Toney was not dedicated but it's said that he did work very hard in the gym to make the weight. He has probably spent the majority of his life in sparring.
Prime for prime Toney has the advantage in skill, I believe I said that in an earlier post.
But as it stands now, I believe Hopkins to be the more skilled ot the two. Both of them are excellent counterpunchers, excellent movers, and excellent at laying a trap for their opponet. But Toney's stamina is piss poor due to his lack of dedication, while Hopkins' is still impressive for a guy who will be 45 in another 5 months.
I'd also edge Hopkins for handspeed as it stands now, because of the way he matched Calzaghe's speed whenever he was throwing in their fight.
So like I said ; prime for prime, Toney is the more skilled. But now, I edge Hopkins.
Like you say, me being a Hopkins fan and you being a Toney fan we're likely to have differing opininions on this.
Honestly it really depends on which version of Bernard fights which version of James.
I do agree that the old version of Hopkins, the aggressive boxer/puncher would have a much harder time with Toney than the reformed, 2000+ version of Hopkins who was much more technical and cagey.
Point taken, but James was also lazy back in the day, as well. He was ballooning up in weight between fights and it was part of the reason he lost to Jones because he was so drained.
So even back in his prime days, the evidence that he lacked dedication was already there.
Whereas I don't even have to touch on how dedicated Hopkins has been since his Middleweight days ; it's widely known and respected.
Does it factor into the fight? Probably not.
But it's worth mentioning.
Good response, and yes it did begin to surface from James' MW days he had dedication problems. But good points made.
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