Better Legacy? Jones v Hopkins?

[C.J.Mak]

Hopkins fought the better competition to get his belts...

So does beating natural welerweights qualify as better competition IYO?

Roy has and always will have the better legacy.

[IMDAZED]

To those people who are picking Hopkins:

Where do you rank Joe in the 3?

If you are ranking Hopkins above Roy, I would assume it was for his dominance of the MW division. He had 20 defenses, won all 4 major belts and then stepped up to light heavy to claim the Ring belt.

Joe has done exactly the same and more. He has 21 successive defenses, won all 4 belts and then also stepped up to light heavy to claim the ring belt from none other than Hopkins himself.

How can these people say Calzaghe is a nobody and then rank Hopkins above RJJ on the grounds of him doing a little less than Joe did.



*For the record*

Roy has the better legacy, no question.

Hopkins has a better legacy than Calzaghe. Forget the amount of defenses they had and take a gander at who they beat.

[hishaam15]

So does beating natural welerweights qualify as better competition IYO?

Roy has and always will have the better legacy.

sorry think you misunderstood my post, i was comparing Hopkins legacy to Calzaghes...

[Kc-hoodsta]

As it stands, I rank Jones higher but...Hopkins isn't done yet. A decisive win over Calzaghe or Dawson will seal it. But, for now, hard to argue against titles from 160-heavyweight. Jones' victory over Ruiz (forget the fact that he also beat Hopkins and Toney) is hard to top.

yea i agree with this hopkins is just one big win away from having a bigger legacy

[CounterPuncher]

When all three - Calzaghe, Jones and Hopkins have all retired and the dust has all settled Calzaghe will probably sit at three overall behind the other two. In terms of overall career greatness they are both just ahead but as for a fight in the ring it seems like Calzaghe has the edge and I believe he would have done so at any given stage.

Some say Ken Norton did enough beat Ali twice, he had a style that Ali found hard to handle. But overall Norton isn't anywhere near Ali in terms of overall greatness, he's on the next page down. It's just that styles make fights.

Just so you know I wasn't comparing Norton and Calzaghe, was just a general loose analogy.

[x-PeROxiDE-x]

Hopkins fought the better competition to get his belts...

Hopkins won the IBF belt from Segundo Mercado at the second attempt.

Then he won the WBC belt from Keith Holmes.

Then he took the WBA strap from Tito.

Finally, he ripped the WBO title from the grasp of the Golden Boy.

All taken into account, it's an average resume.

Joe won the WBO belt from Chris Eubank.

He then captured the IBF from Jeff Lacy.

He won both the WBA and WBC belts from Kessler.

At very best, Hopkins can claim his competition was at a par with Joe's in his title winning fights. Tito and Oscar were too small for B Hop to have won his titles from better competition, and that's just the way it is.

We shall call it even, which then does bring into debate the number of defenses of these titles.

Calzaghe has 21 at SMW, whereas Hopkins has 20 at MW (and that's me being generous, how can you call a NC a "defense"?)

You can change it all you want, legacy wise, Calzaghe is always going to be at least level with Hopkins, if not surpassing him.

[IMDAZED]

Hopkins won the IBF belt from Segundo Mercado at the second attempt.

Then he won the WBC belt from Keith Holmes.

I guess he did nothing in between.

Then he took the WBA strap from Tito.

Finally, he ripped the WBO title from the grasp of the Golden Boy.

Gee, I count three title wins and no defenses. I thought we were talking about how their title defenses weren't comparable?

All taken into account, it's an average resume.

Well when you look at it like that, yeah!

Hopkins beat the better opposition. Sorry.

[C.J.Mak]

sorry think you misunderstood my post, i was comparing Hopkins legacy to Calzaghes...

Even though I did misunderstand it still doesn't change the fact that he fought natural welterweights to win those belts.

Also Calzaghe fought REAL Supermiddle-Weights to win his titles.

So the argument you put forward for Hopkins fighting better opposition to win his belts than Calzaghe has no real standing.

[IMDAZED]

Even though I did misunderstand it still doesn't change the fact that he fought natural welterweights to win those belts.

Also Calzaghe fought REAL Supermiddle-Weights to win his titles.

So the argument you put forward for Hopkins fighting better opposition to win his belts than Calzaghe has no real standing.

That's pretty dumb. In that case two of Calzaghe's biggest wins were against "naturally" smaller men too since Jones spent much of his career at middle, as did Hopkins.

[x-PeROxiDE-x]

I guess he did nothing in between.



Gee, I count three title wins and no defenses. I thought we were talking about how their title defenses weren't comparable?



Well when you look at it like that, yeah!

Hopkins beat the better opposition. Sorry.

I was responding to a statement that Hopkins won his belts from better opposition than Joe did.

Hence why there is no defenses in between.

Also, all things taken into account, Joe was a massive underdog against Lacy and Eubank, and was about 50-50 with Kessler. Hopkins was only really in that position against Tito, who at the end of the day was a welterweight.

Joe won his belts from better opposition than Hopkins, it's pretty much a fact.