Ye Olden Days when Hopkins' Bread & Butter were the Left Hook & Uppercut http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga7C8p1FLGM&feature=channel_page 5th pro fight with Hopkins called that afternoon in Philly to come on up to Rochester and fight the local hero... and ends up as the local hero himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BxDNgP4qZQ Not the best opposition, as Hopkins exposes the guy, but B-Hop again shows how to end rounds with a bang, not a whimper. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ0WM325jQg&feature=related Two fights away from RJJ and, like the last one, "You wanna stop the fight, well, I'll be damned if I don't get my money's worth first!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRv9xzLeW8 Not the best quality video... but try telling me that's boring! Still think Bernard was never a good finisher?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozw7bu0yiWc&feature=channel_page There's 5 parts to this one. If you can't figure out how to see the other four, unplug the computer and throw it out the window. Edit:SmelOdies has some other decent Hopkins fights as well.
He is very boring indeed and I may dare to say that if he had stopped being boring i.e. fought toe to toe, he would not have beaten a lot of fighters he's fought. Even a proven exciting fighter like Calzaghe could not make a fight with Hopkins exciting. I really hate Hopkins style, I do not think boxing was intended to be fought like by whoever originally started the sport.
Meh...depends who he fights. If the styles clash well (i.e. favour him in most cases) things will look okay. If they don't blend, or he's struggling, it will often make for a messy fight because he'll hold a great deal more and revert to "questionable" tactics.
Why say ALL his fights have been boring when you have clearly not seen all his fights? where is the commonsense in that. If you have seen his two fights with Mercado,Echols and his fight with Glen Johnson then there is no way you would say they were boring fights.
I thought the Pavlik fight was hugely entertaining. He's good to watch against technically inferior fighters.
He's a great fighter, excellent technician, can box and brawl, has incredible defence and movement even at this stage of his career. he's a modern marvel but, when his game is to defuse his opponent's defense rather than outfighting them - that can lead to uneventful fights where he breaks his man down rather than beats him up. Workrate bothers him because he likes time to plan and set traps, so he tends to clinch and wear his man down in those situations. But against aggressive guys who can work but aren't fast - he looks great. Against other boxers, he looks good because he's so sound and can also brawl better. Depends which fights, but the Johnson one is great fun.
The most regrettable part of Hopkins career, though, is that he never fought James Toney. That, for sure, would have been an interesting fight.
Johnson, Tarver and Pavlik fights were great to watch. Some of his middleweight defences not so much. Rather then boring I would say frustrating.
His trilogy with Allen is up there with Pac-Morales, Barrera-Morales, Marques-Vasquez, Bowe-Holyfield and Gatti-Ward trilogies.