The man who`s win it the most times vs the man who defended it most times. MWT primes please (in other words, not the hop that lost to taylor & not the srr that lost to pender etc.) more like the srr that tko`d JLM & the B-Hop that tko`d Tito. You have 2 days to vote.
Robinson fought in an era where boxings talent pool was much deeper and still smoked guys that are much better than any of hopkins' opposition by far
It's Robinson. Accurate, capable of throwing most of it with power, unpredictable a great timer of his man good with angles. He's got all you need to outpoint Hopkins in a dull but fascinating match up. Don't look for fireworks here until round 10 when Hopkins makes his final push.
Hopkins was more versatile and clever, than anyone Robinson ever faced. I expect this one to be like 1st fight with Randy Turpin, but wider on scorecards, Robinson losing a clear UD.
when Robinson was fighting at middleweight he was weighing in just over the WW limit and when he was fighting at LHW he was weighing in around the MW limit in a deeper talent pool than todays where the best had to fight the best and yet in his prime he only had one loss and over 100 victorys, what has Hopkins done that is anything close to that? DLH and Tito had NOTHING on SRR and the same applies to Winky
Hopkins had problems with athletic fast fighters and SRR embodied these attributes as well as anyone. Hopkins would lose the same way he lost to RJJ and Taylor (and yes he lost twice to Taylor if you score on the 12 point must system) What does BHOPs do better? Speed - SRR Workrate - SRR Timing - SRR Movement - SRR Defense - SRR (better defensive footwork) Combinations - SRR Power - Equal - maybe SRR Strength - BHOPS is the bigger man Body Attack - both are excellent Punch Quality (Technique/Speed/Power) Jab - SRR Straight Right - SRR Hook - SRR Uppercut - SRR SRR UD around 9-3 or 8-4 no KDs
Only initially he started weighing around 159 later though. 1 aspect I neglected to mention is BHOPs weighs 172 on fight night at MW because of the weigh in being 24hours before. SRR would weigh 159 on fight night. BHOPs has size and strength advantages if the weigh isnt on the day of the fight.
I'll take Hopkins via UD. Probably by 2-3 points. Robinson was very beatable at middleweight. Turpin, Basilio, Fullmer and Olson, all took the title from Robinson. And IMO none of those fighters are as good as Hopkins. Certainly not on a techincal level, thats for sure. People are picking Robinson based on his reputation more than anything, thus looking at his entire career rather than his middleweight record. I'm not saying he wasn't a great middleweight, as he was clearly one of the greatest to grace the division. But his consistency wasn't what it was at welterweight.
If Hopkins is the most overrated middleweight ever, then Hagler must be as well, although maybe not to the same extent.
OK people. This isnt a thread about who had the best mwt career, this is a match-up between both guys at their MWT PEAKS. I would say that SRRs mwt peak was the night he stopped the unstoppable Lamotta in 13 rds, Hopkins was in or around the tko of trinidad. I see a great tactical battle initially with hop trying his luck from the outside only to fall behind due to SRRs left jab & constant changing direction, now & then loading up on the big power shots & combo`s. Once hopkins realises that srr has his number from the outside, I see hop carefully bulling his way in with great defence slipping punches & landing good shots to the body (& sometimes head) Ray will land his own fast, solid blows & hop will feel them but hop will have clawed the rds back by midway through the bout. In the last 3rd of the fight i see SRR keeping hop at bay more with his jab & in & out 4-5 punch combo`s.... Ray isnt holding back anymore & is willing to sacrifice some handspeed in order to punish hop`s ribs, liver & head (when reachable) with power shots. Hop occassionally bulls srr inside but is taking a good few solid shots on the way in & ray usually throws his punches then plays matador again, trying to lure hopkins in. Hopkins knows he`s behind in the last 2-3 rds & comes forward but robinson`s blows have taken their toll & ray is mainly punishing him with jabs, straight rights, rights to the back of the ribs & occassional lateral movement creating angles for new punches. Hopkins makes the final bell still on his feet but immediately raises robinson`s hand even before the verdict is announced, ray points to hop & admits afterwards that `he can really take a shot & he`s not the easiest guy in the world to hit either.` Robinson W12/15 UD Hopkins
Likewise Hopkins gets overrated because he fought in perhaps the weakest era for the middleweight division ever.A total wasteland where hacks like Joppy and Holmes were champions.