Bernard Hopkins took calculated risks, he is 1 of the most overrated modern ATG

[Derranged]

wtf is that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Polynesia

[b00g13man]

their is no revisionist history.....I was watching Calzaghe since the 90s and Tarver the late 90s early 2000s

Tarver was not a bigger threat then to me and isnt now....different folks different strokes.

you cant speak for everyone...I was never that high on tarver, especially seeing how my boy Harding kicked his arse and how he let a 70% jones back in a fight he was winning, and losing to Glen Johnson who he clearly was better than....Tarver fought down to the level of his opponents...calzaghe was far more consistent

And he was still viewed as the much bigger threat back then. Anything else is just fantasy.

[Prince Madison]

Hopkins is a great fighter but he often did things on his terms and was a hard nut when it came to negotiations

5 reasons why I say he is overrated

1) His success at an old age. People give him all the credit in the world for his wins but totally disregard his losses and shortcomings as a fighter

2) His middleweight title reign....he didnt unify the title until more than a dozen defenses over mostly non-discript opponents, washed up former champions, and flat out no hopers. His biggest win is over trinidad who has one good win over 154. ODLH didnt belong above 154, nor did a shot simon brown

3) Title defenses....newflash...Hopkins defended the unified/lineal title only 6 times and the ibf 20 times.....He holds the record for most defenses of a major title belt....carlos monzon holds the record for world's middleweight champion title defenses at 14.....2 totally different things

4) He fought his best opponents at crappy times in their careers.....intead of defend the middleweight title vs winky wright when winky was the man at 154, he fights him at 170, did the same thing with Pavlik.he rematches roy jones after he was ktfo a few times but wouldnt fight him at his best and wanted 50/50 from a guy who already beat him clearly, was a bigger star, and champion in a higher division. Basically he priced himself out to avoid eminent defeat..he knew he couldnt beat Jones in 1999-2003

5) He is supposed to be a tactician, have a high ring IQ. He does but its overrated. Speed and movement always troubled him. which is why robert allen got 3 title shots, Jones clearly beat him, Jermain taylor beat him 2x, he flopped vs Dawson and specialized in disarming come forward types but had trouble with counter punchers and guys who would let him set the pace like Kovalev


what do you guys think?

hundred percent agree. Hopkins was overrated for sure in terms of being an all time great, although he was a world class fighter of that theres no doubt. Meant to be some amazing technical boxer but de la hoya was outboxing him pretty easy but unfortunately he was too small. Taylor beat him twice, even chad dawson beat him. Jones schooled him. Would say out of the 3 americans the rankings goes 1) jones jr, 2)toney, 3)hopkins

[therealpugilist]

And he was still viewed as the much bigger threat back then. Anything else is just fantasy.

respect your opinion but i was a big calzaghe fan...you have your life as fan and i have mine....was hoping he'd have fought Jones and Hopkins a lot sooner.

he was right around their size his entire career.....Naz and Calzaghe got me into the UK fighters in the mid 90s

tarver wasnt a bigger threat imo....not the way he got his azz kicked by eric harding, lost to a shot jones, and lost to Glen johnson who he clearly had all the edges on besides, consistency

you have your set of eyes i have mine

[ИATAS]

yea I wasnt watching boxing at the time, even though I watched hopkins entire overrated title reign at 160....he stayed in a dead division when Benn, McCallum, McClellan, Jones, Toney, Nunn were actually fighting each other at 160 and 168

That's dumb to say since those guys were at 168 in the early 90s when Hopkins was just a no name working himself up the middleweight rankings and eventually his first title in 1995. By the time Hopkins was considered anything himself those guys were retired or long gone from 168. Timing was off. You're talking about guys in the prime of their careers at 168 when Hopkins was a green fighter and first won a title mid 95. Benn retired 96. McClellan obviously done in 95, Nunn left 168 in 95, Toney was already at 175 in 95.

[therealpugilist]

hundred percent agree. Hopkins was overrated for sure in terms of being an all time great, although he was a world class fighter of that theres no doubt. Meant to be some amazing technical boxer but de la hoya was outboxing him pretty easy but unfortunately he was too small. Taylor beat him twice, even chad dawson beat him. Jones schooled him. Would say out of the 3 americans the rankings goes 1) jones jr, 2)toney, 3)hopkins

same way I see it

I like hopkins as a fighter but man they way people talk about the guy, you'd think he was on a prime whitaker, mayweather, Jones level and he clearly was not, although a great fighter...he didnt have to talent they had nor did he beat the type of fighters they did or take the risks they did

[b00g13man]

respect your opinion but i was a big calzaghe fan...you have your life as fan and i have mine....was hoping he'd have fought Jones and Hopkins a lot sooner.

he was right around their size his entire career.....Naz and Calzaghe got me into the UK fighters in the mid 90s

tarver wasnt a bigger threat imo....not the way he got his azz kicked by eric harding, lost to a shot jones, and lost to Glen johnson who he clearly had all the edges on besides, consistency

you have your set of eyes i have mine

The important bit. Alas, the rest of the boxing world saw it differently. Oh, I am and was UK based, so Calzaghe's sham of a career is well known to me.

[ИATAS]

de la hoya was outboxing him pretty easy but unfortunately he was too small.

lol embarrassing post man, just stop now

[Prince Madison]

lol embarrassing post man, just stop now

He was outboxing him, dont know and care what the judges had it scored. And as therealpugilist said initially, he selected an opponent at a great time for himself. Fought him after de la hoya looked like **** at middleweight against sturm

[soul_survivor]

calculated risk......wanted 50/50 with prime jones even though jones was a bigger star, held a win over him, and was a champion at a higher weight, he didnt deserve 50/50 and wouldnt fight jones until Jones was washed up....after ko loses


Hopkins and wright were 6 pounds apart for years...Hopkins was the man at 160, winky at 154, they never fought there.....fast forward he fights him at 170 where he did nothing and wouldnt be as effective...same for pavlik who didnt belong at 170.

He stayed at 160 to feast on washed up former ww and sww champions and instead of fight Calzaghe, he skips the weight altogether to fight Tarver.

its not just who you beat, but when you fight them

This is literally the definition of Mayweather's career yet you praise him like he is your Lord and Saviour. Why the difference.

And let's not make out like Hopkins jumping to 175lb was somehow ducking Calzaghe. He was fighting far bigger and more dangerous men. He held the lineal light heavyweight title 2 or 3 times, I can't remember which. He was the underdog on each occasion.

And Hopkins at middleweight beat Tito, I know you wana label him a fat welterweight or some bull**** but the guy held KO wins above 147lb, held a portion of the middleweight crown and was p4p a top 3 guy...oh and he was favourite. Hopkins didn't just beat him, he dismantled the man physically.

And you seem to forget Hopkins fought physical threats like Tarver, Pascal, Kovalev, Cloud while the man was 40 plus and won more often then not.

You bring up the Jones rematch like Jones actually wanted the fight. He didn't, he was happy getting paid millions to fight fringe contenders and avoided Hopkins like the plague. Maybe the 50/50 could be considered too much but if Jones had come to the table to negotiate, a deal could be hashed out. Instead Jones wanted to fight washed up names.

Hopkins post 2000 ended up with a superior career and it was Jones who went slunking off to try and get the rematch.