Charley Burley v Bernard Hopkins

What exactly are you basing that on?

I think Hopkins deteriated Tito onwards, a slow deteriation because of his dedication and trickery but deteriation none the less

 

So 1 Burley fight against a somewhat mechanical opponent versus Jones whole career. I don't see when Jones doesn't seem strong though, he's rarely in clinches but isn't really pushed around in them, he rarely backs up unless looking for the counter, even at HW Ruiz

Yes Tito was but physically that was the last of his prime for me

 

Because he's carrying 10lbs-15lbs more functional muscle, that clearly lets him put weight behind his shots, meaning bigger powerpunches and more effective arm punches, backs opponents up, take punches and fire ones back etc etc Jones could obviously fight bigger men more effectively.

Hopkins usually tries to bully opponents, especially smaller ones, he couldn't bully Jones, I think he may bully Burley

 

1. Well we can't use Burley footage, there's only 1 fight and that isn't enough. Again I'm not sure why you don't rate Jones strength, he was plenty strong enough to hold off 230lb Ruiz

2. As a Burley fan I'm scratching my head thinking which HWs he fought, let's take a guess that they weren't that good or bigger

3. So you know for a fact Bivins, Charles and Marshall didn't bully him at MW? That's sort of the bottom line, the few elite bigger men he faced who were a little bigger beat him

 

Did you read the fight reports, tbh I've always assumed it must have been the size/strength that got the better of him 1 way or another, although Charles seems like he was a protege from the start. I'm interested how the Marshall fight went down, that would probably be on my list of fights of Burley I'd most want to see, both in their prime (unlike perhaps Moore), both skilled with plenty of flair

 

Good post, got my brain to start thinking abit.

My biggest worry for Hopkins, is if he does up the pace and try to be aggressive he is playing into Burley's hands, slightly. Mainly because Hopkins wasn't 100% comfortable in being the aggressor and, obviously, Burley being such a great counter-puncher.

Im starting to see Hopkins playing an unpredictable game. Backing off for periods then pouncing with a few shots and tieing up. I think that is where he would have his most success and IMO could really offset Burley's strengths, that you highlighted.

It would be a boring strategy but it could carry the day for Hopkins, but it really depends on who implements their own gameplan better.

For Burley I'd think he would have to press the fight in a Don Curry-esque way. Taking the front foot but forcing the leads and countering with his superior speed.

No-one imposed there size on Burley!

Zivic was never really insanely strong either, he was just clever in his application in strength through angles or footwork. Which IMO is also what weight Burley so 'strong'.

None of them imposed there size on Burley, Charles and Bivins imposed their explosiveness on him though.

 

Now you mention it, it does seem to ring a bell, I remember it being a close call, what injury was Burley carrying? Personally I have a feeling Holman probably wasn't as exciting/engaging as Burley/Marshall

 

With Bivins I'd find that hard to believe from what I've seen of him. But maybe it was those incredibly long arms of his that Burley couldn't get past. Hopkins actually has a reach 1 inch less than Bivins but his arms don't look nearly as long. Still reach and height are factors that favour Hopkins

 

Bivins was an explosive fighter especially early.

All the footage of Bivins is when he was past-prime.