Hopkins is beyond any claims that he is the best ever

Lets remember Hopkins turned pro inside the CW limit and was a massive MW who had to remain disciplined to be there. He seemed to have no problems as a LHW with his size and seemed strong at the weight. Maybe he was drained at the weight in his fights with J Taylor.

Looking at who he fought and when, Im not sure Hopkins has beaten a top fighter who he wasnt naturally bigger than, even though he has some good wins and beaten some good fighters

Using the names listed by

Many of those wins were against naturally smaller fighters who had risen in weight.
A win that I think should be noted on the list is K Holmes in a MW unification. Holmes had lost to Cherifi, but it was arguably Hopkins best MW win.
I think best MW win is Holmes and think best LHW win is Tarver.
Shumenov wasnt mentioned either.

Still I just havent seen a top win over an A grade fighter where Hopkins wasnt the naturally bigger fighter.
But you have to credit Hopkins for what he is still doing and who he is beating and if the fight with Kovalev goes ahead, Hopkins will be rated very highly. If he wins, it will be probably Hopkins biggest win and against what would possibly be his first over an A grade opponent

 

A few people mention that Calzaghe beat up Hopkins..... I recall it being a close fight which could have gone either way...and the result was a split decision.

Respectable effort from both fighters.

 

calzaghe was not prime though, he was post prime at 36.

mind you Hopkins was much more faded, he looks so slow and weak in his forties compared to the zip n pop he had in his prime years. still smart enough to outwit dumb Frankenstein types though, however strong they are.


nothing can take away a mans smarts, not till LATE old age (and sometimes not even that), that's the cool thing about smarts.

 

Calzaghe tended to fight to the level of his opponents at times. When he didnt do that he was a far superior fighter. I think Calzaghe would be aware of the dangers Kovalev would bring and out box Kovalev. Prime Calzaghe had a very good chin and decent power and I would have favoured prime Calzaghe to win inside the distance, as I am still unsure about Kovalevs own durability and late stamina. But if it was on points, I think Calzaghe wins a very wide decision as he was faster than Kovalev and I believe could evade those punches.
It is due to speed, as to why I am yet to decide between Hopkins and Kovalev

 

Woah woah woah... I've long appreciated Hopkins' resume. I called him greater than Jones after he beat Pascal and most posters on here called me foolish. What has changed for all you guys in that time span? Losing to Dawson and beating Shumenov and Cloud elevated him that much in your eyes? This thread and sentiment is a classic example of living in the moment and letting emotions sway you guys. Hopkins is great, no doubt, but I don't get all the love he's getting for facing a man who had probably accomplished less than Cloud had before Cloud fought Campillo. Kovalev is far from being an era defining LHW as of yet.

Among active fighters, I rank Hopkins' career 3rd best.

 

The Best Ever Actor. His performance against Chad Dawson I was awesome. Never seen anyone fly half way across the ring from a shoulder shrug only to fall on an elbow then all of the sudden end up in a hospital with broken bones. Let's not forget the low blow performances against Calzaghe. Or how Mills Lane knocked him out of the ring against Allen.

 

wtf are you talking about.

pac went round robin with morales, barrera, margquez, minimum rematch for each.

then went another round robin with cotto, clottey, margo in his 7th and 8th divisions.


fought and rematched a prime bradley, definitely above the thurman-caliber type.