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

[therealpugilist]

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.

Bro..Hopkins fought for a title in 1993.... didnt fight anyone who mattered at 160 until he fought keith holmes in 2001...thats pathetic...the man turned pro at light heavyweight

I knew someone couldnt resist.....how can someone in their late 20s, with over 90 amatuer fights, and more fights than jones be considered green?

Lonnie Bradley was a good fighter, held the wbo, i remember people talking about the fight, it never happened....bradley was very talented

Julian jackson won the wbc in 95, and lost it to quincy taylor...never fought either guy

Jorge Castro was a titlist around that era and contender, even young roy jones fought him.....Hopkins didnt....hopkins did fight a washed up John David Jackson who Castro ktfo first, frankie liles was lineal 4-5 years at 168 while Hopkins fought none of these guys.

middleweight and super middleweight was stacked in the 90s man, he was fine defending his trinket vs mandatories, just like GGG and k2 are fine with today.


their was timing and their is also willingness to take risks

[IronDanHamza]

No one is making toney out to be some tactical genius...people love toney's defense and actually admit his shortcomings

Hopkins on the other hand gets excuses for all of his loses

Jones...he was green...yea at 28 years old and 90+ amatuer fights

Taylor.....he was supposedly shot...yes I followed boxing then an people were saying hopkns was old....naw, he just couldnt deal with the style


same with the others. they make excuses, about his age

Erm, are you sure about that?

If you want to look at the absolute King of excuse makers, then look no further than James Toney.

[therealpugilist]

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.

this is a boxing forum.....we discuss our opinion and facts...you cant speak for the entire boxing world...moving on

[IronDanHamza]

Tarver was an easier style and at the time I wondered why he didnt fight calzaghe first....styles make fights...you can laugh all you wont, still wont change the fact Hopkins was lost vs someone he didnt dwarf and had speed and movement

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

Absolute revisionist history and nothing more.

Antonio Tarver was the LHW Champion who had just splattered Roy Jones, two weight classes north of Hopkins and P4P Top 5.

Joe Calzaghe was an unknown paper title holder who's best win at the time was probably Richie Woodhall.

You're embarrassing yourself claiming he should have fought Calzaghe instead of Tarver.

[b00g13man]

this is a boxing forum.....we discuss our opinion and facts...you cant speak for the entire boxing world...moving on

This isn't a matter of opinion. It's a fact, and I'm pretty sure you did that first by incorrectly stating Calzaghe was the bigger threat so matter of factly.

[therealpugilist]

This isn't a matter of opinion. It's a fact, and I'm pretty sure you did that first by incorrectly stating Calzaghe was the bigger threat so matter of factly.

like I said its an opinion, you have yours, I have mine

its like someone saying " Ali is the greatest of all time"....thats an opinion and people will tell you why Joe Louis or someone else is

just because a higher number believe something to be true doesnt mean its a fact...its an opinion

Ali being a 3 time heavyweight champion is a fact, him being the greatest is an opinion/......common sense...i think he is the greatest heavyweight ever, but its just that....my opinion

[b00g13man]

like I said its an opinion, you have yours, I have mine

its like someone saying " Ali is the greatest of all time"....thats an opinion and people will tell you why Joe Louis or someone else is

just because a higher number believe something to be true doesnt mean its a fact...its an opinion

Ali being a 3 time heavyweight champion is a fact, him being the greatest is an opinion/......common sense...i think he is the greatest heavyweight ever, but its just that....my opinion

Poor analogy. There's literally no justification for Calzaghe being a "bigger threat" back then. None.

[therealpugilist]

Absolute revisionist history and nothing more.

Antonio Tarver was the LHW Champion who had just splattered Roy Jones, two weight classes north of Hopkins and P4P Top 5.

Joe Calzaghe was an unknown paper title holder who's best win at the time was probably Richie Woodhall.

You're embarrassing yourself claiming he should have fought Calzaghe instead of Tarver.

you're embarassing yourself because woodhall is the only fight you probably watched him fight. He also defeated world champions Robin reid, byron mitchell, eubank, Charles Brewer

so tarver didnt lose to eric harding? you saw the first fight right? you followed Tarver's career right? He fought erratic his entire career...some fights he looked like he could be a great, other fights he looked uninterested

he didnt give away the fight to Jones in fight one?

he didnt lose to Glencoffe Johnson right?


those are facts, those facts are why I saw calzaghe as a bigger threat...he was more naturally talented and more consistent than Tarver.

[therealpugilist]

Poor analogy. There's literally no justification for Calzaghe being a "bigger threat" back then. None.

its poor to you because you mask your opinion as facts and its not true....people arent always gonna agree with you...get over it

Thats your opinion, I gave you justification and explained it thoroughly...calzaghe was more consistent, had a tougher style for Hopkins, etc.

[djtmal]

Absolute revisionist history and nothing more.

Antonio Tarver was the LHW Champion who had just splattered Roy Jones, two weight classes north of Hopkins and P4P Top 5.

.

That's not all the way accurate:

Tarver hadn't just splattered Roy Jones, he had really barely eked by Jones in the third fight of the trilogy, and went life and death with Glen Johnson for two fights after Jones. As the man said, outside of Roy Jones, Tarver always fought down to the level of his competition. Of course Hopkins and Naazim picked up on that and decided to take a calculated risk.