Is Hopkins now better than the Hopkins that fought Taylor?

[Visceral]

Yes he is. He has more hunger, more balls and even more tricks up the sleeve than he did at that time which where still something to behold.
Absolutley amazing what he's doing and even moreso when you consider his age.

[Rome-By-Ko]

No he is just more exciting..Not as conscious...

[bojangles1987]

So Hopkins was drained and that's why he lost to Taylor? You people, sometimes.

Of course Hopkins isn't better now. He just hasn't fought anyone as good as Jermain Taylor since, except Calzaghe.

[Guest]

**** B-Hop and those ****** fights with Taylor.


6 years later and I am still mad that Hop bored us and lost me a lot of money betting on his dumb ass to win.

Not once, but twice.

**** b-hop.

[slicksouthpaw16]

regardless of our different opinions on this one...you one of the dudes I respect alot on here.

..

Likewise

always dropping ***els!!....I understand your point completely about the big dude with solid skills...there's some truth to that....it is what it is....but Chad is a one handed fighter...take away his lead hand and then what?!?....this is right down B.Hop's lane....Chad is too right hand dominat...you know it, I know it so of course Team Hopkins knows this...

The thing is, is that Dawson is one of the most versatile fighters in boxing. Yes he looked one dimensional against Pascal, but that was just one of those off days that we shouldn't really use to gauge how much skill or variety Chad actually has. He showed variety in both hands in the Johnson fights, Adamek, Tarver fights ect.

And when you think about it though, Jermaine is a left hand dominant fighter. Everything he does, is set up off of his left hand and Hopkins could never fully solve that puzzle. I think it was a combo of all things. The jab, speed, movement, flurries ect. If he just had one of those things, then yes Hopkins would have cracked his code and schooled him the way he did Pascal but the fact that he showed variety in his arsenal, gave Hopkins more than one things to think about and had him confused as to what would happen next. The thing with Dawson, is that he brings more issues to the table because he has all of this, and is a very big 175 pounder. Yes he fades and the fact that he takes time off of rounds worries me, but that would mean Hopkins would have to come back late in the fight and what if Dawson corrected these issues? That's another thing you have to think about with these young fighters. They can correct their mistakes in training and this is the BIGGEST fight of Chad's career. He always showed up in his biggest fights (Adamek, Tarver ect).

Chad throwing 80-90 punches around sounds good....but we all know he aint built like that...Chad is not one of the best conditioned dude in the division...he tends to take too many breaks and fades late imo.....halla back Slick....I know you got a hot rebutal

You know it..lol but yea i think hes just talking when he says he'll be extremely busy. I think it will be a tactical fight that is close, with Dawson piling up enough points in the early rounds to take something like majority or close unanimous decision. Hopkins has avoided him for years until he started to look vulnerable but if Chad clears up those mistakes, then this could be a horrible miscalculation that could end in disaster for Bernard.

[slicksouthpaw16]

regardless of our different opinions on this one...you one of the dudes I respect alot on here...always dropping ***els!!....I understand your point completely about the big dude with solid skills...there's some truth to that....it is what it is....but Chad is a one handed fighter...take away his lead hand and then what?!?....this is right down B.Hop's lane....Chad is too right hand dominat...you know it, I know it so of course Team Hopkins knows this....Chad throwing 80-90 punches around sounds good....but we all know he aint built like that...Chad is not one of the best conditioned dude in the division...he tends to take too many breaks and fades late imo.....halla back Slick....I know you got a hot rebutal

See what i mean by the punch variety and him fighting young?

[northstar]

..

Likewise



The thing is, is that Dawson is one of the most versatile fighters in boxing. Yes he looked one dimensional against Pascal, but that was just one of those off days that we shouldn't really use to gauge how much skill or variety Chad actually has. He showed variety in both hands in the Johnson fights, Adamek, Tarver fights ect.

And when you think about it though, Jermaine is a left hand dominant fighter. Everything he does, is set up off of his left hand and Hopkins could never fully solve that puzzle. I think it was a combo of all things. The jab, speed, movement, flurries ect. If he just had one of those things, then yes Hopkins would have cracked his code and schooled him the way he did Pascal but the fact that he showed variety in his arsenal, gave Hopkins more than one things to think about and had him confused as to what would happen next. The thing with Dawson, is that he brings more issues to the table because he has all of this, and is a very big 175 pounder. Yes he fades and the fact that he takes time off of rounds worries me, but that would mean Hopkins would have to come back late in the fight and what if Dawson corrected these issues? That's another thing you have to think about with these young fighters. They can correct their mistakes in training and this is the BIGGEST fight of Chad's career. He always showed up in his biggest fights (Adamek, Tarver ect).




You know it..lol but yea i think hes just talking when he says he'll be extremely busy. I think it will be a tactical fight that is close, with Dawson piling up enough points in the early rounds to take something like majority or close unanimous decision. Hopkins has avoided him for years until he started to look vulnerable but if Chad clears up those mistakes, then this could be a horrible miscalculation that could end in disaster for Bernard.

Dawson is one of the few well rounded young fighters. He is light years ahead of Taylor in terms of boxing ability. He's also bigger than Taylor.Hopkins must know something we don't know because I think this fight is going to be a tough one for him.

[x3_bazooka_x3]

he is still the same in terms of skills, but healthier at the higher weight, I still think a guy with quick hands and a boxer style will always give him trouble.

Dawson has the ability to pull it out, But Dawson has frozen in fights, I mean Pascal beat the **** out of Chad IMO, Chad just stood there like a deer stuck in the headlights and got his ass whipped.

if those same headlights show up and I beleive Hopkins will bring them Chad will get knocked out.
However I just rewatched the pascal rematch on HBO right now, Hopkins was rocked in that last round, if Dawson can get himself right he will win this fight.

So it depends on which chad shows up the night of the fight, I am guessing he will be stuck in the headlights once again.

[Pullcounter]

Is the Hopkins that fought Pascal better than the 1 that fought Jermain Taylor?

no... taylor is a better athlete than pascal. taylor can fight for 12 rounds... pascal is a 4 round fighter

[DoktorSleepless]

Hopkins always hydrated back to 169-170, very typical of a middleweight. Didn't really seem like he struggled making weight.