I'll say Hopkins decision but Bute has the youth and talent. Does he have the smarts though. Hopkins is a quality defence but with intelligence you can outwork him when you need to, don't let him control you in the clinch etc Bute can win but X is savvy as ****.
Bute might be the truth, this notion that he's unproven has to be thrown out. He threw every single orthodox punch in the Marquess of Queensbury rules booklet against Miranda. I already admitted that Pantera was soup can status, but the manner in which Lucian ended it doesn't make me comfortable with a 44/45 year old catching the difference at 70.
The Hopkins that fought Calzaghe would beat Bute, put it that way. Obviously he looks like he's badly faded since, but if there's one thing I've learned about B-Hop it's to never right him off, because he can be reincarnated in the most unusal circumstances. After the Jones whooping he came back and totally changed his style; after the Taylor losses he moved up and schooled Tarver and Winky; after looking faded vs. Calzaghe and faking injury to get a break, just like vs. Jones he put on arguably his best ever performance in taking Pavlik apart. It all depends on which Hopkins shows up.
Could see a SD going either way Hopkins does not have the workrate anymore, so I'd favour Bute to get the decision.
Bhops has been boring fight fans for years now with his borefests. I hope he does not get another payday, I would rather watch one of those shopping channels on Sky for 48 hours non stop than a bhops fight. All he does is run like a *****.
:nono Technically he pisses all over Froch. If Bute gets the right fights he can show us how good he really is.
Hopkins still has enough to beat the likes of Bute.Bute is one of the most overatted fighters on here.
I think people are dreaming when it comes to Hopkins beating Bute at this stage. Yes, he beat Pavlik, but Pavlik isn't anywhere near as multi-faceted as Bute. He can move, he boxes, he slugs, he spots openings - but Hopkins is such a tight package that it would be an incredibly boring fight. That said, i could see a stoppage late on for Bute - he hits hard and from unusual angles, plus that body shot can get in for him. But Bernard winning this after how crap he looked against a useless Jones? Get to ****.
Bute's untested at this sort of level. He's done well and looked good thus far but who do you think his best win was against? Only a fool would predict a stoppage for someone fighting at a higher weight against Hopkins.