Thomas Hearns (Andries fight) vs Bernard Hopkins (Tarver fight)

Really ? If anything Benitez was going through one of the best stages in his career coming into the Hearns fight and 154 is considered one of Benitez's best weightclasses in terms of H2H ability.

He'd knocked out Maurice Hope and recently schooled Roberto Duran.

 

Agreed, I'm not seeing the Benetiz comparisons to Hopkins as it relates to fighting Hearns either ...I dont think it has anything to do with the price of rice tbh

 

Exactly. People also like to conveniently forget that Chad Dawson was able to outbox Hopkins at light heavy without too much trouble. Dawson was no Tommy Hearns.

 

Not a fan of Hopkins either, Yes very winnable for a disciplined Tommy

 

For me Benitez's prime time goes from his victory with Cervantes to the one with Hope, then he started a slow decline. Obviously against Hearns the Puerto Rican was still competitive but in my opinion his best days were behind him (and in that match for me Hearns had clearly won, I don't agree with the 142 - 142).

Then I think Hearns was a better super welterweight than Benitez, but I can't make comparisons between the Motor City Cobra matches with Benitez and Leonard and a possible match between him and Hopkins, who had a different style than the other 2 boxers. Then also Hearns' advantage in reach over Hopkins I don't think would have been an important factor, Tommy had more reach than Hagler and Barkley but they both knocked him out.

 

It's a very winnable fight for Hearns tbh. Hopkins wasn't great at Lt.heavy.
Winning fights mainly on guile , then actually beating the opponent.
fighting in spurts , and no dynamic speed or power.
He really wasn't physical in the ring, other than his fouling
and stalling tactics.
Hearns by the time he got to Lt.heavy had become more
patient, relying more on his skills than his power, though
he still could light an opponent up at the weight.
I'd take Hearns's victory over Virgil Hill over any victory
Hopkins had at Lt.heavy.
Hearns's keep Hopkins at the end of his jab, drops
a whistling right hand once or twice a rd, to remind
Hopkins what could happen to him if he becomes
reckless. Cruises on to a UD.
Easier fight than most imagine in my opinion.

 

Exactly, who did Bentitez ever pressure or bully?

 

Cheers surf. Hopkins wears him down, too durable. At 175 Tommy's physical advantages over many come back to the pack. Hopkins is a sizable unit who knows exactly how to win. Hopkins by the time of the Taylor fights was struggling on the efforts of making 160 for so many years as happens to almost all of them. His workrate was diminished and it looked like he was at the end, quite frankly. You could clearly see a fresher fighter emerge and that was obvious against Tarver. His punch output, or lack thereof in both Taylor bouts was eye opening. He did virtually nothing in the early rounds of both fights. Even so, both fights are controversial and the vast majority of the press scored the first for Hopkins with the return quite split.

Tommy ain't stopping Hopkins, not a chance. Hopkins would finish all over him in the latter third of the fight.

 

I'm not really seeing the confusion here as Tommy lost to 3 very different styles in Ray Leonard, Hagler, and Barkley x 2.
What marry's these 3 together is their strenghth and durabilty, And thats what brought these 3 over the finish line against Hearns. there the big mystery is solved. which Hopkins 1000% has over Hearns, and with Bhop you can add in stamina and chin same as SRL and Hagler had. Dont think its necessary to rewrite what happened because with 3 diffrent vastly different styles, you simply cant , imo. I just dont see Hearns being able to stop Bhop from coming in. And if he gets thru, its a nightmare scenario for Hearns. He is simply not that Cagey guy on the inside like Bhop was. This isnt Hearns' type of fight imo. Bhop spoils him

I agree Hearns isnt knocking out Bernard, no more than he knocked out Ray, Marvin, or Iran.

 

Yeah, it's clear cut for me too, despite Tommy being one of my three favorite fighters. It's a terrible matchup for him.

 

Good points there. I agree, not a difficult fight to predict. Hearns by UD.

 

Hopkins is better defensively than Hearns. He was more durable and probably stronger. He would impose his will on Hearns and perhaps make it ugly but over the course of 12 rounds Tommy's legs would not hold up. Hopkins may not stop him but I could see a knockdown or two as well as some dominant late rounds.

 

Both has their own advantages that goes against each other honestly.
Style wise Hopkins could take one Hearns,he was a master at taking away his opponent's best punch and countering them over and over to oblivion.
But physical wise, Hearns had a whole lotta advantage on Hopkins,way more reach,powerful and quicker,it would allow Hearns's style that originally wouldn't fare well with Hopkins's,into Hearns actually reversing the roles.


But from all that though,I thought b-hop has enough tricks in the book to bully Hearns,if he's able to smother/tank that right dynamite, he's beating Hearns to the punch.

 

Tommy has a better chance at beating RJJ at 175 than beating Hopkins tbh

 

Honestly I could see Hearns scoring a couple of KDs if Hopkins gets too brave. Pascale had Hopkins hurt and Hearns hit hard and fast with right hand. I do not think Hopkins chin was quite on Hill's level.