The overrated Bernard Hopkins

[djtmal]

no i would like you to acknowledge that all fighters cut weight to make the division of their choice. it just so happens calzaghe cuts a lot more weight than hopkins ever did but you just pretend that he doesn't.

like i said i go by what i see

at 168, calzaghe probably cut more weight as he got older, i can see that...natural progression..but imo he never looked visibly bigger and stronger than all of his opposition @ 168...actually looked smaller than kessler to me...

in the early 90's, hopkins entered boxing @ 175 and scaled down two divisions...and who's to say he didn't cut weight to make 175 in his first pro fight? he lost that fight, and outside of jones and taylor, fought weak opposition @ 160....was much bigger and stronger than most of those guys...

[letsgobrady]

Vargas was a great fighter at that time, i just find it funny you can call him at his best at 154 when he only really fought 2 fighters of note there. Vargas was an all out war which Tito allmost lost and Mayago (was after Bhop) but was REALLY made for Tito, letting Tito have free flush shots at your head is not a good move

trinidad actually had 3 fights at 154 vargas,reid and someone else the mayorga fight was at middlewight

[IMDAZED]

Vargas was a great fighter at that time, i just find it funny you can call him at his best at 154 when he only really fought 2 fighters of note there. Vargas was an all out war which Tito allmost lost and Mayargo (was after Bhop) but was REALLY made for Tito, letting Tito have free flush shots at your head is not a good move

It happens. Mayweather looked great at 140. So did Pac. Some weights work well and by the time Tito had hit 154, he had been a weight drained welter for years.

The Mayorga bout is irrelevant since it occured well after Hopkins. The bottom line is that when Bernard faced Tito, he was considered the best fighter int he world and a strong favorite after picking two titles at 154 and another at 160 by destroying the man some believed was the best in the division - although the general consensus was that it was Hopkins.

[DeepSleep]

Lol sorry your right i meant Sturm

Ah ok that makes much more sense. Perhaps we should simply compare their notable wins and see who has the better of them.

Hopkins:

Glen Johnson
Tito Trinidad (Above his natural weight)
William Joppy
Oscar De La Hoya (Well above his best weight)
Howard Eastman
Winky Wright (Above natural weight)
Antonio Tarver (Weight drained perhaps?)
Kelly Pavlik (Slightly above his natural weight)

Calzaghe:

Chris Eubank(Past Prime)
Robin Reid
Jeff Lacy
Sakio Bika
Mikkel Kessler
Bernard Hopkins (Way Past Prime)
Roy Jones Jr (Way Past Prime)

I'd say Hopkins resume is a cut above Calzaghe's to be honest. Also Hopkins didn't just defend a single minor belt like Calzaghe he unified all three major belts and the WBO belt which at the time wasn’t really on the same level as the other 3, and defended them 20 times no easy feat. Calzaghe spent most of his career defending the less-prestigious and rivaled WBO belt which led him to fight lesser competition., which is a shame because I would have loved to seen Calzaghe in his prime against some fighters of a higher caliber.

[daggum]

did marquez start and end his career at ww?
any way some of you seem to be gettin offended and to some i'm probably comin off lik a hater but i'm not i do believe bernard is a great fighter but some what overrated

calzaghe fought a lot of his early fights at light heavy as well. why did he hide at 168 his entire career when all the notable opponents were at his natural weight division? seems like he was scared and only wanted to beat up on smaller bums.

[MOTHER DUCKER]

Yes but if they weigh the same then who cares? that is his point. Being taller and broader doesn't make you better. Those can be advantages just as some people utilize a lack of height as well.

I know i was just saying it as he said Calzaghe was bigger then Bhop because he fought at SMW while Bhop fought at MW though which isn't really the case. Maybe Bhop has an easier time dropping weight then Joe, or Calzaghe was lazy etc who knows.. They look similar size to me anyway

[IMDAZED]

I know i was just saying it as he said Calzaghe was bigger then Bhop because he fought at SMW while Bhop fought at MW though which isn't really the case. Maybe Bhop has an easier time dropping weight then Joe, or Calzaghe was lazy etc who knows.. They look similar size to me anyway

B-Hop didn't have to drop as much weight as Calzaghe. I think everyone knows that. But it's irrelevant. It was a close, close fight that could have gone either way and deserved a rematch. Doesn't hurt either fighter IMO.

[daggum]

like i said i go by what i see

at 168, calzaghe probably cut more weight as he got older, i can see that...natural progression..but imo he never looked visibly bigger and stronger than all of his opposition @ 168...actually looked smaller than kessler to me...

in the early 90's, hopkins entered boxing @ 175 and scaled down two divisions...and who's to say he didn't cut weight to make 175 in his first pro fight? he lost that fight, and outside of jones and taylor, fought weak opposition @ 160....was much bigger and stronger than most of those guys...

kessler started at 154. that probably blows your friggin mind! maybe you shouldn't base things just on looks then? maybe using facts and knowledge wouldn't hurt?

[letsgobrady]

calzaghe fought a lot of his early fights at light heavy as well. why did he hide at 168 his entire career when all the notable opponents were at his natural weight division? seems like he was scared and only wanted to beat up on smaller bums.

calzaghe never weighed more than 170 before he fought hopkins,170 is closer to 168 than it is 175

[MOTHER DUCKER]

Ah ok that makes much more sense. Perhaps we should simply compare their notable wins and see who has the better of them.

Hopkins:

Glen Johnson
Tito Trinidad (Above his natural weight)
William Joppy
Oscar De La Hoya (Well above his best weight)
Howard Eastman
Winky Wright
Antonio Tarver (Weight drained perhaps?)
Kelly Pavlik

Calzaghe:

Chris Eubank(Past Prime)
Robin Reid
Jeff Lacy
Sakio Bika
Mikkel Kessler
Bernard Hopkins (Way Past Prime)
Roy Jones Jr (Way Past Prime)

I'd say Hopkins resume is a cut above Calzaghe's to be honest.

I agree, nothing in Hopkins resume strikes me as overly great though, Pavlik and Winky were out of there weight division a bit too. I would have liked to see Calzaghe have more testing fights too, shame he was with Warren so long.

Edit: One thing i think calling Bhop way past prime is slighty unfair seeing as on his most notable wins you gave him he has Winky, Tarver and Pavlik. He faced all 4 one after the other.