Want A RINGing Endorsement? Sanction Dawson-Johnson II

[warp1432]

warp, just because he defended Pavlik at 170 doesn't make Pavlik a light heavyweight. Nor Winky. Hell, it was Calzaghe's first fight at 175 too. Maybe if he defended it against a light heavyweight contender I'd be inclined to agree with you. I'm not. Good points though.

But see, he wasn't defending anything. It was a non title catchweight fight. That Pavlik agreed too. It fit in the Light Heavyweight.

You have a point about Winky (never mentioned him), but Pavlik is 6'3. He fought Taylor at 166 and early in his career had fights above that limit into the light heavyweight limit too. He moved up in weight and got crushed.

Besides battering Pavlik is a lot more impressive then beating Tarver twice imo. Jake brings up a good point of just removing him from the rankings after a year though

[IMDAZED]

But see, he wasn't defending anything. It was a non title catchweight fight. That Pavlik agreed too. It fit in the Light Heavyweight.

You have a point about Winky (never mentioned him), but Pavlik is 6'3. He fought Taylor at 166 and early in his career had fights above that limit into the light heavyweight limit too. He moved up in weight and got crushed.

Besides battering Pavlik is a lot more impressive then beating Tarver twice imo. Jake brings up a good point of just removing him from the rankings after a year though

Yeah bottom line is that aside from Tarver, Hopkins never fought a LHW. I don't consider him the #1 fighter in the division and I doubt anyone else will after Dawson-Johnson II. You just can't do that.

[warp1432]

Yeah bottom line is that aside from Tarver, Hopkins never fought a LHW. I don't consider him the #1 fighter in the division and I doubt anyone else will after Dawson-Johnson II. You just can't do that.

Difference of opinions I guess. Pavlik and Calzaghe were big enough to be considered light heavies and would probably have pretty good success in that weight class (Calzaghe already did. Don't know how he isn't considered one, when he was considered the champ there/best fighter if you go by lineal). Winky even might have too.

Hopkins rating is justified imo (based off what I explained earlier)/

[IMDAZED]

Difference of opinions I guess. Pavlik and Calzaghe were big enough to be considered light heavies and would probably have pretty good success in that weight class (Calzaghe already did. Don't know how he isn't considered one, when he was considered the champ there/best fighter if you go by lineal). Winky even might have too.

Hopkins rating is justified imo (based off what I explained earlier)/

Calzaghe, yes. Pavlik? I'm not sure what he's shown above 160 to make you believe that. He looked worse the second time against Taylor than the first. Jermain Taylor.

[Iceta]

That's not what I'm asking, and I apologize if I didn't make my point clearer. I'm suggesting they drop Hopkins from the top spot, if not from the LHW rankings altogether. If you think about it, it's been more than a year since he fought anyone who's actually campaigned at LHW - Calzaghe, who moved up for their April '08 fight and then stayed put for the Jones fight later in the year.

By the time Dawson-Johnson II rolls around (possibly September, but more realistically November), Hopkins will have been inactive long enough and without another fight on the horizon to justify dropping him from the ranks, or at least below the top spot.

Doing so would then give you a fight between #1 and #2.

Basically, I'm asking The Ring to give Bernard a choice: either fight, or retire. Anything other than allowing him to sit on his ranking.

I kind of wish they would do that too. But one bad thing about it is, what kind of sense does it make to rank Glen Johnson over Bernard Hopkins when Hopkins holds a dominant TKO victory over him? Other than that, I think the fact that Hopkins shows no intention of fighting should outweigh that factor though. So I pretty much agree with your assessment.

[warp1432]

Calzaghe, yes. Pavlik? I'm not sure what he's shown above 160 to make you believe that. He looked worse the second time against Taylor than the first. Jermain Taylor.

Taylor used a lot more movement, which gives Pavlik problems. Taylor had a better gameplan the second time and still lost. It's just his frame fits the weight. He doesn't lose much speed, he has problems with the style.

