Comments Thread For: Hopkins: Trainer Deserves Praise for Kovalev’s Success

[LacedUp]

I think he was buying into his own hype. While he was winning, he wasn't exactly fighting real good fighters. Kovalev isn't a Murat or Cloud, he's the real deal. I think this just showed Hopkins that at his age he can't compete with the best out there.

I was catching shit from all angles for saying this. It is like it is.

Hopkins did something historic, but guys like Shumenov and Cloud aren't anything special - to say the least.

People forget that he was handled by Pascal for large portions of their first fight and also by Chad Dawson - neither of who were anything special either.

[Foreign Soil]

JDJ deserves credit of course, but so does Kovalev, who has always wanted to box Hopkins instead of just chase, like most of his clueless opponents. They're a good, cerebral team.

I was catching shit from all angles for saying this. It is like it is.

Hopkins did something historic, but guys like Shumenov and Cloud aren't anything special - to say the least.

People forget that he was handled by Pascal for large portions of their first fight and also by Chad Dawson - neither of who were anything special either.

Dawson simply is a bad style matchup for Hopkins, nothing more. With how bad Chad has looked recently, Hopkins could probably trump the style now. Pascal was a risk/reward.. he has the athleticism to bother Hopkins but not the boxing or stamina to really beat him.

Obviously agree about Shumenov/Cloud.... been saying how overrated they are for years.

[texasboi15]

John David Jackson is one of my favorites to listen to in between rounds.

Constantly teaching. Wide eyed lol

[ИATAS]

I was catching shit from all angles for saying this. It is like it is.

Hopkins did something historic, but guys like Shumenov and Cloud aren't anything special - to say the least.

People forget that he was handled by Pascal for large portions of their first fight and also by Chad Dawson - neither of who were anything special either.

No. The only reason that fight was a draw was because of the two knockdowns (the first clearly being a rabbit punch right before the bell of the opening round and the second a flash knockdown). Other than that Hopkins had that fight.

No shame in losing to Dawson either. I think most all of us even the Nardtards knew that Dawson was just a bad stylistic match-up for Bhop at this point, even if he was 42-43 that would have been a tough fight for him.

[marvel]

Originally Posted by Rip Chudd View Post
I think he was buying into his own hype. While he was winning, he wasn't exactly fighting real good fighters. Kovalev isn't a Murat or Cloud, he's the real deal. I think this just showed Hopkins that at his age he can't compete with the best out there.

I was catching shit from all angles for saying this. It is like it is.

Hopkins did something historic, but guys like Shumenov and Cloud aren't anything special - to say the least.

People forget that he was handled by Pascal for large portions of their first fight and also by Chad Dawson - neither of who were anything special either.

Let's not discredit what the man did over the past nine years now just because Kovalev is a beast who is also destroying his peers. Some of those guys were mandatory fights for Hopkins. I'm sure he wasn't excited about fighting Murat or Shumenov. Pascal and Dawson were the best in the division at the time. Now it's Kovalev and Adonis and a fight with Adonis might have panned out differently for Bernard.

[ИATAS]

I'm sure he wasn't excited about fighting Murat or Shumenov.

Well Shumenov had a belt so the only way to accomplish what Hopkins said he wanted to do - unify all four belts one by one - was to fight him, so that was a good win for him to unify. It helps out the division in the long run too since now that Kovalev beat Hopkins, he has three of the four belts. Only one guy left...what's his name again? Duck something or other?

[LacedUp]

No. The only reason that fight was a draw was because of the two knockdowns (the first clearly being a rabbit punch right before the bell of the opening round and the second a flash knockdown). Other than that Hopkins had that fight.

No shame in losing to Dawson either. I think most all of us even the Nardtards knew that Dawson was just a bad stylistic match-up for Bhop at this point, even if he was 42-43 that would have been a tough fight for him.

Yes. Hence why I said large portions. I certainly didn't feel Hopkins deserved to win that fight, it was bad. He did win the second one though.

Perhaps, but I still feel like that has to be taking into context. Hopkins beat Pascal, but other than that, there's really not a good name on his record since Pavlik. It's not like he's been beating A or even B+ fighters in his late 40s, which you would think he had the way some people are calling him a top 10 ATG which is ridiculous in my mind.

[paulf]

Hell of a lot of respect for Hopkins after this weekend.

He should have a nice, pointless fight as a sendoff and then retire. A rubber match with Pascal or even a fight against Bute would be nice.

[ИATAS]

Yes. Hence why I said large portions. I certainly didn't feel Hopkins deserved to win that fight, it was bad. He did win the second one though.

Perhaps, but I still feel like that has to be taking into context. Hopkins beat Pascal, but other than that, there's really not a good name on his record since Pavlik. It's not like he's been beating A or even B+ fighters in his late 40s, which you would think he had the way some people are calling him a top 10 ATG which is ridiculous in my mind.

Actually polls shown on NSB and ESPN the majority felt Hopkins won the first fight. He was down early with those two knockdowns but you take away those early rounds and it was pretty much all Hopkins from there.

[IMG]http://i28.***********.com/albums/c217/natas206/hopkinspascal_zpsfa9229b5.jpg[/IMG]

Regardless, beating Murat, Cloud and Shumenov were solid wins of course they weren't elite or top fighters, but he did what a good fighter does and took care of them. Sure, maybe those fights did boost Hopkins confidence, but Hopkins knew Kovalev wasn't on their level.

Anyone saying top 10 ATG I think don't have a good grasp on the history of the sport. I think many people were saying IF he beat Kovalev then therewwould have been a good case, but even then it's stretching it as a don't think too many modern fighters could realistically crack that list. I think he's certainly top 40 though.

[marvel]

Yes. Hence why I said large portions. I certainly didn't feel Hopkins deserved to win that fight, it was bad. He did win the second one though.

Perhaps, but I still feel like that has to be taking into context. Hopkins beat Pascal, but other than that, there's really not a good name on his record since Pavlik. It's not like he's been beating A or even B+ fighters in his late 40s, which you would think he had the way some people are calling him a top 10 ATG which is ridiculous in my mind.

Man listen, think about that statement, you ain't got no business being in the ring even at 40. Top 100 fo sho.