When was Bernard Hopkins' prime?

so these peds only work on Hopkins?

there must be something Hopkins has that's unique as regards these peds you claim....

 

96-00, after that he was starting to slow but smarts help him keep his head above water.

 

True, but really it isn't. What has helped Bernard (and I don't mean this as a knock) is that the sport has been so completely out of favor in the US that there are no great athletes pursuing the sport. Consequently, he is still competitive and a champ. But, this is really a reflection of the lack of talent in boxing overall. If a talented 28-30 year "Bernard Hopkins" or "RJJ" or "James Toney" or "Gerald Mcclellan", etc., etc. were participating then 49 year Bernard Hopkins would be forced into retirement. In the US we know that no one has been pursuing the sport for a long time. It is evident in the boxing talent pool (the lack thereof). No professional athletes in other US sports looks at our pro boxers/fighters (except for perhaps Floyd and if you really follow boxing Ward) with respect or considers them extraordinary athletes. Ask any top US athletes about our heavyweights and they'll laugh and say they are garbage. No exceptions. They are third rate athletes that couldn't compete against real decent ones. This seems to be the point so many on ESB (non-Americans) don't grasp or understand. If every sport in the US has progressed with a deep talent pool with participation rates that has grown incredibly from the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s, etc. and one has digressed and then we note that no one is entering that sport - and the participation rate is so low as to be negligible - then the explanation is obvious.

 

Hopkins prime was whenever Calzaghe beat him, has to be.
Roy Jones jr prime was when Calzaghe beat him.

Calzaghe was past his prime.

This forum has educated me well.

 

The point in this wall of text is also illustrated by the number of American boxing champions over the past 10 years has been constantly dropping...

As u mentioned the HW division best outlines this

No matter the "state" of the game currently Hopkins feats are amazing...

I do however dispute that he wasn't in his prime after the year 2000, don't forget he was an old started to the sport with his incarceration which has kept him younger than his age, no amateur fights and his career only really started when he was 25

He's been learning on the job essentially as a pro

 

Extraordinary career - absolutely. Age is no friend so all credit is due.

However, BHOP hasn't changed as much as many like to believe. He was the same smart fighter straight out of Graterford. In fact, the only time his ring smarts couldn't overcome the obstacle is when faced with the extraordinary physical talent of RJJ in '93. It wasn't Bernard's inexperience or lack of smarts - it was RJJ's speed and athleticism that couldn't be boxed. After that fight Bernard won the title and held it for twelve years. But, I would take Bernard from the late 90s and put eight or fifteen pounds of muscle on him and wipe the floor with Bernard in his mid-30s and all of the 40s. Completely different to have basically the same ring smarts with physical youth and prime ability.

 

We'll have to disagree. Boxing is not like some thing (perhaps playing an instrument as a musician) where you spend twenty years to become decent. Great athletes often learn their sports (no matter what sport) naturally because they have the attributes that fit that endeavor. Bernard was learning to fight since a kid and advancing his boxing at Graterford (this was his substitute for the AM years he lost). The difference today is that he has to solely rely upon his brain where in his prime he could simply out work and take the fight right at his opponent. He was not unsure and uncertain of what he was doing in the ring in the early 90s. He knew exactly what he was doing. Always has .. always will.

 

It's hard to judge when he really was at the peak of his powers. During his physical prime during the 90's he was a very different fighter. Aggressive, faster, more powerful, much higher work rate. He was a beast against Johnson, set a very high pace throwing over a hundred punches in a number of rounds.

The Hopkins that beat Tito was 36 and some were saying he had begun to decline, which he had physically. But he had the skills and smarts to alter his style, he always possessed superb boxing skills in his prime but often sacrificed them to be more physical and aggressive.

So which Hopkins was prime, the one between 96-00 who was at his physical prime, or the more tactically aware and savvy Hopkins from 01-03? Personally I think the younger Hopkins who became the only man to stop Johnson was the more formidable fighter.

 

Brighton knows his boxing. :bbb

 

Around 1997-2001.

To me that was his absolute prime. Watch his fight against Glen JOhnson, which I think happened around the late 90's. Hopkins athleticism, defense, combination punching and inside fighting were all very impressive to see.

 

And that's exactly why he won't fight Ward and lost decisively to Dawson. I agree completely that the talent pool in boxing in America has been a joke for decades. All the top athletes are playing football or basketball.

 

Haters gonna act like he was green against Roy that why he list

Fudge off haters

Roy was that good
He was that good

Bhops legacy isn't in his prime ability
It was good but not toney/jones/nunn level

Bhops legacy comes in the fact he has been able to keep going

 

97-03

 

Agree. Completely.

And the misconception that comes from that and from those (non-Americans) with an unfamiliarity with the US sport scene results in some saying something like this "there has always been other sports".

The answer to that is one of participation rates and the exponential growth of both of those sports as they are the only path allowing a way to combine or use one's athletic talent to obtain - potentially - a college education. This means everything to the parents of young aspiring athletes who can't afford to pay for their kids to get into or attend college. Culturally, the complete domination and explosive growth and popularity has meant that all youngsters aspire to make it in these sports (whether black or white, or whatever). When every kid (even the kids that will never be big enough or tall enough to go very far or far at all) is focusing their entire youth upon playing these sports then the competition is immense and the result is a better and better talent pool and extremely high participation rates. Boxing in the US has neither. US athletes aren't worse than before there simply hasn't been any participation in the sport and decent talent is few and far between in boxing as a result.

The more that are involved the better it gets. Whether an European or non-American believes their boxing would be better if not for World Football (soccer) is irrelevant. American athletes KNOW that there are few decent athletes (and almost none that could be considered great or extraordinary) in US boxing. But, there are five times as many great athletes in our other sports than decades ago.

There is no real mystery here in the US.

 

Funny when you have a once in a lifetime talent like Bernard Hopkins where it is difficult to pinpoint exatly when he was at his peak best.
You can readily agree on when fighters such as Roy Jones, Michael Ninn, or Tarver were in their primes and at peak performance, but with Hopkins you are forced to make more consideration for his overall superior boxing attributes that extend well beyond the physical.
In Hopkins-Shumneov I don't believe I have ever seen Hopkins look so old physically in the way he reacted and lose of snap in his punches, but he is like a fine wine, and able to compensate for this lost of physical abaility with his boxing computer of a brain to selectively throw the right punch at the right time to land accurate crisp punches that are not only effective, but still hurtful on his opponent. That his punch connect stat was averaging 50% is incredible.
Hopkins is definitely in the same league as Jones and Toney, and due to his dedication & endurance, perhaps beyond.