[HeartAttack]

Interesting piece Jake. In my opinion and many others, Chad Dawson is the top man in this division, and Glen Johnson has garnered the #3 ranking recently largely based on his losing performance against Dawson April of last year; toss in a couple wins against Judah and Norwood I beleive, and that doesn't really help his cause. I am one of those people who feel that Dawson won that fight no matter how good Johnson looked in spots and that Glencoffe had warranted a rematch regardless. As for Hopkins, he too has a lofty ranking based on a close loss to Calzaghe. Actually this was the first fight my dad and I ever watched together, talk about a crappy father/son moment. I have tried for years to get my dad into boxing, and when he does agree to come over and watch a fight, it was that crap. He was unconscious before the final bell tolled and has yet to come back to the sport. Anyways, Hopkins should be dropped due to inactivity and how he has dodged more fights than punches lately. Problem with all this, is who cares? I can't stand Zsolt Erdei and has his career has transpired, but he is the light heavyweight champion. Just as in Carlos Baldomir and Joel Casamayor's case a couple years ago, the champion in the division isn't always the best fighter in the division. None so truer than with Erdei. The reason why Casamayor and Baldomir fought Marquez and Mayweather respectively to lose their titles was because those were the most marketable fights for them, and the best way to earn the most money. That is not the case with Erdei, he makes great money in Germany, better than he would here fighting the likes of Dawson or anyone else. It's a disgrace to the sport and the fighters at light heavyweight, but Zsolt Erdei is the champion and if a RING belt would be dolled out to anyone but him, it would actually take some validity away from their claims that they run close to the linear titles. Maybe try something new, and put Erdei on blast on a persistent basis. Maybe he'll come out of hiding, or maybe HBO or Showtime will get interested in showing a fight of his and paying for something better than DeAndrey Abron as an opponent. Dawson/Erdei would be a fight I'd watch just to see the title go over to someone who would defend it with pride.

[Iceta]

A lot of people have wanted to see a fight between Dawson and Hopkins, and I've never been against the fight either. I even view Hopkins as a tougher opponent for Chad Dawson than Glen Johnson. But to me, it would have looked bad on Dawson's part if he didn't rematch Johnson. And that's where I have to give him credit. I had Johnson winning their fight. I don't think Hopkins will ever fight either one of these guys. He won't fight Glen Johnson again obviously because he already beat him convincingly. Chad Dawson's problem is that he cannot draw a crowd at the gate to save his life. So how would HBO profit from a Hopkins-Dawson fight, when you know Hopkins would want at least a 7-million dollar payday out of it? His PPV with Kelly Pavlik who was a higher regarded fighter at the time totally tanked on PPV. And you know nobody will buy a PPV with Hopkins and Dawson outside of the hardcore boxing fan. I can't imagine it doing more buys than Bernard's fight with Kelly. And I actually thought that PPV would do a little better than what it did, because Pavlik's first fight with Jermaine Taylor on HBO drew a lot of viewers. But Pavlik's second fight with Taylor didn't live up to expectations either when it was put on PPV.

[El Jesus]

warp, just because he defended Pavlik at 170 doesn't make Pavlik a light heavyweight. Nor Winky. Hell, it was Calzaghe's first fight at 175 too. Maybe if he defended it against a light heavyweight contender I'd be inclined to agree with you. I'm not. Good points though.

Pavlik is legit at 170 though, dude is huge and looked no different at that weight, not to mention he was a heavy favorite, young and in his prime, i firmly agree with warp on those terms, because pavlik was a p4p opponent who get his ass handed to him.

[El Jesus]

Difference of opinions I guess. Pavlik and Calzaghe were big enough to be considered light heavies and would probably have pretty good success in that weight class (Calzaghe already did. Don't know how he isn't considered one, when he was considered the champ there/best fighter if you go by lineal). Winky even might have too.

Hopkins rating is justified imo (based off what I explained earlier)/

Considering calzhage was going on and on about not being able to make 168 anymore and dehydrating himself to do so, excuses about him NOT being LHW are not legit to me.