In the next two years? What do you think? Say he beats Calzaghe/Kessler, pretty convincingly, then climbs up to heavyweight and grabs a strap, then retires. He'd have 20 defences at Middle, champ at 168, ring champ at 175 plus strap holder at heavy. Could he scale top 10 heights? How about top 20?
No, he needs to crack the top 35 first... He may one day be great, but that is 20 years or so away IMO.
Thats assuming alot! Hes in great shape for 42, anyday now and rightly so he body can get old over night.
Of coures; but we're talking about the top ten here. I'm interested in the highest possible position he could realisticaly attain.
Not an unreasonable point of view. IN HIS DEFENCE. He'd have won both over 15 IMO. Tell me what you would do with him if he beat Clazaghe/Kessler and Chagaev.
Well, if he does pick up the undisputed 168lb belt and moves up to pick up a HW, which will probably be impossible if Klits fights Ibragimov/ Ruslan winner, and then Peter would have the other belt, and i dont see Hopkins beating either. Then top 20-15 ATG.
Hopkins unified the title in September 2001 and posted 7 successful title defenses. Stop inflating his accomplishments.
If Hopkins did the 168 thing, and then the heavyweight thing, you could argue top 10 with ease. I don't have making it now.
You could already argue top10 P4P. His dominance of the middleweight division is similar to Joe Louis' of the heavyweight division, not to mention jumping up two weight classes and beating the recognized lightheavyweight champion at the age of 42, then defending against a 7 years younger current top10 pound for pounder in Winky Wright. His resume into his old age is absolutely extraodinary - Very few fighters have accomplished the sort of dominance past their physical prime as Hopkins has, and this is due to his incredible adaptation and fundamental boxing ability. The man, biologically, has been on the physical decline for the past 12 years. His fighting style may not be pretty anymore but he's still getting the job done - I know Roberto Duran is quick to single out Hopkins specifically for tremendous praise in interviews. I think the film of him in fights such as the Glen Johnson one (A man with some credible victories on his resume) shows that he is capable of mixing it with any middleweight of any era. He was an incredible fighter.
