Who do you think has the better LHW resume between Hopkins and Jones Jr?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by bailey, May 16, 2020.



Who do you think has the better LHW resume between Hopkins and Jones Jr

  1. Hopkins

    42.5%
  2. Jones

    57.5%
  1. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    This is a very interesting post and puts a bit of a spanner in to the debate.

    Hopkins fought Tarver who many had as the top LHW at the time.
    I felt Erdei was the best LHW around that time personally.

    When Jones was around he didnt face the Ring champion, which is something Hopkins did do, but Jones had already beaten Tarver.

    Interesting debate

    Jones didnt face Michalczewski, Rocchigiani, Nunn
    Hopkins didnt face Erdei

    For whatever reasons for both

    Think everyone can agree that both did very well at LHW overall

    Both held WBC WBA IBF Ring titles
     
    jaytxxl likes this.
  2. theanatolian

    theanatolian Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    17,362
    5,495
    May 2, 2015
    It'd probably be fair to say that B-Hop has the most significant feat at the weight, when he beat Tarver jumping up 2 weight classes. But Roy has the better overall resume at the weight.
     
  3. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    The votes have surprised me somewhat
     
  4. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    Any particular wins or just the whole body of work?
     
  5. theanatolian

    theanatolian Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

    17,362
    5,495
    May 2, 2015
    The latter.
     
  6. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    I don’t know if Tarver was definitely drained. I’ve never been certain. But he swears that he felt great in training, but totally devoid of energy in the fight. Now seeing as though he has a huge ego, the loss could just have been a case of sour grapes. He could have looked for an excuse because his pride had been hurt. I don’t know. But Roy, Chad Dawson and Chris Byrd, all said the exact same thing. And on top of that, Mackie Shilstone, who helped Bernard to prepare for the fight, predicted it. He said that due to him losing weight from his appearance in the ‘Rocky’ film, that he was expecting him to be flat. So I don’t know. But if he was 100%, then that was a great win by Bernard. Absolutely brilliant.

    Regarding Hill, we discussed that last month. No, I don’t think he was drained at all. The circumstances were completely different.

    Regarding Pavlik, I’m not sure. He was a peak MW. I don’t know how he’d have fared at LHW. Woods wasn’t great, but he was a very good fighter and more natural at the weight. I think it would have been a good fight.

    Regarding Murat, he was nothing special, but it was a great win for Bernard due to his age at the time.
     
  7. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    Why?
     
  8. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    I looked into Erdei’s career a few years ago.

    He was a lot better than I first thought.

    He’d have been a huge challenge to both Bernard and Roy. But the fights were never really viable.

    After Hopkins had beaten Tarver, Erdei was under the radar, mostly fighting B level fighters in Germany.

    Hopkins was never going to go to Germany, and I don’t think many people in the U.S. knew much about Erdei.

    There was just no demand for the fight.
     
  9. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    Circumstances were different for Hill and Tarver respectively.
    Hill had to have a late weigh in.
    Why do you not think that could have had an impact especially when the commentators said something along the lines of it being done due to concerns about Hill gaining weight before the fight
     
  10. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    I had no idea which way it was going to go, but had a feeling that whichever way would be by a wide margin with the fans. It is only 60/40 at the moment
     
  11. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    Roy was Erdies WBO mandatory at one time

    Hopkins after beating Tarver seemed more interested in fighting fighters having to come up in weight for a bit after ie Wright, Calzaghe, Pavlik, Ornelas. Then he faced Jones coming off a first round loss who wasnt rated at LHW in the Rings top 10 at that time.
    Erdei was a full blown LHW and a dangerous fight for any LHW.
    Hopkins for 5 fights after Tarver didnt fight a rated LHW.
    Erdei was a LHW champion for a longer period than Jones Jr
    There was supposed to be a unification at one time between Erdei and Cloud but I think Erdei suffered a hand injury
     
  12. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    Roy had his diva moment and wanted the weigh-in pushed back so that Hill wouldn’t rehydrate by a big amount. But it didn’t weaken Hill in any way. All the hard work had been done, it was a 177 catch-weight, and Hill came in just under the limit. I’ve never heard that it was an issue for him. He’s given many interviews over the years that’s included talking about the fight, and all he’s ever said is that Roy just caught him with a great shot. He’s never mentioned the change to the weigh-in once. He says that he was injured for the fight with Dariusz though, and that he wanted a rematch. He said he had a foot condition.

    Tarver had to burn muscle to get back down to 175. Like I said, I don’t know if he was drained. I’ve never been sure. He claimed that he’d been poisoned. In my honest opinion, if he hadn’t have famously said to Roy: “Have you got any excuses tonight Roy?” then I think he’d have said that he was drained. But after he’d famously criticised and belittled Roy about his supposed excuse, there’s no way he could have said that. Not unless he was going to take back what he’d said. But he was never going to do that. His ego was too big to have apologised to Roy. So he swore that he must have been poisoned. But I don’t buy that. But it’s Mackie Shilstone’s comments that have always made me wonder. And again, Tarver’s comments were the exact same as what Byrd and Dawson said too. So there definitely could have been something in it.
     
  13. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    Bernard’s age is a major factor in the discussion, but I think that Roy will come out on top in the end.

    Nobody has mentioned Bernard’s histrionics yet.
     
  14. Loudon

    Loudon VIP Member Full Member

    39,147
    8,345
    Mar 7, 2012
    bailey,

    Yeah, I was referring to the period where Roy fought Johnson and Tarver.

    There was talk of them fighting in 2007, but that was pointless at that time.

    The world knew that Roy was damaged goods at that stage.

    That wouldn’t have done anything for Erdei’s reputation. And I’m glad that it didn’t come off. Because in my honest opinion, there was no way Roy would have beaten him at that point.

    Erdei was never going to get a big name, elite opponent to fight him while ever he was fighting low level guys in Germany. He was under the radar.
     
  15. bailey

    bailey VIP Member Full Member

    39,259
    2,441
    Dec 11, 2009
    Another post earlier in the thread touched on the subject

    see page 2

    @Somali Sanil
     
    Loudon likes this.