something i noticed about Benard Hopkins

[Dynamite Kid]

something i noticed about Benard Hopkins i know he is renowned for saying i take away my oponents best weapon but i got to thinking and i came to this conclusion see if you agree

there is a huge difference between taking away your oponents best weapon rather than trying to avoid your oponents best weapoon and IMO this was born out when Cotto faced Margarito he tried to avoid Margarito's best weapon rather than take away his best weapon now i realise this is easier said the done but dont you feel Hopkins has the right philosophy and Cotto had the wrong one against Margarito

it would be a damn near impossible for Cotto to beat Margarito even if he was to put him on the backfoot where he is nullified but if was to stand any chance what so ever to beat Margarito he would HAVE to back him up to take away his advantages and even then it would still be damn hard

i just feel Hopkins gets it right tactically because he takes away his oponents advantages rather than tries to avoid them ,fair enough i know Taylor beat him but on the whole i think tactically he gets it spot on and that is why he has had longevity amongst other things

Trinidad is a perfect example for me Hopkins took away his advantages completely and then Ko'ed him whether you like Hopkins as a person or not the guy is a throw back fighter who is a very good ring technician im not huge fan but i respect what he can do

[TheGreatAli]

But Tito is a Welterweight.

[T-97]

Yeap, very true,

One of Joes biggest assets is his Workrate. Hopkins cut it in half. Titos best asset was his power, Hopkins avoided his shots and broke him down etc,

Hopkins is a tactical genious IMO. Even if he strays into illegal tactics from time to time, he is very clever.

[The Gully Gad]

Yeh Hopkins is the Don when it comes to taking away his opponents gameplans
and strengths and making them fight his fight...

This is what Pavlic has gotta be careful off.
Pav's a Bad muthaF**ka and all but if your not careful you will find old
B-Hop has robbed you out of the fight...

[1g5a22]

is bernard talking weapons again???

thats what got him into trouble in the first place,some people never learn

[j.razor]

say what u want but Hopkins did beat jermain taylor & joke-cal-slappy...

[Silencers]

I agree. Hopkins is very good at taking away his opponents' weapons.

[The Gully Gad]

And Pav's style has got to be the easiest to figure out when
you have took on the likes of Trinidad,Winky,Calzaghe
His straight forward no special effects...

To me has old as Bernard is this is a fight he could win

[Xyei]

That's a good post Terrible and I hadn't really thought of comparing Cotto to Hopkins like that! Cotto did try to avoid it. However, for some fighters, avoiding is the better strategy. Hopkins is a master at nullifying his opponent's best weapon.

[AntonTheMeh]

true in a way, but tito's problem was lack of activity and hop ****ing his rhythm up.there's a reason hopkins didn't go toe to toe with trinidad, when in my opinion he could have taken tito's best punch and and thrown back.as far as cotto, he forgot his bread and butter i can't stress this enough, he spent way to much time fighting backwards, and not digging in and taking away margarito's space, if he did most of marga's punches would be smothered by marga.
cotto really needs to learn how to block punches with his hands his upper body movement is average.