Correcting Ignorance: "Hopkins only fought smaller men"

What difference would that make anyway? Hopkins beat Trinidad on ring generalship and technical skill not by imposing his size and strength on him.

 

Well, let's be honest. Hopkins size and strength is part of what got Tito's respect.

Malinaggi is good technically. Look what happens when he fights a Cotto or a Hatton.

For the record, I'm a HUGE B-Hop fan.

 

why did hopkins did what marquez is doing right now...look at marquez, he is fighting outside his natural weight just to have a chance to have a trilogy with pac

why did hopkins didnt move up and chase jones.

 

No not really.

He did not need to get Tito's respect. You make it sound like Tito could of stepped in at any time and started unloading. That was not the case at all.

Hopkins fight plan was simple. Make Trinidad reset everytime he get set to throw and move over, counter when he makes mistakes.

Winky saw that same thing Hopkins did, that Trinidad puts all his weight on his front font and tries to edge foward, if you can see that and break his rhythm with a jab or move he is left chasing shadows.

 

Hopkins fought an excellent fight from the outside, no doubt.

If he was a feather fisted weakling who was a small middleweight, he would have been walked down exactly like Joppy was. All I'm saying.

Of course he needed to get Tito's respect. He got it with his right hand in round one.

 

Well i think its a mute point, because even though Hopkins was a big MW he hits as hard as any other moderate punching MW. He has never really been a big puncher. He hit Mercado with the kitchen sink and landed power shot after power shot, but it still took him a while to get rid of him. Joppy probably hit as hard as Hopkins in truth.


He wore Tito down by hitting him consistently not by hitting him with big shots.

 

I agree mostly - anyone that thinks Hopkins only beat smaller men or doesnt appreciate his skills as both a boxer & a fighter needs their head read, he is obviously 1 of the best fighters of his generation & likely of all time.
Hopkins is the sort of guy that gives EVERYBODY he ever fights trouble & that alone takes a special fighter, a complete nightmare for any fighter around his own weight.

 

Very true, a masterpiece, one of the best schoolings ever, brilliant.

 

All true. I forget who described him this way, might have been Manny Steward, but they called him a "stern" puncher. Obviously not spectacular power, but I think Tito realized very quickly that those counters had something on them.

Hopkins has become so safety first in recent years that people forget just how physically strong he was at 160. You are right that the fight with Tito was mostly tactical, but lesser fighters would have wilted during those onslaughts in the 6th and the 10th.

 

Trinidad grew into Middleweight just fine. That's expressed perfectly in DINAMITA's opening post.

And despite the fact that his BIG name opponents were moving up in weight, the majority of his career was spent fighting similar sized men. There were no stars at 160 for him to fight, but he did fight everyone that mattered at the weight during his 10 year reign. He thoroughly cleaned out his own division in that time span, accepted the challenges of superstar opponents moving up in weight, and went on to outclass a man who spent his whole career 15lbs above his own.

He certainly did not "only fight smaller men."

 

.........Fair play.

 

I've been trying to tell people on this site for a long time about this bs myth that Calzaghe started in confrontation him and Hopkins started. And it pisses me off when people believe that ****.

 

For what it's worth. You just earned mad points from me for your observation.:thumbsup

 

i dont understand why you post on the board when you're so blatantly british and patriotic. that's fine in essence but when you post like this against something you dont like and offer no reply it just makes you look bad.

 

I see also that you caught heat after the debates I was having about the small guy myth regarding Hopkins. Glad to see you elaborated on all these things these guys in this forum try to say about Hopkins great wins. If anybody can show me some great wins Calzaghe had in fighting a great fighter who were in there prime, I'd never say another thing about Calzaghe's legacy again.