Is my dad right about Hopkins being severely overrated?

[HitmanTommy]

I just started watching boxing not too long ago. (about 2 years), but my dad has been watching it religiously his entire life. I asked him the other day about what he thought about bernard hopkins and he said he's one of the most overrated boxers of all time and a coward to boot. I asked him why he thought that and he said "he's overrated because he's been beating up on smaller men his entire career. 160lb isn't his natural weight. He knew he couldn't hang with men his own size, so he took the cowards way out and had been starving himself for years so he could beat up on smaller fighters masquerading as a middleweight."

He said he can't respect any fighter that does that. He also said that he gets far too much credit for beating Trinidad and De la Hoya when it was clear that Hopkins was the bigger man. He then went on to say that it's a shame because Hopkins ended up ruining a lot of great smaller fighters that had bright futures who he shouldn't have even been fighting to begin with.

Is my dad right?

[chrisJS]

I think this is an alt.

Mirko?

[Redd Foxx]

Yea, you wrote this using an alt and your point is weak.
I think BHop's late career is overrated because his style became really cheap; punch and stall, punch and stall. When he fought guys that didn't let him do that, he lost.

Prime BHop deserves every bit of credit he got though. For a guy who got such a late start, he was a very intelligent fighter.

[pittapatta66]

Agreed he'd get KO'd by a prime Lemieux

[Rubber Ducky]

Hopkins is a fighter that gets a lot of hate, he upset a lot of hyped fighters in his later years like Tito, Pavlik, Tarver, etc and Hopkins has quite an abrasive personality, I'm a fan and even I find him difficult to listen to in interviews.

People like to say Hopkins drained down to middleweight, because his first fight out of prison was at light heavy when he was out of shape and eating cheeseburgers according to him in preparation for the fight. But the fact is he walked around in the mid 160's, got down as low as 156lbs vs De La Hoya and was actually out weighed by Tito when they fought.

Hopkins had to hire Mackie Shilstone to bulk up to light heavy the guy Spinks and Roy Jones hired to bulk them up to heavyweight. Why would Hopkins hire a strength and conditioning coach who's known for bulking guys up if he was a natural light heavy? Fact is he was never a natural light heavy, even a bulked up Hopkins came in on fight night at 185lbs at his biggest and as low as 178-179lbs in his last few fights at light heavy. He now walks around at 174lbs when retired.

Plus if you look at Hagler and Monzon's middleweight reigns their biggest wins were vs smaller fighters coming up. Hagler beat Duran and Hearn's a former light weight and Welter. Monzon's best wins were vs Napoles and Griffith both former welters.

[Outwest Exp 355]

The man did lose to Jermaine Taylor. Twice..

[#1Assassin]

I just started watching boxing not too long ago. (about 2 years), but my dad has been watching it religiously his entire life. I asked him the other day about what he thought about bernard hopkins and he said he's one of the most overrated boxers of all time and a coward to boot. I asked him why he thought that and he said "he's overrated because he's been beating up on smaller men his entire career. 160lb isn't his natural weight. He knew he couldn't hang with men his own size, so he took the cowards way out and had been starving himself for years so he could beat up on smaller fighters masquerading as a middleweight."

He said he can't respect any fighter that does that. He also said that he gets far too much credit for beating Trinidad and De la Hoya when it was clear that Hopkins was the bigger man. He then went on to say that it's a shame because Hopkins ended up ruining a lot of great smaller fighters that had bright futures who he shouldn't have even been fighting to begin with.

Is my dad right?

NO.

in a boxing sense your "dad" is clueless.

its called discipline, making weight. how the **** is it "cowardly" to work hard to make weight? hopkins for the record didnt starve himself, he wasnt someone who cut a ton of water weight and came in super heavy. hell, even that wouldnt be cowardly. he was just dedicated. if you can make weight, you can make weight, your dad is a clown.

who exactly is your dad to call a world champion boxer a coward anyways? what has he accomplished in combat sports?

i do agree he gets too much credit for beating DLH in particular. trinidad was pretty solid at 160lbs. btw, if hopkins was a coward for making 160, what does that make trinidad and DLH for making 147 and 130lbs respectively? oscar was much bigger for 130 than hopkins for 160.

and does that clown even realize hopkins spent years at 175? hopkins fought kovalev, a huge 175lber when he (hopkins) was almost 50 and kovalev was the most feared man in the sport. whats cowardly about that?

tell your "dad" to blow himself.

[Lion81]

I somewhat agree. Clearly too big against little Oscar.

He was an ugly fighter with the clenching as well.

[Chrismart]

That Hopkins take wasn't the only mistake your dad made.

[Larry the boss]

His best wins came at 175 tho