When was Bernard Hopkins prime?

Having watched most of his fights, I think he reached his prime when he demolished mercado in their 1995 rematch and imo his real prime was until he beat trinidad in 2001, after which his activity level and overall speed started gradually but clearly slowing down.

He got more cautious and obviously kept learning tricks and refining his skills which helped extend his ability to compete at the top level until he was 50 which is truly remarkable even for todays standards.

 

Clearly.

 

I think he was closer to his prime then than some people will admit. The whole experienced crafty veteran boxer /spoiler style came as compensation for him getting older and slowing down. Bernard in his prime was an agressive boxer puncher with high activity, inside fighting skills and a strong right hand. The version that fought jones might have been slightly green but he was already a complete solid fighter then

 

I think the style you're describing(which is what most people associate with hopkins because he got the spotlight and the big fights relatively late in his career) was a symptom or compensation of him aging. I would say his prime was until right before he started compemsating for his age by becoming less agressive and throwing less punches and spoiling more

 

Well that was his most impressive performance for me, like i said i feel like his prime was from mercado 2 in 95 until trinidad in 2001 or maybe joppy in 2003. I remember being very unimpressed by some of his later defenses against howard eastman and allen, although he was good in both taylor fights i think his declining physicality contributed to him losing those 2. I dont think late 90s hopkins would have lost those fights

 

Agree 100% i remember seeing those later defenses and recognizing the decline in activity, speed and punch output