I'm not saying Hopkins was the best fighter ever, certainly not based on accomplishments and quality of opposition, etc. I know you never accussed me of saying much a thing. But to sum it up in basic terms, the way in which Hopkins went about his business impresses me more than almost every other fighter. Precision and refinement aren't the only two attributes that impress me, although they are among the priority. When it comes to what I like in a fighter, I'm not going to opt for Rocky Marciano as the best fighter I have seen. Someone else might prefer his style and coming off the canvas, his heart, never say die will to win. Wright outlanded Bernard? Is that what you seen when you viewed the fight. How did you score the fight? I summed it up when I made the previous comparison with Whitaker and Duran if they both beat Arguello.
Fair enough as to your style preference. Regarding Winky-Hopkins I had the fight even at 115-115. I thought Winky was landing a bit more and was landing the cleaner shots but Bernard was landing the heavier shots, owing largely to the fact that he was throwing more power punches and was more acclimatised to the weight they were fighting at. Those shots Bernard was landing did not override the work Winky done because I think Winky was doing a good job lessening the force with his high guard. About even overall I felt, with perhaps Bernard clearly winning a few more rounds and Winky doing enough to distinguish himself in the rounds he took.
First time poster here. I love boxing but my expertise pales to what I read here. I'll go on about baseball with anyone though. Based on my viewing which is limited to what I've seen on TV I'd rate Leonard over Monzon. I also liked Sanchez, a lot! The guys I tend to like the most are the bombers like Frazier or Shavers, but they aren't complete boxers.
Welcome, Welcome. Leonard being over Monzon is no big stretch, he was an excellent athletic specimen...But I highly recommend watching as many fights as you can of Monzon..He often looked average on film, a bit crude but if you look closley he is master of subltey and he was just so effective nearly all the time.
in film? Duran.. complete package... nice jab.. good footwork.. brutal combinations.. i mean he can deal with any style.. he's just a ferocious physical specimen and at the same time possesses ring intelligence as a boxer pucher
In the flesh I've seen Tyson, and Eubank, Calzaghe, Hamed, Hatton several times. I would say that Tyson was probably most impressive. His agression and power was something that does not come across on TV - compared to live. Hamed was impressive with the ease at which he seemed to control things and win. Also whenever I've seen Hatton I have been impressed by his alround boxing skillls which again is often missed on TV.
Live Hagler, [against Minter],on film Robinson, [against Lamotta].Ali looked a bit special against Williams too.Louis against Max Baer,looked pretty complete.
Obviously I think highly of the guys in my avatar. Leonard was so gifted athletically and he had all the hype coming out of the Olympics that it took a while for people to realize what a big puncher and ruthless finisher he was at Welterweight (watch the Price and Green fights in particular). My lasting image of Sanchez is of him standing in the pocket against Gomez, expressionless, somehow not getting tagged, and just taking him apart. The guy I've caught on to after the fact is Monzon. I've seen a lot of film of him and I've never seen any where he was knocked out of his gameplan or not dictating the fight. Ali wasn't the most well rounded fighter ever, but the mid to late 60's version is the best Heavyweight I've ever seen.
tyhought i would jsut chip in but i had wright up by 1 point by i thought it was close and could go either way and could see how you could score for hopkins i actually agree with you hopkins technically is brilliant but he is a bit negative at times
Robinson, Jones, SRL and a younger Camacho all stand out mainly due to the fact things look alot better on fast foreward. Technically I think Sanchez is the most brilliant, so fluid, so effortless, the way he moves in and out dodging punches by a hair and not even blinking while coming in with his own counters was amazing.
On film it's 3 people: Robinson Whittaker Jones Jr. All 3 look absolutely amazing in the footage available but the best of the bunch is Robinson in his MW championship victory over Jake, I don't think it's over stepping the mark to call it flawless. The best fighter I've ever seen live is probably David Haye. His combinatiojn of speed and power is amazing plus he's quite multi dimensional (although not enough to turn it up against Wlad).
I saw Hearns fight two times when I lived in California years ago. 1991 and then in 1997. Both at the Great Western Forum. That was before I moved to Texas obviously. I saw Chavez fight once. Humberto Gonzales.