Bernard Hopkins was a beast in his prime

Mental and physical prime are tied together where the optimum mix of the two create a "prime". A 70 year old trainer is has a hell of a lot more knowledge then they would have had 40 years ago in their physical prime, but they'd get destroyed by state fair contenders so it's worthless making a conclusion by looking at each individually.

 

Sickens me when I see racist apologists like this poster trying to rewrite history. You are lowlife vermin worse than a vocal racist in many ways as you are trying to cover up your vile beliefs. :verysad

Hopkins is a proven racist. No one without some twisted agenda can deny this fact. You belong in the sewer.

 

LOL at the low blow and Allen's reaction...

 

Exactly my point. When did Hopkins' increase in mental skill and his physical decline cross?

 

Read below

Exactly.
Do you think the Hopkins who looked lame against Jones would have looked that bad if it had been around the time he beat LHW champ Tarver, or do you think that version of Hopkins would only have managed a draw with Mercado? I dont.

For example, If you run up a mountain everyday, do you think when you get to 40 you cant do it all of a sudden? Of course not, in fact if you remain in shape and live the life you can be more conditioned for it.

When Calzaghe beat Hopkins it was sandwiched between Hopkins best wins of Tarver, Wright and Pavlik, and they are more impressive wins in my opinion than a draw over Mercado.

As you note, each case is individual, but I cant recall another fighter who keeps himself in such condition as Hopkins does

 

we saw how a great hopkins was v mitchell, mercado, taylor 1 and 2.

stop making excuses for this proven racist, he spent his prime, fighting welterweights and having a trilogy with robert allan, throwing himself out of the ring like a crybaby *****.

 

No one thinks Hopkins was in his prime when he fought Jones or Mercado so I don't know why your even bringing that up.

Can you answer the question please instead of beating around the bush?

 

You didnt answer my question of when was Hopkins prime?
So now you think Hopkins wasnt prime when not being able to beat Jones or Mercado.
I asked when Hopkins prime was and noted some of his later wins. Someguy101 noted this very well.

 

In my opinion late 90's, early '00's.

Your turn.

 

Thats a bit vague, but nevermind.
In answer to your question, I dont know what the real answer is.
I remember years ago when S Martinez was being put down and looking troubled by fighters like R Williams, but now he has had a few marquee wins and is now finally known to a wider audience, some would say he is in his prime now. Is he because he has won a world title for the first time at a late age or was he better then?
Same with Hopkins. Is he actually better now than he was due to his style change?
He has in my opinion scored his best wins, as he is fighting alot of fighters his own size.
I made this point earlier - For example, If you run up a mountain everyday, do you think when you get to 40 you cant do it all of a sudden? Of course not, in fact if you remain in shape and live the life you can be more conditioned for it.
As you note, each case is individual, but I cant recall another fighter who keeps himself in such condition as Hopkins does. He lives the life which preserves people.
I think Hopkins looked better since going up in weight, though I felt when he fought Jones 2 and Pascal 1 he was looking a lesser fighter, though came back and fought better in the rematch, so I couldnt really give an honest answer

 

I'm talking about a span about 5 years or so which isn't uncommon for a fighter's prime.

Let me ask this another way: you seem to be making a case for his achievements post 40, so would you then say it's a possibility that his prime happened during his 40's?

 

I would say it was possible he hadnt passed his prime when he first went up to LHW.
Joe Calzaghe is another who was similar. In his youth he had more power which he relied on. Later in his career he changed his style by not hitting with full force, but boxing better. So when was his prime? When he was a big punching young SMW beating Eubank or when he was in his 30s beating Lacy? Same with Hopkins, he looked better when beating Tarver than he did when falling out of the ring against Allen or when laying on his back against Echoles or when being lucky not to have a count against him against Echoles

 

Glen Johnson ('97) and Echols II ('00) were, along with Tito, his finest all-round performances. That version of The Executioner would have tortured and buried both Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe with ease. When people say the stamina-shorn B-Hop of the late 00s was "prime", it makes me laugh.

 

Beat the living crap out of an undefeated Glen Johnson. That's the definitive early Hopkins fight when people come with the "always boring" crap. And I don't think he was boring beating up Pascal, Pavlik, Tarver or Trinidad either. And not even noticeably dirty in those performances. That's why they will always stand out as sweet science at it's finest.

 

Such a short post, but so much wrong with it.

All of his wins, even the ones over guys like Antonio Tarver, Jean Pascal, Kelly Pavlik(who traveled up a grand total of one pound for the fight), Keith Holmes, and William Joppy? Hell Trinidad was a smallish 160 lbs fighter but he proved his worth at the weight by KOing Joppy.

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he must be holding back the bile.

As for the IQ, lets see he's been able to do something NEVER done before and that was be an effective 12 round world class boxer in his late 40's. As for outside the ring, he's part owner of a major promotional company.

So yeah a ****ing a ******.