If Bernard loses......

[Eman]

will it hurt is legacy. On the countdown to Hopkins-Taylor, Jim Lapley said it would and Emanuel Stewart basically called Hopkins overrated, so what do you guys think?

[Pac Man Fan 83]

I do think that Stewart made a valid point by saying that Hopkins' two biggest wins have come against blown up welterweights (Tito and De la Hoya). In that sense, he may be slightly overrated.

However it is impossible to ignore 21 straight title defenses.

To anwser the question, a loss to Taylor will definately hurt Hopkins' legacy.

[scap]

It is interesting to listen to all of what Manny Steward has said about Hopkins...

Simply put Steward thinks Hopkins is just a good fighter fighting in a very ****ty era.

[sisforshaq]

It will defintley hurt his legacy, a lot of critics of Hopkins say this is the first skilled natural middleweight that he is fighting. I also agree that his two biggest wins were over two blown up welters in Oscar and Tito. But on the other side of things Hopkins has 20 title defences and has basically not lost a round in all of them which is simply amazing. I see Hopkins as an awsome fighter in a awsome time for him. There was nothing really out there besides Jones (who moved up) stoping Benard. I believe this is the best test for him since Jones.

[TyrantT316]

well people act as if he has never fought a MW before...he has had some tough fights with real MWs...just the opponents of his that had HOF careers happened to be blown up welters...however, the big thing for Hopkins in this fight is to ONCE AGAIN prove that he can beat a big strong natural MW like he did Mercado, Echoles, Joppy, and Eastman...Taylor just happens to be a bigger MW...his name is already up there in the top 5 MWs of all time...to KEEP it up there, he has to beat Taylor...

[enadeus]

If he gets passed Taylor he is going to move up and fight Tarver and by this ducking Wright.

[Pac Man Fan 83]

That is also a valid point. Beating Taylor will be big for him, but then immediately ducking Winky will hurt him I think. I know that Bernard doesn't want too many more fights, but I don't see why he cant fight Taylor, Wright later this year and then have his grand finale against Taylor or Jones next year.

If he could beat Taylor and Winky back to back, I would gain great respect for him. But it wont happen, he wants no part of Winky.

[triggerhappy]

Hopkins will use some old school tactics that taylor dose'nt no about.Taylor is not ready for a fight like this yet.

[MrUnstoppable]

The man is 40 years old. It might hurt his legacy but I don't think it is fair if it does. All of the all time greats weren't worth a damn after the age of 33. Ray Leonard's legacy wasn't hurt by the embarrassments he suffered way after his prime. Same with Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran, Muhammed Ali, etc. It's not fair to hold Hopkins to a different standard.

[enadeus]

If Hopkins beats Taylor most people would say it was obvious that he was going to beat him. So in no way would a win help his legacy. Most people never cared for Hopkins and still dont. Yes, his only memorable fights were against Trinidad and DHL. He also lost to Roy Jones Jr.