Comments Thread For: With Cloud on Horizon, Hopkins Goes Back To Old School

[Skittlez]

Hopkins need to win.

But if he loses.. I hope it's a close decision and he doesn't get hurt at any point.

I will not be shocked if this becomes another Pavlik schooling though.


It's pretty amazing how good Hopkins really is. The 170 Pound Hopkins that fought Pavlik in 2008 at what age 43?

I favor that guy against every SMW.. outside of Ward. And he'll still have a good shot at Ward.. That was a 42-43 year old Hopkins too.

[-PBP-]

I would love to see Hopkins defeat Cloud no matter how ugly a fight he has to make it.

[IronDanHamza]

I would love to see Hopkins defeat Cloud no matter how ugly a fight he has to make it.

I think he will.

It's hard to be as limited as Cloud is and Hopkins strives of that kind of fighter.

[ßringer]

Win or lose, Hopkins should retire after this fight.

He's given enough for this sport.

Agreed.

He's looked like complete **** in recent fights, too. Granted there have been fights in the past where he looked like **** and the bounced back from it, but he's getting older and older every single day.

As big a fan of his as I am there comes a point in time where you stop worrying about a guy's legacy and start worrying about his wellbeing. But it seems to me that Hopkins still doesn't feel like his legacy is cemented yet when most everybody else feels that it is.

He's still chasing something. That something is to either break his own record of being the oldest man to win a title in this sport, or being the oldest man to unify a division.

It sounds to me like he's got a chip on his shoulder again, but that's good news for his fans because that's always when he seems to perform his best.

[IronDanHamza]

Agreed.

He's looked like complete **** in recent fights, too. Granted there have been fights in the past where he looked like **** and the bounced back from it, but he's getting older and older every single day.

As big a fan of his as I am there comes a point in time where you stop worrying about a guy's legacy and start worrying about his wellbeing. But it seems to me that Hopkins still doesn't feel like his legacy is cemented yet when most everybody else feels that it is.

He's still chasing something. That something is to either break his own record of being the oldest man to win a title in this sport, or being the oldest man to unify a division.

It sounds to me like he's got a chip on his shoulder again, but that's good news for his fans because that's always when he seems to perform his best.

I think he truley adores the fact that he's doing things that aren't supposed to be humanly possible.

As long as he feels he can perform at this level, against Top ranked fighters like Cloud and Pascal and whoever, he will fight.

He deserves it. I'm not a fan of Hopkins but the work he's put in, what he's sacrificed to be able to do what he's doing, he deserves to make his decisions.

But like you said, he's getting older and older. He's looking worse and worse. I don't think it's fair that people will remember Hopkins closing moments as faking low blows and having to take minute long breaks for being hit in the back of the head.

Even fans now he clearly didn't see his Middleweight reign don't realise how tough he was. Everyone knows he's highly skilled and crafty but people don't know how tough he was, how he'd come to fight and go to war.

But I guess no one can make the decision but him.

[-Kev-]

It's about styles. He looked like crap against Dawson because of the style match up. He didn't even lose that badly either, it was a clear loss, but he didn't embarrass himself, he lost a boxing match. He looked like a 25 year old against both Pascal fights. Considering Cloud has yet to be in a boring fight against any of the name opponent he's fought, Woods, Johnson, Campillo, Mack, Zuniga, Gonzalez. I can't see how this fight will be boring, even with Hopkins in the other corner. Hopkins should win with his superior accuracy, faster hands, and just overall better boxing skills. Not to mention Hopkins chin has yet to fail him even at 47 and against a very strong fight like Jean Pascal, who did managed to knock Hopkins down and hurt him but that's where it stopped. I don't think Cloud has the handspeed to catch Hopkins like Pascal did.

[b Murphington]

I find it quite interesting how most ppl support Hopkins fighting at this age, but hate the idea of holyfield fighting at almost the same age...it just goes to show u who has taken the least amount of damage over the course of their careers

anyways Hopkins has shown me nothing to make me say that he's gonna lose this fight...the man has never been outclassed even in this later stage of his career...he doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, its no wonder he can still do it at this age, can't wait to watch the fight

[ßringer]

It's about styles. He looked like crap against Dawson because of the style match up. He didn't even lose that badly either, it was a clear loss, but he didn't embarrass himself, he lost a boxing match. He looked like a 25 year old against both Pascal fights. Considering Cloud has yet to be in a boring fight against any of the name opponent he's fought, Woods, Johnson, Campillo, Mack, Zuniga, Gonzalez. I can't see how this fight will be boring, even with Hopkins in the other corner. Hopkins should win with his superior accuracy, faster hands, and just overall better boxing skills. Not to mention Hopkins chin has yet to fail him even at 47 and against a very strong fight like Jean Pascal, who did managed to knock Hopkins down and hurt him but that's where it stopped. I don't think Cloud has the handspeed to catch Hopkins like Pascal did.

Its more than just the Dawson fight, though. There have been glimpses that Hopkins needs to retire for quite a few years now, like Dan said - He's been faking lowblows and rabbit punches to catch breathers off and on since 2008.

He's 48. He's getting hit a lot more cleanly. He's been dropped. He's had previous issues with his thyroid. He sometimes looks desperate. It's not just about styles at this point.

I still think he'll beat Cloud with relative ease, and Cleverly as well, but the longer he continues to fight the more his career is going to resemble a highwire act.

Even fans now he clearly didn't see his Middleweight reign don't realise how tough he was. Everyone knows he's highly skilled and crafty but people don't know how tough he was, how he'd come to fight and go to war.

It's a shame that the newer fans don't seem to be that interested in their boxing history. Granted it's easy to appreciate a guy like Hopkins' current craft, but as you said - He was a beast of a Middleweight back in his day with a style completely opposite to his current one.

[Kris Silver]

I hope Hopkins wins, not particularly fond of Cloud and how he holds out for fights like he deserves a massive one all the time. Keep active at least, if you have any love for the game of actually 'boxing'. As for the Pascal injured crap, not sure what to make on that one.

Hopkins keeps talking himself into another fight, another fight, this achievement now to go. He just keeps renewing them. I'd love to see him win a belt. But aiming to unify by 50 is just starting to sound a little crazy, and like a bad mix of some of Roy and Evander's sound bytes, sadly.

I certainly want him to go out on a good win, abut it's looking like in always wanting another fight, he's not going to.

[jlcelestine]

Agreed, I really don't understant how people enjoy this guy, when it is difficult to even remember his last fight. He has been given gifts and to fight Hopkins is another one; he wish he wasn't given.

I do believe he had a fight scheduled with Pascal that was TWICE delayed, and eventually cancelled because of PASCAL, and he had a fight scheduled with Zolt Erdei that was delayed and cancelled because of ERDEI... no wonder you dont remember the last time he fought. he had 2 opponents fall through.. Not like he has been twiddling his thumbs waiting on Chad "Cash Cow" Dawson. Give the dude a break.

Yes, Pascal was a money fight (and one that would have likely been better than this Hopkins match for atleast the first 5 rounds), but there was absolutely no money in fighting Erdei, and he took the fight anyway. Now... Tell Cloud you're sorry guys.

LOL I kid, i kid...