I don't follow your posts, but pretty much every single one I've ever read from you in a hypothetical matchup thread has ended with one fighter or the other being stopped. You'd probably call for a stoppage in a Camacho/Whitaker thread.
My point exactly. Many of my posts, I call for either late KO or decision, depending on the number of rounds. Camacho-Whitaker? You obviously never read that one, either. I agreed with another poster who called it a DRAW. I've also said that I think peak Camacho could win on points.
The point is, you make way too many stoppage calls in bouts where the possibility of them happening is very remote. It's getting redundant.
I'll take Hopkins. (barely) Bernard has the movement to offset Tiger much the way Griffith did ( I know that wasn't a prime Tiger... but the style would prove troublesome) If Tiger fought similarly to the way he fought Giardello the forth time (quickly moving his feet), he would push Bernard to the very limit. Tiger would problably say the ex-con is a very good dancer...but not really a fighter. Tiger was a bad man.
Yeah, due to styles I suppose. But then an aggressive Hopkins might have had even more concussive power, if not the same kind of strength or 'moving power.' Tiger's hard to gauge because he had a lot of strength and speed but he wasn't a particularly effective knockout artist - and it's not like he took the back foot like Ike Williams sometimes did to the detriment of his knockout percentage. Maybe Tiger had little girls' hands.
I definitely think Tiger hit harder than Hopkins. Tiger's knockout record is definitely lacking but he didn't seem like the type of fighter to actively pursue the knockout; he had a tendency to be a bit too patient, stalking and waiting for his opponents to engage him in close before unleashing. Plus look at Tigers comp: Joey Giardello, Gene Fullmer, Henry Hank, Holly Mims, Rubin Carter, etc. were all very durable guys (check the records to see how many times these guys were stopped due to concussion). Besides Holly Mims, how many guys dropped Carter and had him on the verge of being stopped like Tiger did? How many guys beat Gene Fullmer inside the distance? Spider Webb? Rocky Rivero (who fought Floro Fernandez prior to Tiger but was dropped for the first time against the latter)? Jose Monon Gonzalez fought and beat Eugene Hart, Florentino Fernandez, and Rubin Carter yet it was Tigers left hook that stopped him. Tiger could definitely bang at 160.
My initial reaction was to lean towards Hopkins aswell. But I just really cant be that sure considering I have never seen Bernard in with a consistent high level operator like Mr Ihetu, apart from being competitive with a lame Roy Jones. (though when Nard was essentially pre-prime). Sure Tito was anything but inconsistent when Nard fought him..I dont think that is relevant for this fight however. Just look at some of the top technicians Tiger fought and beat..And then I remember some of the relatively dominant but dire performances Bernard had against the likes of Echols and Eastman. I dont know...Tiger is just the definition of proven IMO..given the variety styles and high quality fighters he topped. Its not as though Bernard isnt but I just find it easier to speculate when the evidence is there.
Good point, a lot of them were durable. But Hopkins scored some crushing knockouts. I can't say who hit harder, but Tiger definitely had the more overwhelming offence; the speed of the punches, Tyson-esque combinations, and he was immovable.