Where would you rank a decisive Hopkins win among his best?

[bojangles1987]

By decisive, that means anything from a 8-4 "the old man outsmarted Dawson clearly" win or a 12-0 "He did the same thing he did to Tarver" win.

Considering both his age and the opponent, along with people like me that hate on him for the first Dawson fight, it would have to be his second best win, right? I wouldn't put it above Trinidad, that was definitely better barring a Hopkins knockout tonight, but who else would consider it his best otherwise?

[Bushbaby]

Top 3 probably.

[raskat]

Im basically a Hopkins hater cause I dont like his dirty tactics, but if he beats Dawson fair and square and maybe even clear, he is probably the greatest middleweight of all time. Thats a very strong word "greatest" but I would favor Hopkins over Hagler cause he got a higher ring IQ. Monzon vs Hopkins I dont know cause they are both brillant fighters, Hagler is more a blue collar, tough as nails, granite chinned brawler who has skills but not the skills of a Bernard Hopkins.
If Hopkins wins this, he should at least be one of the top 2 middleweights of all time. Although Hagler and Monzon probably fought a little better competition in their title defences.
Of course I know this fight vs Dawson is at light Heavyweight, but Hopkins will always be rated among the ATG middleweights

[Barn]

Im basically a Hopkins hater cause I dont like his dirty tactics, but if he beats Dawson fair and square and maybe even clear, he is probably the greatest middleweight of all time. Thats a very strong word "greatest" but I would favor Hopkins over Hagler cause he got a higher ring IQ. Monzon vs Hopkins I dont know cause they are both brillant fighters, Hagler is more a blue collar, tough as nails, granite chinned brawler who has skills but not the skills of a Bernard Hopkins.
If Hopkins wins this, he should at least be one of the top 2 middleweights of all time. Although Hagler and Monzon probably fought a little better competition in their title defences.
Of course I know this fight vs Dawson is at light Heavyweight, but Hopkins will always be rated among the ATG middleweights

If he beats Dawson at Light Heavyweight he's the greatest Middleweight ever?

You lost all credibility when you declared Hagler a brawler by the way.

[raskat]

If he beats Dawson at Light Heavyweight he's the greatest Middleweight ever?

You lost all credibility when you declared Hagler a brawler by the way.

as I said, Hopkins will always be rated as a middleweight cause of his 19 or 20 title defences. I even explained it in my comment to make sure a dummy like yourself wont be able to come at me for that. But you pulled it off. congrats on exposing yourself.
Hagler is a skilled brawler and Ray Leonard made him look like a limited fighter although I know both were past their prime. Look what Hagler does in the ring and look at what Mayweather or Hopkins can do. Hagler is on a high level but not on the level of Floyd or Hopkins.
If you cant see that, I suggest you start watching tennis.
If a fighter is known for his "granite chin", it means he gets hit a lot. And Hagler is definitely known as one of the best chinned fighters ever.
Mayweather and Hopkins dont get hit that flush and that often because of their higher skill level (and because they are not as offensive as Hagler)

[Barn]

as I said, Hopkins will always be rated as a middleweight cause of his 19 or 20 title defences. I even explained it in my comment to make sure a dummy like yourself wont be able to come at me for that. But you pulled it off. congrats on exposing yourself.
Hagler is a skilled brawler and Ray Leonard made him look like a limited fighter although I know both were past their prime. Look what Hagler does in the ring and look at what Mayweather or Hopkins can do. Hagler is on a high level but not on the level of Floyd or Hopkins.
If you cant see that, I suggest you start watching tennis.
If a fighter is known for his "granite chin", it means he gets hit a lot. And Hagler is definitely known as one of the best chinned fighters ever.
Mayweather and Hopkins dont get hit that flush and that often because of their higher skill level (and because they are not as offensive as Hagler)

Of his 20 defences only 6 or so were of the lineal title. Hagler had 12 of the undisputed title and Monzon 14.

If you think Hagler was a brawler quite frankly you're not worth anyone's time when discussing Hagler.

Hagler didn't get hit a lot, he's known for his granite chin as he walked into a Hearns bomb and shook it off like it was nothing. Having a "granite" chin does not mean you get hit a lot that is stupid.

So it's safe to say Hopkins doesn't get hit a lot so his chin is *****? Come on that's ridiculous.

[FLY TY]

like hops stated, he was a bigger underdog against pavlik & tarver, but all things considered, being 47, & going up against the top guy in the division, a guy who holds every single physical advantage, & is 18 years hops' junior, a win 2nite would def b 1st or 2nd in my book.

But that leads 2 a greater point, AT AGE 47 THIS GUY CONTINUES TO DEFY ODDS! His NEXT fight is always his biggest, & thats insane for a guy his age. Thats something ppl cant grasp. This guy is truly a livong legend. Win, lose, or draw, we may never in our lifetime, see another 47 y.o. doing what he's doing. If he wanted to, hopkins could be padding the record books fighting tomato cans at his age, but he continues to dispense of top guys! You may not like his style, but how anybody cannot appreciate dude's body of work, is beyond me. Bernard Hopkins haters are NOT true fans of the sport. Period.

[Bushbaby]

like hops stated, he was a bigger underdog against pavlik & tarver, but all things considered, being 47, & going up against the top guy in the division, a guy who holds every single physical advantage, & is 18 years hops' junior, a win 2nite would def b 1st or 2nd in my book.

But that leads 2 a greater point, AT AGE 47 THIS GUY CONTINUES TO DEFY ODDS! His NEXT fight is always his biggest, & thats insane for a guy his age. Thats something ppl cant grasp. This guy is truly a livong legend. Win, lose, or draw, we may never in our lifetime, see another 47 y.o. doing what he's doing. If he wanted to, hopkins could be padding the record books fighting tomato cans at his age, but he continues to dispense of top guys! You may not like his style, but how anybody cannot appreciate dude's body of work, is beyond me. Bernard Hopkins haters are NOT true fans of the sport. Period.

Slammin post. These guys are busy defending other fighters constantly beating guys their supposed to anyway.

[bojangles1987]

like hops stated, he was a bigger underdog against pavlik & tarver, but all things considered, being 47, & going up against the top guy in the division, a guy who holds every single physical advantage, & is 18 years hops' junior, a win 2nite would def b 1st or 2nd in my book.

But that leads 2 a greater point, AT AGE 47 THIS GUY CONTINUES TO DEFY ODDS! His NEXT fight is always his biggest, & thats insane for a guy his age. Thats something ppl cant grasp. This guy is truly a livong legend. Win, lose, or draw, we may never in our lifetime, see another 47 y.o. doing what he's doing. If he wanted to, hopkins could be padding the record books fighting tomato cans at his age, but he continues to dispense of top guys! You may not like his style, but how anybody cannot appreciate dude's body of work, is beyond me. Bernard Hopkins haters are NOT true fans of the sport. Period.

You can hate on a guy and still appreciate their career. For example, I cannot stand Sugar Ray Leonard, he may be my least favorite fighter ever, but I also think he's the best fighter of the last 30 years.

[pturtle]

Tarver was his best win easily, don't be fooled by Trinidads name, the only thing that favored Trinidad in that fight was his age, Hopkins had everything else.

With Tarver he was coming of 2 losses at the age of 42 to skip a weight class and take on the guy who just beat the fighter of the year (Glen jOHNSON) And beat the fighter of the decade (Roy Jones) and Hopkins whooped him, even though I'm pretty are we all know that wasn't the real tarver that night.