Where the hell does he fall? :think I don't think "unconventional tactics" was an option. If you sat down and asked, what does he do well? I would be hard pressed to answer one thing. Hopkins is just... Hopkins.
under hypothetical situatiuon, good offense most of the time trumphs good defense! However, in actual situation, offensive fighters tend to be neglectful or fail to develop their defense because their offense is successful most of the time. When they meet a good defensive fighter, then they don't know what to do. Think of Darchinyan or Tyson, or even Jeff Lacy. On the other hand, a defensive fighter tends to be more rounded because they need to! As a general rule (with exceptions of course), defensive fighters don't have the same power as offensive fighters and therefore, their range of arsenal in term of variety of punches are more diverse as they need it more than probably a KO offensive fighter who would probably throw all straights. Think of Mijares, or Calderon.
Offense is more important. But the great fighters have great defense as well. Even in teams sports defense is important to becoming a great team.
Defense by far its boxing not a street fight its the science and art of getting hit and not getting hit also historically the best defensive wizards last longer than the all offense guys who are burn outs they are a spark but guys like hopkins and robinson and whitaker and floyd last forever
All i want is floyd-pac fight to happen. That can be a good gauge on wether offense is better than defense.
Offense wins fights just ask joshua clottey. His defense wasn't good enough vs the offensive tornado manny pacquiao.
I voted for D to break the tie at 16-15. As far as the Clottey vs Manny comparisons.....Clottey's defense is overrated. He may not get hit with a lot of clean shots, but he doesn't move his head at all and is not a good counter puncher.
You need both man. You can be great at one or the other, but it doesn't guarantee victory. Defensive fighters tend to be very smart in the ring because they already anticipate and are prepared to dodge or avoid shots, while many offensive fighters will negate their defense in order to score more or try to score a knockdown. I might give the defensive fighter the edge, but like I mentioned before it doesn't guarantee a win. Defensive fighters I think are a rarer bunch, but think more in the ring and are usually more patient. If they score a knockdown, they don't rush in to go for the kill, eliminating chances of their opponents to counterattack. Defensive fighters also usually have more decision wins so they are able to go the distance no problem and have great stamina.
Well I'd say Hops was the best since Pea and now Floyd has rightfully taken that spot... You're right he doesn't leave certain openings Pea left.. But he's also not close to Pea's combination punching..