Oscar was the easiest defense either Joe or 'Nard ever took

[SHB]

All hail Boxrec! Funnily enough Pudwill also fought Ottke and took him the distance.

Lets be honest here, there's little between the resume's of Hopkins and Calzaghe. Hopkins has the bigger names (albeit against much smaller men) but Calzaghe has the more impressive victories, as well as not being beaten by Jones and Taylor.

As for Trinidad and Oscar, exceptional at the lower weights but mediocre MW. Neither were even in the top 3 of Hopkins' most impressive victories and wouldn't make the top 5 on Calzaghe's list.

[TheGreatA]

All hail Boxrec! Funnily enough Pudwill also fought Ottke and took him the distance.

Who didn't? Aside from Mundine of course. Pudwill did not win a round.

I think De La Hoya, no matter how bloated, was a better fighter and a title defense than this guy.

Then again you will find many weak title defenses from Hopkins' record as well (Steve Frank for example but to Hopkins' credit atleast he handled that guy in 10 seconds) but overall this Pudwill or the other two Mkrtchian and Sobot were probably the worst.
Not to blame Calzaghe for it because Pudwill was a replacement but it still counts.

[HappyBoxingFan]

Easier than... Peter Manfredo? Really? Let the craziness continue!

[SHB]

Who didn't? Aside from Mundine of course. Pudwill did not win a round.

I think De La Hoya, no matter how bloated, was a better fighter and a title defense than this guy.

Then again you will find many weak title defenses from Hopkins' record as well (Steve Frank for example but to Hopkins' credit atleast he handled that guy in 10 seconds) but overall this Pudwill or the other two Mkrtchian and Sobot were probably the worst.
Not to blame Calzaghe for it because Pudwill was a replacement but it still counts.

And that's the point. Comparing one of Hopkins' best fighters to one of Calzaghe's worst is a ****'s trick ... and one that happens on here all the time. How about comparing the likes of Kessler, Lacy, Eubank, Brewer, Mitchell to Simon Brown, Andrew Council and William Bo James, because that's exactly the same thing.

[Kilrain]

We're talking about prime Tyson. Is Sam Peter can floor Wlad three times and Corrie Sanders can get to him, and Lamon Brewster...jeez, Mike from 89, 87, 88, hell I'd take the Tyson who came outta the penetentiary in 95 to steamroller Wladimir Klitschko

as a tito fan i guarantee you he did not go there because it was a lack luster division.

at the time he was on a belt collecting spree. after taking oscar's belt (with help from generous judges) he took reid's and vargas' belt at 154 and tried to unify the middleweight division. that's why holmes and hopkins fought to face the winner of joppy-trinidad. the plan was to unify 160 , jump to 168 get some belts there and all to the end result of meeting roy at 175. that was the plan , audacious as it was.

tito during his 154-160 campaign was spectacular and any win over him should be taken with a grain of salt considering he was a natural welterweight but shouldn't be discredited either. he was the favorite against hopkins was he not? if tito had skipped bernard and met joe at 168 i'm sure joe would have boxed his ears off as well. you wouldn't be discrediting that win if joe got that fight would you?

[TheGreatA]

And that's the point. Comparing one of Hopkins' best fighters to one of Calzaghe's worst is a ****'s trick ... and one that happens on here all the time. How about comparing the likes of Kessler, Lacy, Eubank, Brewer, Mitchell to Simon Brown, Andrew Council and William Bo James, because that's exactly the same thing.

The title of this thread is 'De La Hoya was the easiest defense either Calzaghe or Hopkins ever took'. I simply provided some easier fights for both than De La Hoya to prove this untrue.

[SHB]

Well yes of course it's a ludicrous title if taken literally. It clearly wasn't meant literally though. The point, rather obvious I thought, was that Hopkins' wins over Oscar and Trinidad aren't the big wins that some people think they were and that both fighters have fought far more dangerous opponents than them two at their respective weights.

[moofo]

as a tito fan i guarantee you he did not go there because it was a lack luster division.

at the time he was on a belt collecting spree. after taking oscar's belt (with help from generous judges) he took reid's and vargas' belt at 154 and tried to unify the middleweight division. that's why holmes and hopkins fought to face the winner of joppy-trinidad. the plan was to unify 160 , jump to 168 get some belts there and all to the end result of meeting roy at 175. that was the plan , audacious as it was.

tito during his 154-160 campaign was spectacular and any win over him should be taken with a grain of salt considering he was a natural welterweight but shouldn't be discredited either. he was the favorite against hopkins was he not? if tito had skipped bernard and met joe at 168 i'm sure joe would have boxed his ears off as well. you wouldn't be discrediting that win if joe got that fight would you?

I certainly would.
And still no answer to WHO did Tito really beat that was any good?
At middleweight of course??
And just because Tito was the betting favourite not all of us go with the crowd.
So don't tar me with that revisionist bull**** brush thanks.
The same way as I said lacy would be whooped easily while 99% of people picked Lacy to destroy Calzaghe.
Sometimes you need to step back and turn the commentary off and make your own mind up.

[Burner]

I gueess Peter Manfredo scared off the O/P.

[TheGreatA]

Well yes of course it's a ludicrous title if taken literally. It clearly wasn't meant literally though. The point, rather obvious I thought, was that Hopkins' wins over Oscar and Trinidad aren't the big wins that some people think they were and that both fighters have fought far more dangerous opponents than them two at their respective weights.

I've heard this argument over and over, it's nothing new and I thought someone finally took it to another level by calling Hopkins vs Trinidad & De La Hoya 'the easiest title defenses for both Calzaghe and Hopkins'.

I guess you're right, that's not the point of this thread. I rank the Trinidad win highly, the De La Hoya win is average at best.

De La Hoya was clearly uncomfortable at MW and this was evident in his fight against Felix Sturm, Trinidad however had easily destroyed William Joppy who was the number 2 ranked middleweight and a WBA title holder.