Calzaghe SMW reign vs. Hopkins MW reign

[Cardinal Buck]

Trinidad was never close to being an atg middle. He was frail at that weight. Good win, but the Kessler win holds more ground.

Johnson was was losing guys like old Merqui Sosa, Vanderpool, Sheika and others. He fought a lot of close fights, few were actually genuine robberies. He wasn't that good.

And Jeff Lacy was decent. He fell apart after wrecking his shoulder. He stopped Vanderpool who beat Johnson.

[Mr. Philadel]

Hopkins beat plenty of fighters ranked in the Top 5 at MW.

Calzaghe only beat a mere 2 fighters in the Top 5 at SMW.

Hopkins also beat HOF'er and undefeated Felix Trinidad.

It's really not close at all.

/ thread

[Roy Jones Jnr]

Hopkins beat plenty of fighters ranked in the Top 5 at MW.

Calzaghe only beat a mere 2 fighters in the Top 5 at SMW.

Hopkins also beat HOF'er and undefeated Felix Trinidad.

It's really not close at all.

Spot on.
...

[#1Assassin]

Trinidad was never close to being an atg middle. He was frail at that weight. Good win, but the Kessler win holds more ground.

Johnson was was losing guys like old Merqui Sosa, Vanderpool, Sheika and others. He fought a lot of close fights, few were actually genuine robberies. He wasn't that good.

And Jeff Lacy was decent. He fell apart after wrecking his shoulder. He stopped Vanderpool who beat Johnson.

tito was an atg, period. he didnt spend enough time at 160 to be a legendary MW but he was still very good at the weight, better than kessler at 168. to call him frail is borderline ******ed, if anythig tito was more sturdy at 160 than 147 bcuz he was more comftorable at the weight. he got dropped easier and more often at 147. again, 154 was his best weight, he was very good at both 147 and 160 though.

when lacy beat vanderpool he was at the end of his career, finished. when vanderpool fought johnson he was in his prime, johnson on the other hand was at the worst point in his career. the loss to vanderpool was part of a four fight losing streak. now i know you will try to use that as proof that he wasnt any good, but he proved since then that he is so dont even bother. when he fought vanderpool he was a part time fighter, he was working construction full time and only took fights to make some quick money. johnson as a full time fighter with the intent to be #1 is a completely diffrent animal.

johnson isnt unlike johnny nelson or duran in that regard, at points in their careers they were all less than spectacular for diffrent reasons. duran bcuz of laziness, nelson bcuz of lack of confidence and johnson bcuz of an inability to focus on boxing and perhaps some lack of confidence too. but if you fought them on a day when they were on, when they were prepared physicly and mentally they would give any fighter in teh division hell.

im a big fan of johnson, i followed most of his career, ive seen him at his best and at his worst and its like two completely diffrent fighters. his style depends on being in peak condition so when he didnt have the ability to train full time he wasnt that good. but when he was in shape he was a handful for anyone, hopkins fought a well prepared glen johnson. most of the guys who beat johnson back then didnt.

[Bring It On]

hearns wasnt a MW either, does that mean he wasnt a great win for hagler? trinidad was a beast, his best weight was 154 but at 160 he was still a great fighter and it was a great win for hopkins. better than anything calzagha achieved in his career.

glen is all that, or i should say was all that. back when he fought hopkins he was one hell of a fighter. much better than lacy for example who is considered one of calzaghes best wins. g. johnson at any point in his career would straight up murder lacy, completely diffrent class of fighter. that too was just as good if not better than anything joe did at 168.

calzaghe at 168 didnt achieve anywhere near what hopkins did at 160, this should be common sense.

Like I said, it was a good win.

In April 1997 (prior to the fight with Bhop) Glen was no where to be seen in The Ring's top10 list, in April 2006 (AFTER the fight with Joe) Lacy was still 3rd.

Since most in these thread has talked about rankings of the opponents I think this is definitively worth mentioning...

They both could've fought better opposition, but atleast Joe didn't end up with 3 losses and a draw in his title fights at SMW like Bhop did.

[RubenSonny]

Trinidad was never close to being an atg middle. He was frail at that weight. Good win, but the Kessler win holds more ground.

Johnson was was losing guys like old Merqui Sosa, Vanderpool, Sheika and others. He fought a lot of close fights, few were actually genuine robberies. He wasn't that good.

And Jeff Lacy was decent. He fell apart after wrecking his shoulder. He stopped Vanderpool who beat Johnson.

What is this based on? Trinidad is easily a more impressive win than Kessler, it's really no contest.

[-Lowkey-]

Both comparable.

Both runs leave much to be desired.

Hopkins was a huge middleweight his best wins at the weight came against blown up WW its funny I see guys like donaire and Chavez get criticized for fighting smaller guys Hopkins was doing it for the majority of his prime. His 2 loses to taylor also have to count against him.

Not surprised to see Hopkins so far ahead but in reality there is not a big difference I give Joe the edge his rain ended when he stepped up in weight to fight Hopkins who was considered the best LHW at the time, Hopkins rain ended when he lost to Taylor (who was never great)

[Jack Napier]

Hopkins by far
his MW reign was mostly great based on longevity alone
but at least he fought top contenders, albeit unspectacular ones
there weren't any names you could say Hopkins avoided
who was there or came up from JMW got a piece

[-Lowkey-]

What is this based on? Trinidad is easily a more impressive win than Kessler, it's really no contest.

Nonsense Kessler was fighting at his prime weight class in his prime.

Trinidad was fighting 13lbs over his prime weight class and was no longer in his prime.

[RubenSonny]

Nonsense Kessler was fighting at his prime weight class in his prime.

Trinidad was fighting 13lbs over his prime weight class and was no longer in his prime.

Yes and Trinidad was a great fighter and proved he was effective at middleweight. Kessler just isn't anywhere near the class of fighter Trinidad was, and that includes the same Trinidad Hopkins fought.