Bernard Hopkins took calculated risks, he is 1 of the most overrated modern ATG

[therealpugilist]

Yep. Watch those fights. The guy who fought Glen Johnson is just jaw-dropping. And of course, the Tito performance.

stylistically though, Johnson was tailor made for hopkins....he eats up come forward types with the basic boxing stance, head on center of defense.

[The Akbar One]

1) His success at an old age. People give him all the credit in the world for his wins but totally disregard his losses and shortcomings as a fighter

Success at an older age. That isn't something to be ridiculed. You could see that even in the fights Hopkins won while old, he didn't have the athleticism or energy output of his younger days. That he still won those fights against younger guys, and was able to compete is amazing. The only fight he wasn't competitive in was the Kovalev fight, and he was 48 or 49 at that point.

2) His middleweight title reign....he didnt unify the title until more than a dozen defenses over mostly non-discript opponents, washed up former champions, and flat out no hopers. His biggest win is over trinidad who has one good win over 154. ODLH didnt belong above 154, nor did a shot simon brown

Hopkins middleweight opposition outside of Trinidad *****s all over Golovkins. Hopkins fought real solid blue collar guys like Echols, Allen, Holmes, Jackson, Johnson, Joppy, even Eastman was better than guys like Geale, or Murray.[/QUOTE]

3) Title defenses....newflash...Hopkins defended the unified/lineal title only 6 times and the ibf 20 times.....He holds the record for most defenses of a major title belt....carlos monzon holds the record for world's middleweight champion title defenses at 14.....2 totally different things

Fair point, both were fighting better guys than Golovkin, but neither was fighting a murderers row.

4) He fought his best opponents at crappy times in their careers.....intead of defend the middleweight title vs winky wright when winky was the man at 154, he fights him at 170, did the same thing with Pavlik.he rematches roy jones after he was ktfo a few times but wouldnt fight him at his best and wanted 50/50 from a guy who already beat him clearly, was a bigger star, and champion in a higher division. Basically he priced himself out to avoid eminent defeat..he knew he couldnt beat Jones in 1999-2003

Hopkins couldn't make 160 anymore and be effective for 12 rounds, as we saw in the Taylor fights. Why would he fight Wright or Pavlik at 160? Oscar never fought Wright either, neither did Floyd. Pavlik never fought Abraham? I wanted to see Hops rematch Jones Jr, while they were both in their prime, didn't happen though. I thought if Hops really wanted it, he should have took the lesser share, as Jones was viewed as the bigger star, and money earner.

5) He is supposed to be a tactician, have a high ring IQ. He does but its overrated. Speed and movement always troubled him. which is why robert allen got 3 title shots, Jones clearly beat him, Jermain taylor beat him 2x, he flopped vs Dawson and specialized in disarming come forward types but had trouble with counter punchers and guys who would let him set the pace like Kovalev

Hops is a tactician. He has a high ring IQ. Speed and movement trouble most boxers, not sure how Hops is singled out for this. Robert Allen got three title shots because his handlers likely had good relations with the sanctioning body. That had nothing to do with Allen's speed and movement, which by the way were fairly diminished by the third fight. I thought the first Taylor fight was a draw or 7-5 Taylor, as Hopkins spotted him too much of a lead with his inactivity. I thought Hopkins took the rematch though. He would have eaten Taylor for breakfast had he been a couple years younger when they fought. Dawson tossed him down and he was injured. Why would he flop? He lost to Kovalev due to age. Had that been the Hopkins from the Tarver fight, he'd of handled Kovalev no problem.

[IronDanHamza]

thank you for proving my point....i'll ask you now.....who was more consistent...Calzaghe or Tarver?

Tarver was erratic man

he was never p4p to me....just because you beat someone thats p4p doesnt make you automatically p4p its the body of work, and tarver was inconsistent on the highest level

Calzaghe wasn't even on the radar. He's a paper titlest and completely unknown.

Tarver was one of the best P4P fighters in the world. He might not have been P4P to you but to everyone else in the world he was.

It's not even comparable and you're revising history.

[IronDanHamza]

stylistically though, Johnson was tailor made for hopkins....he eats up come forward types with the basic boxing stance, head on center of defense.

"Head on centre of defense"

What the **** are these bizarre staments you are making?

"Deliberate style"

ИATAS Robinson...... Do you know?

[IMDAZED]

yea.....I agree....thats around the time the jones rematch should have happened

too bad his opposition was mostly hot gawbage around this time

He was a bad MFer then.....he had fights on espn and usa back then

he maintained a high level after this, his punched output dropped a bit after 2002 but he was still a top ten p4p guy until the mid to late 2000s....I think Taylor just had his number style size, speed and size, good jab and combos. It was clear Hopkins wasnt prime anymore, he had a good motor in the late 90s. He could control fighters better in the early 2000s though

Jones rematch wasnt on the radar then. Either way that was his prime. He was MUCH better then.

[IMDAZED]

stylistically though, Johnson was tailor made for hopkins....he eats up come forward types with the basic boxing stance, head on center of defense.

Lol. Okay.

[soul_survivor]

Calzaghe wasn't even on the radar. He's a paper titlest and completely unknown.

Tarver was one of the best P4P fighters in the world. He might not have been P4P to you but to everyone else in the world he was.

It's not even comparable and you're revising history.

Calzaghe a paper titlist, ffs man you are really a **** poster.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Hopkins couldn't make 160 anymore and be effective for 12 rounds, as we saw in the Taylor fights.

This gets ignored

[IronDanHamza]

Calzaghe a paper titlist, ffs man you are really a **** poster.

Sigh....

You're aware that at the time Joe Calzaghe was only the WBO Champion? At that point in time the WBO was barely even considered a legitimate sanctioning body.

Of course you aren't aware of this because you're clueless and likely not following the sport at that time.

[bojangles1987]

Calzaghe wasn't even on the radar. He's a paper titlest and completely unknown.

Tarver was one of the best P4P fighters in the world. He might not have been P4P to you but to everyone else in the world he was.

It's not even comparable and you're revising history.

This is the same guy saying Toney is better than Hopkins!

Calzaghe was better than Tarver in 2006 despite poorer opposition, and he disliked Tarver because he was inconsistent. THAT IS LITERALLY HOPKINS AND TONEY.

The double standards this guy comes up with are unreal.