How Highly Should Bernard Hopkins Be Rated?

It should also be noted that Jones had had a stellar amateur career, fighting the best amateurs on the planet for most of his life while B-Hop had only had a brief stint as an amateur in Philly before picking up boxing again in prison. While the pair were about the same age when they first fought, Roy quite clearly had a huge edge in experience, whereas B-Hop had never really fought at the top level before. And even then Hopkins composed himself very well and gave Roy one of his toughest fights.

 

That's a fine post.

 

You know I considered that but still didn’t deviate from my reply.
So he got me hook, line and sinker!!

 

The only rounds RJJ ever lost at Middleweight were to Hopkins so that shows how good RJJ was H2H at Middleweight.

No disrespect to @Smokin Bert but I don't see how you can say Hopkins weren't the best Middleweight of his era. Hopkins was pre prime when he fought RJJ and the likes of Toney weren't campaigning at Middleweight when Hopkins was an established Middleweight champion. I feel like Hopkins prime was not in the same era when Toney and RJJ were established Middleweights.

As for H2H I think Hopkins could beat Toney infact I think he's a bit of stylistic nightmare for Toney, as for RJJ I don't think Hopkins ever beats RJJ who's just a freak in regards to talent and H2H ability.

Overall I think Hopkins does deserve a top 10 spot for resume and H2H ability personally.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson
Harry Greb
Marvin Hagler
Carlos Monzon
Bernard Hopkins
Gennady Golovkin
Stanley Ketchell
Jake LaMotta
Charley Burley
Holman Williams

 

Yeah, I also have him above SRR at MW. He's up there with Monzon and Hagler for me.

 

There is no way Hopkins is a top 10 middleweight its really that simple.
Sure he was very skillful and a student of the game but his competition was incredibly weak which while no fault of his has to be taken into account.
His longevity was impressive but that is only part of it.
People point out his fight with Jones who essentially beat Hopkins with one hand in a fight that was not close.

 

Well, let's take fights like Pascal and Pavlik, or ODLH and Trinidad, for instance. Hopkins was much stronger than two of them and much faster and with better stamina than the other two. He used and utilized his physical advantages against them, and not his mind. It didn't take anything more than those advantages, as you can plainly see from the footage we have. Someone like Greb though, for instance, he had to think about how to use what he had sparingly, as he was ordinarily slower, had less durability and stamina than his foes. He had to make every punch count. He had to be, as most greats, a great thinker, a chess player. Hopkins played checkers. And he was rarely kinged because of having extra pieces on the board. If he had to consider that his bishop could only move diagonally or that his pawn could only go one or two places ahead, and never take a piece directly in front or behind of him, then we have a guy I don't think we've ever seen truly tested before. The other great middleweights like Rocky Lockridge and Dör Theedandridge, they were proven to use that noggin like a toboggan. Gosh, that's just not the Hopkins we got. So, maybe this is a moot conversation, while interesting enough.

Again, I was humble enough to say I may have been being too hard on him. But these guys all treat me like their goofy kid brother and say I am trolling, or even worse, a dumb type of person or something. And I tolerate it and rarely report anyone to my uncle who is a mod here. But it does get kind of tiresome, because I just like to talk boxing with people, and I really don't like to argue even if I disagree a bunch.