Bernard Hopkins vs James Toney at Middleweight

Hopkins would win.
Hopkins is more versatile than Toney. Hopkins could box on the outside and use his length. To win. On the inside, Hopkins can hold his own with Toney, though Toney might be slightly better insdie, but not enough to win rounds when combined with Hopkins winning work on the outside.

 

it wouldnt be a dominating effort by hopkins but, as michael jackson right above me said, hopkins' versatility would give him the victory

 

I would go for hopkins
although toney was no slouch in his prime

 

No one is more versitle than JT. But at MW Nard was the man and very crafty, very strong and dominant. For that reason I'd give him the edge but in no way a given if JT came in on point like we've seen in the past.

 

Toney is not very versatile at all. His inside game is masterful, and he has the ability to draw people into it. However; even in his prime, he was sluggish of foot. He could cut of the ring well enough, but movers always gave him a hassle.

 

Hopkins. He was a more well-rounded fighter at his peak, and had masterful ring generalship, something that was never really Toney's strong point. If it's the Toney from the first McCallum fight, it would be a close one though, a brilliant fight too.

 

If Toney fought Hopkins in '93, Toney would have won. He was far closer to his brilliant peak (1991 IMO) than Hopkins was to his imperial majesty (2001).

If they both fought at their peak, it's a complete pick 'em as far as I'm concerned. Hopkins has had the better career and is the greater fighter p4p, but h2h I'm not sure he could defeat a peak and motivated mw Toney.

If I could see ANY fight between ANY two fighters in all of history, it genuinely would be '91 Toney v '01 Hopkins. Two of my absolute favourites.

 

atsch

 

I agree with this, though I think Toney's better power at this weight might force BHop into enough of a shell for the fat man to eek out a victory.

 

Hopkins. Toney struggled with angles. He has always looked best against guys that bring the fight to him. Bernard wouldn't fall into the trap and would outbox him. It would not be a barn burner by any means but a close but clear win for Nard.

 

I think JT wins too. People are getting mixed up because Hops has a bigger legacy now than Toney and stayed and dominated at middle but in the early to mid 90s Toney would beat Hopkins.

 

if these guys fought when they were both mw's, toney would of owned hopkins. Toney was a much more rounded fighter back then, b-hop was still learning his craft whilst jt was putting on performances a la nunn at that time. However if we say prime for prime i still go for toney. I just dont see how the hopkins that beat felix beats the toney that decimated iran barkley or the hopkins that beat pavlik for that matter. Toney would of been too quick, his chin too iron and he would of been too slick on the inside, which is where i think he would of won this fight. He simply would of matched and bettered anything hokins could throw at him. I love hopkins as a fighter but when you think about it, toney was the one fighter besides rjj that would of been all wrong for him. And their atg's.

 

How? I think it's the other way around.

Prime for prime, Hopkins had quicker hands, much faster feet, a more versatile attack to work with, superior outside skills, and would at the very least be able to hold his own with Toney on the inside if he needed to go there. He also consistently showed a greater control of range and tempo.

Prime and focused Toney, the one of the first McCallum fight, would make it close, but even at his best he didn't have the variety of tools at his disposal that Hopkins had.

 

If it would have happened back then,Bernard would have shocked the world with a performance similar to the Felix Trinidad,but then again James Toney is a legend,and waz somewhat unstoppable in his prime{Till He met RJ} He would def have some moments in that fight unlike Trinidad who had no moments against B-hop and I also dont think Hopkins could have stopped Toney,He would just outbox him to a UD win