As if 350 amateur fights Gennady had count for nothing, lol. He got simply burned out, like Marciano was, and did the same by retiring. He enjoyed boxing because he could impose his physicality on others. Once the physicality started declining, so did the enjoyment.
Huuh? Hagler himself admitted to have been hurt by Hearns. ( "This guy can whack!") On tape, Marvin retreated for about 10 sec, then resumed his attack. Even the announcers called it. Mugabi hurt him too, but not as much. That's a myth. Eubank had probably just as good a chin, yet got decked twice by Calzaghe. If you get hit on the sweet spot, you go over. Some take it better than others; some are better deflecting the shots. But every granite chin will shatter if hit long and hard enough. If Hagler decided to stand and trade wilth Gennady, i reckon he would come out the worst for wear. But i do believe the only way Gennady stops Hagler is by body shots or facial cuts. The chin was too good, and Gennady would recognise it and switch the attack to the body, like he did with Stevens and Murray.
Moot argument. Nard also had 'NO' fights and Clinton Mitchell was a light heavy weight. Whats GGGs KO% against above 160 =0% It remains to be seen if his power even carries up to 168.
I haven't seen much of Steve Frank to comment and i doubt you have either , but Mercado was easily better than Geale and Macklin. At least the guys Hopkins fought were all in their primes.. Both Geale and Macklin were already finished when Golokvin fought them and they were never anything but club level in the first place. Rubio was better but he was badly shot as well. Pavlik on the slide easily beat a prime Rubio.
Regardless of that, he lost. Their fight weight was the same. Curtis Stevens and (Edit: not Murray, Ishida iirc) also fought at LHW, just saying. The obvious retort here is that Hopkins was therefore a LHW who boiled down to MW, and he STILL couldn't knock all of the littler cans that he faced out. Akbar picked the wrong argument to make here. He should just acknowledge it and move on, because the facts are plain. Hopkins' resume up to his 36th fight was so can-enriched that he'd get a good price for it at a scrap metal dealer. Golovkin had fought his share of nobodies, but certainly not to the extent of BHop at the same point. A better argument would be "Hopkins had a better resume than GGG overall" which could then at least be defended by bringing in some of his later fights. But, Golovkin isn't done yet, so I guess that is a moot point. I will concede that given Hopkins' remarkable longevity, he is likely to have the better resume after Golovkin retires, especially when considering GGG's rock-em sock-em style isn't going to help him age well. Likely, but not a given. But now we are a far way from the original argument that Hopkins would go through GGG's current resume with more KO's, which is clearly ridiculous.
I beg to differ. Macklin's 41-5-6 is a sight better than Mercado's 19-10-2 especially since he gave Sturm and Martinez a hell of a fight. Mercado's claim to fame was arguably beating Hopkins after putting him on his ass twice, which is not encouraging for BHop. Geale ended with 31-5 and actually beat some useful guys like Mundine, Adama, Sylvester and Sturm. In your opinion. Geale held a strap. You're wrong. A 6 fight winning streak after beating guys like Baldomir and Spada is shot? OK ...
I'm well aware of Golovkin extensive amateur career hence why I specifically said "pro" fights and not just fights. Amateur fights count to a lesser degree though, head gear on, far fewer rounds, results in less damage taken and less of a toll on the body. Far less than say a pro who is getting hit by world class seasoned pro's after 12,13,14 rounds etc when a man is far more tired and far more likely to sustain damage than after a few rounds of an amateur fight with bigger, softer gloves. Golvokin has definitely declined less at the same age Hagler retired, but has done so for a reason. Less pro fights, against weaker opposition. Though the point is kind of moot as hypothetical fights tend to be against 2 fighter in their primes not when one has declined and another hasn't.
Was he hurt by Hearns, yes, was he hurt badly? No not even close, Hearns best right hand caught him in the first when fighters haven't warmed up and tend to be more vulnerable to being hurt and Hagler wasn't even close to being staggered, let alone knocked down. His legs never wobbled, he wasn't unsteady, yes he was momentarily stunned but he was in never any danger of being dropped let alone stopped. Your example of Eubank and Calzaghe is a poor one. Eubank was shop worn, past prime and badly weight drained for Calzaghe because he took the fight on 11 days notice and was coming down from light heavy. Sure if you want to take a shop worn, weight drained Hagler taking a fight on short notice then maybe he gets dropped a couple of times too. Also Eubank despite all these things going against him still went the distance which once again proves my point some guys just can't be stopped even when you stack everything against them like when Eubank fought Calzaghe. Even a one punch KO artist like Thompson at cruiser needed and injury to stop Eubank, once again confirming what I said before barring injury or being saved by a ref some guys just won't go down and stay down and Hagler is one of these guys, Golovkin's power advantage would mean little in a fight with Hagler. But once again it's a moot point Hagler wouldn't trade with Golovkin.
