Bernard Hopkins vs Jermain Taylor I 15 year anniversary

168 on fight night Oh! How big Hopkins was! Such a weigh bully.
And Taylor himself wasn´t big at all. Is it just me or did guys dehydrate less back in the early 2000s?

 

The fight was so damn....boring. Taylor who was the challenger didn't come to fight. He stepped back all the time and threw only 3 - 4 punches per round. That was so terrible! BTW, Hopkins won the fight.

 

Remember Gatti vs Comache? And years before that McClellan's entire career was based on coming in as a cruiser at 160 and later 168

 

I guess I was generalizing a bit there.
Just looking through fights from that timeline, it seems less prevalant than it is today.

 

The guy was a weight bully. He was fighting in an unnatural weight class. You can weigh whatever you want to weigh. Just eat less calories to reach desired weight.

 

What?
Please, explain what "weight bully" really means. Because Hopkins was the same weight as his opponents. All he had was slight height and reach advantages.
Even at 175, Hopkins rarely re-hydrated much at all. He was always around 180lbs.

Hell, he often weighed in at less than his opponents.
Dude weighed 156 for De La Hoya and 157 for Trinidad. You don´t think he actually compromised himself doing so?

If Hopkins was such a weight bully, then how the **** did he make 160lbs into his 40s? Actual weight bullies grow through weight classes.

 

He was a frame bully. He had a naturally larger frame than all of his opponents at Middleweight.

You can weigh whatever you want if you manage your energy consumption and expenditure appropriately.

 

Hopkins is naturally larger than Mikkel Kessler despite Kessler fighting 8 pounds north of Hopkins in their primes.

Weight does not correlate to natural size or frame entirely. Its not a direct correlation.

Hopkins ate nothing, but air, fish, chicken and celery to stay at Middleweight for so long.

 

Where are they now?

Jermaine went a bit off the deep end, and is in prison right?
While Hopkins had his nuts clipped and became a yes man at Golden Boy.

 

Taylor has some serious mental issues, most likely due to the many concussions he suffered during his career.

But he seems to be doing OK right now. Hasn´t been really heard of since 2018.
[url]https://www.instagram.com/jermaintaylor/?hl=en[/url]

 

I mean, the dude shot his cousin and got like 20 years or something suspended. If he slips up again any time within the next few decades he will be gone for a long time. I hope he is able to stay out of trouble, but the dude definitely had some criminally violent behavior. You are indeed correct though on the concussions, I am sure Pavlik's right hand didn't help his current state. Sad too, because at one point I was a fan of his.

 

A frame bully! Heard it all now!

 

Dude, Pavlik had little to do with it.
Hopkins got him with some good shots. Then came Winky, Ouma and Spinks. They all beat the **** out of Jermain.
Pavlik did a number on him.
And before Froch and Abraham butchered Taylor, there was Jeff Lacy. Lacy landed a lot of clean shots and a hard knockdown as well, which was ruled a slip.

Add to that the in gym punishment Taylor most likely received and it´s no wonder the man has had his issues.
Brain damage often leads to violet behavior.
It seems like whomever handled Taylor, recognized that he was not well mentally. Otherwise he would have been sent to prison I imagine.

But time can heal wounds, even brain damage(to an extent of course).