Bernard Hopkins: who has he ducked?

[Fox McCloud]

Im interested in the fighters that Hopkins has ducked, links would also be appreciated.

Off the Top of my Head he has ducked Calzaghe in the early 2000's and Chad Dawson.

I don't think it's possible to duck someone in the weight class above you, unless you mention the fight. He was staying at 160, so Calzaghe at 168, unless he was willing to move down, was not someone who he could duck.

Dawson is a good one at this point.

You could make a case for Wright at 154, although when Wright started talking about it, that's when he was fighting Oscar for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, then a mandatory vs. Eastman, and then Taylor. I think Wright is better than Taylor, but Taylor was looking badass at the time, and Wright had 0 experience at middleweight, as he was running through 154 for the last few years.

[407BoriKua]

The trinidad rematch after saying he would rematch him tito asked for it and never got it

[The_Demon]

I don't think it's possible to duck someone in the weight class above you, unless you mention the fight. He was staying at 160, so Calzaghe at 168, unless he was willing to move down, was not someone who he could duck.
Dawson is a good one at this point.

You could make a case for Wright at 154, although when Wright started talking about it, that's when he was fighting Oscar for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, then a mandatory vs. Eastman, and then Taylor. I think Wright is better than Taylor, but Taylor was looking badass at the time, and Wright had 0 experience at middleweight, as he was running through 154 for the last few years.

but hopkins signed the fight,and then pulled out

id call that a duck

[Fox McCloud]

The trinidad rematch after saying he would rematch him tito asked for it and never got it

Lol, I mean... every fighter he fought after Trinidad presented more of a challenge to him than Trinidad did.

but hopkins signed the fight,and then pulled out

id call that a duck

That's fair. I got filled in on the rest of the story after I posted that.

[General Zod]

i wanna laugh.. anyone wanna link me to that video?

Elie at his best, lol

[General Zod]

That's a silly thing to say. Bute in his last fight came in at 167.5. Hopkins came in his last fight at 173. He's really picking on midgets.

He's an inch shorter also.

Its no sillier than fighting MW Winky Wright at LHW.
When Hopkins was a MW he called out all the jmw's. At LHW he tried to make a fight with Tito, Froch and Pwill (all smaller guys).
Their was a vid posted up a while back where Hopkins talks of moving down to fight Bute for his title, or fighting him at a catchweight.

[Tuavale]

Brian Barboza

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuavale View Post
Hopkins ducked Barboza early in his reign after Barboza kicked the **** out of Robert Allen. Allen, at that time, was dangerous and Bhop wanted no part of Barboza at that time. That was around the same time (1996-1997) when Hopkins fought Allen the 1st time and was getting smacked and roughed up badly when ref Mills Lane shoved Hopkins during a beak and Hopkins fell out of the ring and feigned an ankle injury to avoid stepping back in with Allen, thus retaining his title via no contest.

And when he fought Syd Vanderpool in 2000, he made Syd weigh in on the day of the fight when NO ONE was doing things that way. It deprived Vanderpool the chance to hydrate properly the night before the fight.

I'll say this, Hopkins is a better boxing manager (for himself) than he is a fighter. He made all the choices at the right time. Sheer genius.
__________________________________________________ _________


I saw some of you appreciated this tid bit and some dismissed it out of hand.

But here are MY facts on this:

Look who Hopkins fought after he KO'd green Joe Lipsey in March 1996.
1. Bo James - a virtual scrub and not a contender. July, 1996
2. John David Jackson - washed up and coming off a loss to a 9-6 fighter. Why did that merit a title shot? April 1997
3. Glen Johnson- unproven, untested and green. July, 1997
4. Andrew Council - a faded Jr. middleweight. November, 1997
5. Simon Brown - a very faded former welterweight champ. January, 1998
6. Robert Allen I - he hadn't done **** since losing to Barboza. Why did he get a shot? August, 1998

Meanwhile Barboza was a seriously dangerous cat in 1996-1997 but, unfortunately he was one of those guys with the 5 cent heads and the wheels started falling off the bus in 1998 with a loss to Echols and numerous out of the ring issues. But that doesn't excuse Hopkins for ducking him when he was a serious, legitimate contender and a real threat to the crown.

And I believe if they fought in late 1996 or early 1997, Hopkins would have gotten walked down and thrashed. But destiny had other plans. Life can take strange twists and turns that ultimately changed the course of history. But I give Hopkins great credit for not only maneuvering his career like ship captain but for staying in the gym and really focusing on his craft. He became a great fighter in his later years and his out of the ring acumen allowed to to do so. He's truly a unique and special guy.

In a nutshell, this about covers it.