This really isn't a factor as Hop was a learning pro with no amateur back round. Boiling down tends to make you weaker , not stronger and Hop still stopped better competition than GGG. Maybe Golvokin stops the same guys , but thats arguing from a theoretical position.
Macklin's claim to fame is losing fights , not winning them. Martinez gave him a terrible beating despite the fact he fought very defensively. He was brutally one shotted by Heiland. He struggled so badly with journeymen he was forced to retire relatively young. Lots of guys hold straps in this day and age. He lost it in his first defence to Darren Barker who had one foot in retirement. Cotto did the same job on Geale as GGG. Geale wasn't anything to write home about. I say 'club level' because he had club level skills. He found success due to the division being low on talent. Baldomir was a welter weight , 6 years removed from his prime , fighting at 168. Rubio went on to get shut out by Antony Dirrell and never fought again.
His legs looked plenty unsteady to me; he realized it and immediately clinched and/or retreated for about 10 sec. It's subtle but evident. He actually remained a little stunned for the whole duration of the rd, as he kept eating lefts, rights and uppercuts while often missing wildly. The biggest damage he inflicted on Hearns was to his right hand. Had Hearns not broken it, he would have likely dropped Hagler in the ensuing rds, because brawling wasn't Hagler's forte and he was overpowered. Marvin was a vain man, who never yielded credit to those who gave him a though fight, like the rest of the fab four. He lost his cool vs Hearns, paid for it but caught a break (). Should he do likewise vs Gennady, he would have been dissected, because one cannot do it against elite fighters.
Yes it is, because Akbar is claiming that this SAME 'learning pro' would have gone through Gena's resume "like butter". I personally would excuse the early poor performances etc from Hopkins because I think we are on the same wavelength that Bernard was still learning his craft, which is why he fought such an awful bunch of cans. This doesn't reflect on him as a developed fighter. But in THIS SPECIFIC CASE, Akbar is putting poor BHop into the maelstrom without considering his inexperience. Don't blame Bernard - blame Akbar for making a pyss-poor claim. If fighting at the lowest possible weight class is a bad idea, then an awful lot of fighters are idiots I can't deny that he lost his biggest fights but AM pointing out that he was competitive in them. IIRC he was ahead on the scores before Martinez turned up the gas and blew him out. He's better than Mercado, not a doubt in my mind. Champions hold straps even if it's for a night Club fighters don't. It's axiomatic Wow, so Rubio was fighting at the highest levels till his last fight? And Dirrell couldn't stop him? I'm betting Hopkins couldn't either. Good discussion. You at least know something about boxing unlike Akbar
Yeah, I think that Hearns staggered him up too. Tommy was a monstrous puncher, and you can see that the cannonball he hit Hagler with had an effect. I always thought the best way to fight GGG would be to take it inside, deprive him of his space that he uses so well, and take it to the trenches. You'd need a punch, iron will, and a hell of a chin, and Hagler had that. Not to say you'd win even then, because Gennady also has these things
Hop would handily beat everybody on GGGs record and GGG would beat everybody on Hops MW record with the exception of a stoppage victory over Johnson. Even though GGG is a stronger puncher than Hopkins , it was Hops relentless assault and insane work- rate that Johnson couldn't take any more of. And the long lead uppercut he could land like it was a straight right hand was something not in GGGs arsenal . Johnson was getting hit from every distance. GGG isn't as good from long range as Hop was and that is why he'd probably win a wide dec over a stoppage win. I also doubt Brook would win titles at 154 and 160 to get a fight with Hop like Trinidiad did. And when you look at Trinidads 20 welter weight defences compared to Brooks 3 it serves as a reminder how weak GGGs era is in comparison.
1) Opinion 2) We're talking about the first 36 fights, remember? 3) I think Brook is going to do well for himself. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think he cleans house at 154