Yes, Hopkins was inexperienced for sure. But he was still a very, very good fighter at that time. He was 28 years old and only a few years away from his prime, in which I thought he looked his best between 96-02. To Jones credit himself he wasn't prime either, and he beat him comfortably at Hopkins best weight Middleweight. I think that Hopkins even in '93 are much better than Tarver and Griffin. But yeah Virgil Hill could be argued. If you wanna see my top ten here it is. Sorry for turning this into a Jones thread 1. James Toney 2. John Ruiz 3. Bernard Hopkins 4. Virgil Hill 5. Antonio Tarver 6. Montell Griffin 7. Jorge Castro 8. Reggie Johnson 9. Thulani Malinga 10. Eric Harding
Lorenzo Zanon over Alfredo Evangilista,,,,,,,,,,,, Who would ever think, a Uruguay-born fighter living in Spain, fights and loses a decision, in his adpoted Country of Espana to an Italian Heavyweight. An 8-Round unanimous decision loss. And with a 15-1-1 record, and never going past 8-Rounds,,,,,,,,, 'GETS A TITLE SHOT' with the so-called 'Greatest' of all-time. This farce was sold to and bought by the public,,,,,,,,,,,, I could just here Evangilista's manager say,,,,,,,,,,, 'Your not going to believe this Alfredo, but,,,if you lose this fight, we get a Title shot......................Muy Bueno:nut
Kostya Tszyu over Zab Judah. Judah was hyped up so Kostya koing him made everyone think Tszyu was a pound for pound entrant. This fight is used over and over to confirmm Tszyu's greatness. This was probably his biggest win and I think even it was overblown.
The Bethea win has to be put into context. Nobody thought that he was a great fighter, but he was thought to have the best chin in the business at the time. Nobody expected Liston to just demolish him in the first round. It would have been like if sombody had done the same thing to George chguvalo out of the blue.
YES! YES! YES! OMG YES! It teh most overated win Of All Times!!! deal Lots And lots of Non-ATG, Grade B Big-Bangers would of KTFO Mikey Spinks in 1 Round - like Briggs, Rahman, Ronny Lyle, Shavers, Grant, Mac Foster, McCall, Mercer, Morrison, PRIME Cooney, Mason, Tua, Ibeabuchi ETC....
It was in Chicago, where that bout was fought. Mob-backed, Sonny Liston needed to get some big press, as he was making his move. Yes, Wayne Betheas was 'durable and was tough-chin tested', but I wonder about that fight. It got alot of press.