Marquez is to Barrera and Morales what Hopkins is to Jones and Toney

[Slick Veteran]

Marquez is on the level of Barrera and morales,, he was just in the shadows for years

Hopkins isnt on a Roy jones level, but I would say Hopkins is close to toney..

Hopkins beat and knockdown the guy that knocked out Jones to sleep twice and ended his legacy.

Jones we don't know how good he actually is naturally due to being caught using steroids. He also ran from Hopkins since the early 90s, letting the special interest and boxing industry shield him and left Hopkins to go through an abyss to get recognized. Same as with Marquez when it comes to Barrera and Morales, he never lost to the guy that dominated them and knocked him out, he also is a multiple weight world champ. He's definitely greater an I think in some cases at this point better than JCC

[jas]

remember when bhop disgraced himself in calzaghe fight.

ah..... good times.

ATG faking low blows because he was getting beat up by slaps.

what a disgrace.

....and that's the guy Tito lost to

[djtmal]

Hopkins' entire lighheavyweight resume is against bigger guys

Him and tarver sized up even, after that it was catchweights with pavlik and wright, calzaghe was smaller but beat him at the 175 limit.. pascal was a good win then he lost to dawson

[jas]

Him and tarver sized up even, after that it was catchweights with pavlik and wright, calzaghe was smaller but beat him at the 175 limit.. pascal was a good win then he lost to dawson

Lol tarver is clearly the bigger man. He came down from over 200 pounds and Hopkins jumped up 2 weight classes

[djtmal]

[QUOTE=jas;14812654arver is clearly the bigger man. He came down from over 200 pounds and Hopkins jumped up 2 weight classes[/QUOTE]

In the ring, there was no big size advantage for either guy...tarver had shot a movie prior to the hopkins fight and had to beef up to 200, and its not like hopkins had never fought at 175 prior to tarver...

[Left Hook Tua]

....and that's the guy Tito lost to

he didn't fake low blows to get out of the fight did he?

remember when old ali faked low blows because holmes was kicking his ass? or old louis against rocky?

oh wait.... they didn't. because they had self respect.

[Jc8804]

If you wanna get technical. The ref f ed upnthe call onthe knockdown and barrera really won.
Past prime beat peak marquez.technicality

[dibzvincent143]

Very neutral standpoint

The morales that beat pac at 130 would beat the best of barrera and marquez at that weight. It was an amazing performance but it was downhill from there. Just my opinion though.

[-Johannes-]

If you wanna get technical. The ref f ed upnthe call onthe knockdown and barrera really won.
Past prime beat peak marquez.technicality

I don't see how Marquez could've lost the fight in people's.That KD where the ref fucked up was a round dominated by Marquez easy.

Lets get technical, Marquez won the round but should have gotten a point deducted because of the KD, and Barrera should have also been deducted a point for hitting while JMM was down. So technically the KD would've had no negative effect for JMM on the outcome.

[MisterHardtop]

I know no one will care because the thread doesn't have Pacquiao or Mayweather in the title.

But I'm old enough to see them in their primes.

Morales and Barrera were way better than Marquez.

Bernard wasn't shiet compared to Roy and James.

Only thing Hopkins and Marquez was better at was aging.

Their bodies handled PEDs better?

If you think Marquez and Hopkins was better than Barrera, Morales, Jones and Toney.....boxing is not your sport.

That is all.

Those are some what apt comparisons, although I will not comment on the PED su****ions which seem to cloud many boxers in the modern era. In terms of Toney/Roy and Barrera/Morales, it is quite clear that these 4 fighters, all of whom were great, peaked at an early age, ranging from their early to mid twenties and as if often the case with fighters who reach their primes earlier than more, their fall just so happened to be longer and more painful to watch.

By their early 30s, in fact, in Toney's case earlier, these once great warriors had become has-beens. Morales found an Indian summer and Jones a sense of respectability with good wins over Tito and Jeff Lacy. Toney had a final great fight north of 175lb but from then on, we saw repeated versions of a fat, almost grotesque version of a once quick fisted and even quicker witted pugilist, trying to impersonate his former self against further faded opposition in Holyfield, Rahman and co.

The trick that both Hopkins and Marquez played was simple, they got better as they aged. How? It is most likely due to their more defensive styles and lack of great athletic ability, as opposed to say Roy, who had the fastest hands of any non-welterweight fighter I have ever seen. In terms of opposition faced, both Hopkins and Marquez lagged behind Barrera and Morales, Marquez had those great nights against Pacquiao but beyond that, his resume is thread bare.

All the names you mentioned are great but there is a definite correlation between those who burned so bright but were gone too soon and those who steadily built up a head of steam.

For my money, the greatest of these names, in their prime, was Roy but in terms of overall achievements, technical ability and entertainment factor, Morales may just ***** them all.