I have to agree. With this statement. Plenty of people have out boxed Hopkins and everyone of them has the same thing in common = speed. One of the reasons that I love Bernard is becaus he's the boxing's version of the "yes you can" man. Basically he's the guy who with average athletic atributes (for a great fighter) and no amatuer career became an all time great through brains and a monk like dedication. Unfortunently, the fact that athletically more gifted fighters world class fighters could handle him limites his ATG status in my mind.
how can you call jones possible and doubt floyd seriously? jones and floyd are clearly the best fighters of the last 20 years and who they've fought doesn't detract from their skillset...
I take mayweather's name out and put hopkins in there. Hopkins fought and beat better opponents than mayweather.
Calzaghe Jones Lewis Tyson Hopkins Eubank Benn Mayweather Those are 8 who i think are the best of the last 20 years. cant decide on a top 4
Very true, Hop may have a great list of names on his record but he has shown me too much vulnerability for me to put him up beside a boxer, a real virtuoso boxer like Mayweather.
Perhaps, but he lost & showed more weaknesses than Mayweather & its not as if Mayweather never fought good fighters, he should/could have fought more good fighters but he has shown us enough vs the ones he has fought to let us know he is the best of his gen.
I would say the 5 best of the last 20 years: 1) Roy Jones Jr. 2) Julio Cesar Chavez 3) Bernard Hopkins 4) Floyd Mayweather Jr. 5) Mike Tyson
Well, you can replace Benn, Eubank & Lewis with Morales, Barrera & Pacquiao if you like, that might help a little. Its `best,` not `favourite` of the last 20.
Duh...................really! I guess that does explain why Pac destroyed DLH whereas PBF just did enough to win. Good call:good
Showing vulnerability and fighting the best fighters of your generation go hand in hand, which is precisely why we can't say Mayweather often looked vulnerable in fights. When Floyd fought Castillo in their first encounter, however, he showed he could be bullied and outworked on the inside, in a fight many people felt he lost. He settled the score in the rematch, but this one example of Mayweather not being absolutely flawless up at world level. On one hand you can say Hopkins often looked vulnerable, but has Mayweather Jr ever dominated a fighter of Trinidad's caliber? The answer is a resounding no, and just because we all believe Mayweather could and would dominate at 147lb, I don't see how this can hold any weight in this debate. Your argument that Mayweather would outbox Hopkins if they were competing in the same weight division also isn't relevant. Michael Nunn, in my estimation, would have always outworked and outboxed Hopkins in a prime for prime match-up, would we ever consider Nunn being rated higher than B-Hop P4P? Of course not.
Hopkins is not in the top 5 of the last 20 years, top 10 maybe. He's crafty but gets too much credit by some for running over Pavlik. Look at the styles, and at 170 lbs Pavlik is already in over his head against most of the top LHW's anyway. Hopkins is a great fighter but was dominated by RJJ in 93 and lost twice to Taylor, yes Hopkin was having trouble making 160 but still its 2 losses, then he dropped a Decision to Calzaghe. I dont understand why people think Hopkins should be in the top 10 P4P list of all time, or the last 20 years for that matter.