I remember a feint rumor about him attempting to win a belt at HW a while a go. Considering his contemporaries in Toney/Jones did it, Im surprised Hopkins never attempted to move up that latter.
He wanted to move up to HW in 2007 and beat Oleg Maskaev who was then WBC HW champion. But WBC ruled for Maskaev to defend the title vs Sam Peter or vacate, so B-Hop decided to stay at LHW.
Yes but not ideally. There have certainly been some mediocre cruiser titlists who he could have made to look stupid. But it wouldn't have been an ideal weight for him and wouldn't have done his skills much justice. I think heavyweight is pushing things.
If he could beat Tarver, he could beat Danny Green. I could see him having a close fight with Cunningham. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In my opinion he was too naturally slim to compete at heavyweight He Definately had the chin for it though
Could he have ? Yes. He was skillful enough, quick enough, crafty enough, and had that veteran ring generalship to pull it off. BUT, there is a big risk going up in weight. Those bigger guys are stronger and hit a lot harder, so there is greater risk of pain and concussion, especially since that isn't a natural weight for your body. Plus, those bigger guys take it better, especially given that BHop was not a huge puncher. Then you add the fact that moving around with all that extra weight that your body isn't used to has a wearing effect. So one has to consider the risk - reward, and ultimately BHop probably made the right choice.
