big names he truely passed up on was Toney in 2003 (but the fight would have been at crusier ) and Jones a lot because they were both too stubborn to come to a contract negotiation.

Well apparantly Calzaghe was a big enough name after he beat Lacy. Hopkins reportedly pulled out in the eleventh hour demanding almost double what they'd already agreed in principle.

I consider that the act of a frightened man and I consider his chasing of Calzaghe at the moment the act of a desperate man who needs a big fight.

[P4P Opinion]

You really believe that?
I've heard people ask on here why Calzaghe didn't move up the weights for the sterner challenges.
If ANYBODY should have done that it should have been Hopkins.
Truth is he chose to stay with the little fish and the easier paydays.
He could have been fighting at 168 or 175 the whole time he was at 160.
Hopkins is a legend in his own mind and some of his fans.
I am not "looking" for a "Catch" in his resume.
They are PLAIN TO SEE.

I can see them mate, but they aren't huge catches as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't just talking about Hopkins when I said about people looking for catches on records anyway.