Apparently this guy wasnt much of a boxer...

I don't understand why a some judge a fighters peak based solely upon the quality of opposition they beat at the certain point in their career instead of using their eyes and clearly seeing the decline.

A fighter can have the best wins of his career at a late stage in his career while past their peak. Was Ali at his peak in the 70's when he had his best wins, while making his comeback being less agile and easier to hit? Was Ray Leonard at his peak when coming out of retirement to beat Hagler at a weight 13lbs above his natural weight and having had only 1 fight in 5 years? Was Carl Thompson at 40 at his peak when he beat future cruiser and heavyweight champ David Haye? Was George Foreman at his peak at age 45 when he beat Michael Moorer?

All to often I hear this argument against fighters like Hopkins and it's always to fit an agenda, often to bolster the resume of their fighter. So you can take your derisory "Hmmm" and go get a clue.

 

I wouldn't have said any of them were in their prime. I will say that Hopkins was not past it in any way. People love to believe that then they say he was robbed. Make your mind up was he robbed or was he just past his peak?
Lacy was a hype job but his decline can surely be attributed to the beating Calzaghe put on him.
Eubank was coming off 2 knock wins admittedly after losing to Steve Collins twice but he was still a great.
So therefore i dont think your post is comparable.

 

How can you say Hopkins was not past it in any way? He was in his 40's, medical fact that your body starts to decline past 30 ish. Name another fighter or infact any athelete that physically peaks in their 40's. Hopkins went from a fighter who could throw 70 to 100+ punches a round like he did in his prime against Glen Johnson to struggling to throw 50 punches a round against fighters like Taylor and Calzaghe.

Hopkins workrate has declined, so his stamina is worse, his handspeed is obviously slower than it was, that's not even debatable it's clear to see and he no longer has the power to stop his opponents like he used to. Hopkins has been in steady decline since he fought Joppy maybe even longer as it is hard to gauge as he has been able to make up for his declining physical attributes be altering his style and strategy.

 

Ask Jeff Lacy.

When he fought Calzaghe his career was destroyed! And his face.

 

He was a quality boxer, just not ATG material.

 

atsch I just seen the post above mine which is pretty much saying the same thing.

 

When someone lays down false information they need to be corrected, and like i said in my first post

I didn't deny his skills.

 

18 days notice, he was already near 175 where he had scheduled to fight someone else before taking this fight against Calzaghe.

His performance in that fight and the fact that he dominated the later rounds shows he wasn't exactly a spent force.

 

The Boxing Writers Association of America voted him the 3rd greatest fighter of the 2000s behind Pacquiao and Mayweather. But yeah, he wasn't much of a boxer

 

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