Can Winky Bring Hopkins Out of Retirement?

[moose25_44]

What did X say to Manny after the tarver fight? i missed it...

[Mr. Ryan]

Short answer: No

Long, detailed answer: I really don't think Hopkins will ever come back. He has accomplished so much, and after moving up 2 divisions to dominate lightheavyweight champ Antonio Tarver, I think he has vindicated himself from those 2 losses to Taylor.

The money isn't in the fight with Wright. Winky Wright, although wonderfully skilled, is not a major draw with the boxing public. Winky and Hopkins have only really been major attractions when paired up against box office stars, like Trinidad.

Winky Wright is a fighter that only the die-hard boxing fans really demand to see fight, the general sports fan probably doesn't even know who Wright is. I would put my life that this fight never takes place.

[PBDS]

I dont know why but I have this strange feeling that if Winky wins, then X will have this extreme urge to fight him.

I dont care what he said to Manny after the Tarver fight. The fact is that X is still upset about those 2 losses and he thinks they shouldve been wins. Even though the Tarver fight was a All Time Great win, its still not good enough to take the taste of those 2 losses to a green Taylor out of his mouth.

If Winky wins, then it will make X even more upset. He would be like, "see, I should still be the Undisputed Champ at 160 and this kid isnt ready to carry the torch. Taylor isnt half the fighter I am".

Then I think X will see Winky as a great fighter and a guy he has always wondered how he would matchup against. Then if he did take the fight, you know alot of writers & fans will be saying that X is still the real champ anyway, so this is for the real title.

To me, the Tarver win is great but a win over Winky at 160, in the division that you owned and really belong at, would be the true icing on the cake and he would definatly go down as a All Time Great with that win. He went up to 175 to win the LHW title and the very next fight he came back down to 160 to beat the top 1 or 2 man in the sport? Thats a story book ending if I ever saw one.

I dont think he would ever consider about fighting Taylor again if he won but Winky would be different. The downside is that he would have to take off alot of weight and we all saw what happened to Jones & Tarver. Then he would be fighting a Super Talent in Winky who would be trying to cement his legacy and would be very hard to beat.

With all that being said, if Winky looks good then I think that would be a fight against 2 guys who dont have Super Names for Selling Tickets but I think this fight will sell big because it would just sound like a All Time Middleweight fight. Benard Hopkins vs Winky Wright. Then with the way they fight, how mature they are, and how they are true vets, the media and fans would love that fight. I would definatly love to see it "if" Winky looked great against Taylor

....Based on comments he made about a potential Winky win, I think he just may take that as one last last fight if Winky indeed comes out on top.