I like B Hop. I can't help but respect a man that has upset the odds makers on more than a handful of times. His style isn't pretty, he doesn't "execute" with power, but is a true executioner of his game plan. I also respect a guy that takes on the best of the best at this stage of his career. He deserves this fight with Pascal and it will be a good fight. People thought KP would be the end of Hop and then everyone played monday morning QB and agreed "of course he won, KP is a hype job that is one dimensional." Where am I going with this? Well... Hop has really had a pretty illustrious career that has been predicated a lot on the "mental game." He didn't win the mental game as much as say Mike Tyson, but he sure knows how to mess people up in the head. Joe C did deserve that win, but weak ass hopkins knocked him down and landed the harder shots through the fight. My guess, is that part of Joe C getting caught was his emotional reaction to Hop's pre fight antics. The Irony...Jermaine Taylor. Talk about a hype job and a guy whose biggest weakness is his confidence. This guy has no mental toughness. Somehow, the HBO hype job, truly did get the best of Hopkins. If hopkins knew, i mean REALLY knew, how mentally weak JT is, he would probably have fought a different fight. We have seen Hop truly expose fighters we wouldn't have expected. He has beaten "the unbeatables" yet he loses to JT? I guess my question is...Why? And if he watched film of him fighting Froch, AA, KP and some of the smaller fighters he squeaked by....do you think he would have taken the fight and just murdered JT? Of all Hop's fights, he has never really been hurt. However, I can't believe he lost twice (1 debatable) to a guy like JT. Joe C I understand, a prime Roy I understand....JT...wtf?!
Mixed emotions really, I mean even when your fighting guys that are perceived to be made for your style, as Pac has been doing to a degree, it kinda takes away from the victory somewhat, that said, they are still top fighters fighters, and you still have to beat them, now I see a similar scenario with the way Hopkins is running his career, while Pascal is not made for his style, he is not on Hopkins level in terms of ring smarts, so what ever advantages he has in youth, could be negated, Hopkins knows this imo, where as he also knows, that Dawson does not only the physical attributes, like Pascal, he also has the technique, ring smarts to be able to cause Hopkins a lot of trouble, which is why it did not surprise me that he seemed more interested in fighting Pascal after he won, than he ever did about facing Dawson.
Nubbles (TheSilencer).....the point is usually great mental fighters and fighters who win by exposing the weaknesses of other fighters did not happen with one of the biggest hype jobs in history. Not only was JT groomed for TV, he is a very very weak mental fighter. He fights insecure and the guy just looks plain tired when he fights because he is so tense. That wasn't the case early in his career when he was being groomed...but you would think that Hop of all people could have figured that out. I mean he has figured out other fighters pretty damn well. It's called deductive reasoning; use it and be "silenced".
Hopkins has become one of those guys who must have his back against the wall. When people doubt him, that's when he comes out of his shell to put on his best performance. Which is the main reason I'm expecting him to win big against Pascal. That, and the fact that Pascal's style is there to be exploited.
Ya I agree with you on why he picked Pascal. However, JT has no special abilities at the elite level. His power is average, his speed is average, his wind sucks, his mental game is horrendous, and hop lost twice. My question is why? I get why he lost to RJJ (RJJ had way more athletic ability than hop had skill at the time). I get why he lost to Joe C (couldn't keep up with that tremendous work rate). But JT is NOT nearly close to that level of opposition. I guess my theory is that he got "outsmarted." Not by JT..but by the hype surrounding that Nub. Which in and of itself is ironic.
I think the main reason Hopkins lost the fights to JT was because of JT's style. Hopkins as he has gotten older has had more trouble with the quicker, slicker fighters than he has had with the stand in front of you predictable plodders. Like Gooners pointed out, it is the probably the reason why Hopkins was never keen on a Dawson fight.
100% agree with that. I really think that had something to do with him chasing David Haye as well. He knew he'd be a massive underdog but that's what brings out the best in him & what he thrives on
The losses to Taylor seem to have been a blip in his career. It may have been due to the fact he was struggling at the weight as when he moved to light heavyweight it seemed to revitalise him. Hopkins only averaged 27 punches a round in their first fight and only slightly better in the rematch with 31 punches per round. Yet when he fought Tarver his punch output was only slightly better at 35 punches per round but then he wasn't forced to up his work rate as he was clearly dominating Tarver. Yet when he faced Wright who gave him a tougher fight he threw an impressive 53 punches per round. Also against Pavlik Hopkins threw 44 punches per round. So it's conceivable that making 160lbs impacted negatively on Hopkins workrate and therefore effected his ability to pressure Taylor consistently over the course of a 12 round fight.
I agree with most of what Nub says but I don't know what the tread is looking for. Can we all agree Hopkins has the best resume of any current fighter?
What I point it down to, is that Taylor's biggest flaw is his stamina, now if you exploit that, by turning up the pressure, making him fight, then you have realistic chance of beating him, hell, even Kasim Ouma was able to push him by pressuring him, however I think in a Boxing match, where he does not have to fight hard, can control the pace, he's good enough technically to trouble anyone, its also worth pointing out, that he used the jab consistently against Hopkins, which I believe negated Hopkins somewhat, Hopkins needs to draw you into mid range to get his counters off, but Taylor managed to maintain and dominate long range by using that jab.
