yes bernard was a superior fighter but if u cant hurt harding or slow him dow then even bernard would have found himself in some trouble remember bernard at light heavy or really any other weight never threw lots of punches harding would make him work every minute of every round. dont think bernard got the punch at light heavy to hurt him enough i think this fight is alot closer then people think also he is naturally stronger bigger guy. bernard has a better chance of winning but harding by no means out of it.cheers guys
Most of these Harding knockers were not born when he was in his prime and cannot appreciate how tough he was. Most of them probably still thinks there is a Santa Claus
LOL at those revisionists. Harding was tough but very limited. His record is littered with bums and stiffs, and his best two fights were against another very limited fighter, a man 12 years his senior who smashed him in one fight (tko 7)and he went life and death in the second pulling out a miracle victory against a then 38yr old. Harding may be the weakest world champ Australia ever had.
B-Hop is still fighting so why not match him on current form? Judging on his effort v Jones 2 & Dawson, i doubt he'd match Harding if the going got tough.
Hopkins would win but Harding would make him fight every minute of every round. Jeff wass limited but I remember him fighting McCallum - his preparation was a bottle of scotch a day until a month out from the fight. He gave McCallum one of the toughest fights of his life despite that and finished the stronger. Hopkins could not afford to relax for a single second.
Come on, lets not overate Harding here, was a good Aussie fighter and tough as nails. But he just a wild tough slugger and a great like BHop would toy with his ass. Any version of Hopkins beats him rather easily. Hopkins is just on another level completely and a passed out drunk Hopkins could probably wake up pissed as a fart and win a decision against a prime Harding.
I reckon hopkins could do twenty push ups in between rounds and beat harding. 30??....harding is a chance.