Why do people say Hopkins was a really a LHW masquerading as a MW?

[GhostofDempsey]

I believed after he lost the first fight at 175 he scaled down to give himself size and strength advantages over an already weak middleweight division.

Hopkins himself admitted to starving himself to stay at middleweight.

He got my respect after he beat Pascal at 175.

Yep, at 6'1" he was draining down to 160 so he could pad his record against smaller journeymen to beat Monzon's title defense record. He could have moved to 168 at any time for more lucrative and competitive fights at any time, but he didn't want to rematch a prime Jones or face Toney and other SMW elites. It was easier to drain to 160 and fight Robert Allen 3x and fight a couple of blown up welters with big names.

[buddyr]

Yep, at 6'1" he was draining down to 160 so he could pad his record against smaller journeymen to beat Monzon's title defense record. He could have moved to 168 at any time for more lucrative and competitive fights at any time, but he didn't want to rematch a prime Jones or face Toney and other SMW elites. It was easier to drain to 160 and fight Robert Allen 3x and fight a couple of blown up welters with big names.

when he fought Allen the 1st 2 times, Toney and jones were at 175. When he fought Allen the 3rd time, Jones had moved to hw and back down to 175 and Toney was a CW on his way to HW.

[GhostofDempsey]

when he fought Allen the 1st 2 times, Toney and jones were at 175. When he fought Allen the 3rd time, Jones had moved to hw and back down to 175 and Toney was a CW on his way to HW.

Who cares? He should have never fought Allen 3x in the first place. He never crossed the pond to fight any of the Euro champs at 160/8....Benn, Eubank, Collins, Calzaghe.

His best win was Tarver, and even he wasn't at his best. He had to lose over 40 pounds for that fight coming off the Balboa movie.

[buddyr]

Who cares? He should have never fought Allen 3x in the first place. He never crossed the pond to fight any of the Euro champs at 160/8....Benn, Eubank, Collins, Calzaghe.

His best win was Tarver, and even he wasn't at his best. He had to lose over 40 pounds for that fight coming off the Balboa movie.

He didn't want to fight allen a 3rd time. He became a mandatory. Do you not remember the press confeence for his 3rd fight with Allen and Dlh/Sturm? He said that if he has to fight Allen one more time after that fight, he's gonna personally send a letter to Senator Mccain hahaha. The first fight ended with Mills Lane pushing hopkins out of the ring, the 2nd fight was the rematch in which Allen just got ran through. The 3rd, he was a mandatory and basically a tuneup for the big Oscar fight. You know, how GGG fought his bs mandatories to keep his belts


I like Tarver, but that's his fault. And Tito was a 3-1 favorite over Bernard when they fault. everyone except maybe 2 sportswriters picked Tito, including me AND YOU TOO(you can lie to us, but we all know better). So after Hopkins destroys him, Tito was too small. If everyone knew this, they could have bankrupted the ******** spots

[djtmal]

Yep, at 6'1" he was draining down to 160 so he could pad his record against smaller journeymen to beat Monzon's title defense record. He could have moved to 168 at any time for more lucrative and competitive fights at any time, but he didn't want to rematch a prime Jones or face Toney and other SMW elites. It was easier to drain to 160 and fight Robert Allen 3x and fight a couple of blown up welters with big names.

I agree. I think his game plan for superstardom was obvious and it worked.

[Curt Henning]

im going to tell you why....its simple

they need to explain why their hero wont attempt anything that dangerous

hop did it...canelo is doing it....and their hero is fighting vanes and steve rolls....his last 4 fights at 160 against good comp are all highly debatable...guy still hasnt beaten top tier comp in his own division yet convincingly

[Rusty Tromboni]

Wasn't 160 his natural fighting weight?

Yeah, when he was 16.

[Rusty Tromboni]

im going to tell you why....its simple

they need to explain why their hero wont attempt anything that dangerous

hop did it...canelo is doing it....and their hero is fighting vanes and steve rolls....his last 4 fights at 160 against good comp are all highly debatable...guy still hasnt beaten top tier comp in his own division yet convincingly

are you campaigning for Elijah Cummings' open House seat?

you got the stupdity for it. what's the over under? I wanna put my money on you.

[Rusty Tromboni]

I agree. I think his game plan for superstardom was obvious and it worked.

Not to disagree with GhostofDempsey but let's be honest. The dude was just trying to survive.

No need to make him sound diabolical. He knew how bad he was.

I get, he's a very skilled technician. But let's not forget he was the UNDERDOG against Trinidad. I loved it when he proved everyone wrong. But that was the highwater mark for me, everything afterwards turned me off. (The win over Pavlik and heroic attempt at Kovalev being exceptions).

Hopkins knew his place is all I am saying.

[elfag]

Hopkins was "large" for middle as his height, frame and reach but he made the weight and not only that didnt rehydrate to insane levels.

Of course he was bigger than guys that moved up from welter... if you are naturally smaller and move up then those guys will be bigger.

A 1 off fight for his first pro fight in the 80s when he was not in elite shape is meaningless. He put in the work to stay in middleweight shape year round, if other fighters did the same they could fight at their natural weights too. He made 156 for Oscar but now he is a cheat for legitimately making 160 for 20 years without struggle?