1. Felix Trinidad - There is no question this is his top win. Trinidad was 40-0, a huge favorite, and had just destroyed William Joppy, a real full fledged middleweight titlist. Hopkins skillfully controlled this fight all the way through and knocked him out. Far and away his top win. 2. Antonio Tarver - Moving up two divisions in weight to dominate the guy who twice beat Roy Jones Jr. and beat Glen Johnson in the rematch (arguably in both fights) is pretty impressive, especially coming off two losses which made many people think that he was totally done as an elite fighter. 3. Winky Wright - Although Winky was not a 170 pounder, he looked pretty okay in the fight. Hopkins was able to get around Wright's defense better than anyone previously; this was when Wright was P4P #3. 4. Kelly Pavlik - Like Winky, Pavlik was enjoying a lot of success at middleweight when he moved up to fight Bernard Hopkins. Unlike Winky, he seemed dead at the weight. Even so, you have to take your hat off to the game plan of Bernard Hopkins to totally shut down a young kid, who throws a million punches with power. Pavlik was 34-0-0 at the time, and held two wins over Jermain Taylor, who held two wins over Hopkins to start his middleweight reign. 5. Glen Johnson - Undefeated prospect, who was likely a bit green at the time, but became a special fighter in later years. Hopkins totally shut down a man that is impossible to shut down. Very overlooked, underrated win for The Executioner. 6. Keith Holmes - Middleweight titlist who was a solid champion for a while. Not a win you want to hang your career on, but a good win that set Hopkins up for his fight against Felix Trinidad.
I'll also give some honorable mention to John David Jackson, Syd Vanderpool and William Joppy. Not bad fighters. Very slick and Hopkins was able to take them out of their comfort zone.
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