Hopkins v Trinidad: an underrated triumph??

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008.


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  1. DINAMITA

    DINAMITA Guest

    I saw Hopkins v Trinidad being described on here the other day as:

    "a criminally underrated win, the jewel in the crown, a masterclass"

    I have always thought this. I think it's right up there with Jones Jr's win over Toney as the best win of our era. For the following reasons:

    Going into the fight, Trinidad was 40-0 (34), and the resume was including Yori Boy Campas (56-0), Oba Carr (32-0), Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya (even though he really lost that one) and David Reid. World champion at 2 weights. He was ranked #2 p4p.

    In his last 2 fights leading up to Hopkins, he had became the first man to beat, and stop, Fernando Vargas (20-0) to unify the light-middleweight titles, then went up to middleweight and looked brilliant at the weight, dominating and stopping WBA champ William Joppy (32-1-1) in 5 one-sided rounds. Trinidad was red-hot going into the fight.


    And to dispel the size myth, view the facts:

    - Felix Trinidad is 5'11" tall (Hopkins 6'1")
    - Felix Trinidad has a 72 1/2" reach (Hopkins 75")
    - Felix Trinidad weighed in at 158 1/2lbs (1 1/2lb heavier than Hopkins)

    2 inches in height, and 2 1/2 inches in reach is a perfectly standard, normal disparity at any weight division. This is only a slight difference, many guys fight others in their natural weight division with far greater size disadvantages (Cotto v Margarito, anyone v Paul Williams, Pavlik v Lockett - and that's just very recent examples, plenty more in boxing history).

    And Trinidad was fighting at his third weight at world championship level. Not really a huge rise in weight overall. Mayweather, Pacquiao, De La Hoya, Jones Jr all jumped more weight divisions at world title level (again that's just recent examples, plenty more in boxing history).


    I just think that this win was stunning. Hopkins dominated and stopped the #2 p4p guy in the world, a fearsome puncher and undefeated star. It even beats coming off 2 defeats and jumping 2 weight divisions at 40+ to dominate the linear LHW champion (Tarver). One of the best wins and best performances in living memory.

    Thoughts/opinions?

    (*please don't post if you're going to just come out with any childish fanboy garbage, I'm looking for opinions regarding this win, not comments like 'Hopkins is ****' etc etc)
     
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    #1
  2. klion22

    klion22 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Great post. And i think the odds were 4/1 in Trinidad's favor. No one gave Hopkins a chance. And yeah, i think Tito was #2 or #3 on the P4P lists.
     
    klion22, Aug 11, 2008
    klion22, Aug 11, 2008
    #2
  3. thewoo

    thewoo Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I agree with most of your post, I just don't see how this can be called an underrated win. It took hopkins from fighting at the blue horizon for $100,000 per fight to multi million dollar Vegas paydays. At the time hopkins was vastly underrated, and this fight got him the recognition he deserved. Hell some people think that Roy should have agreed to a 50/50 split soley based on this fight. It was a great win but most people acknowledge that so I don't think you can call it underrated.
     
    thewoo, Aug 11, 2008
    thewoo, Aug 11, 2008
    #3
  4. DINAMITA

    DINAMITA Guest

    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    #4
  5. IsaL

    IsaL VIP Member Full Member

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    Trinidad was physically smaller.

    You can tell right away when they were both in the ring.

    It's like saying Hopkins is bigger than Tyson.

    Put it this way, Tito started as a pro at 140, Hopkins started at 175. 35 pounds higher.
     
    IsaL, Aug 11, 2008
    IsaL, Aug 11, 2008
    #5
  6. IsaL

    IsaL VIP Member Full Member

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    IsaL, Aug 11, 2008
    IsaL, Aug 11, 2008
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  7. doug.ie

    doug.ie 'Classic Boxing Society' Full Member

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    all i can say is bhop is a living legend...would he have beat roy jones in a rematch if it were made before, say, 2000...
     
    doug.ie, Aug 11, 2008
    doug.ie, Aug 11, 2008
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  8. BigReg

    BigReg Broad Street Bully Full Member

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    Very underrated win for Hopkins he was 36 and considered past it going into this fight. Tito was a big favorite and had just won a MW belt. There wasn't much difference in size, and Hopkin's stylistic advantages would've negated Tito's power regardless. Many thought Tito had this fight on lock going into the fight. Nard was only discredited after he dismantled Tito.
     
    BigReg, Aug 11, 2008
    BigReg, Aug 11, 2008
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  9. thewoo

    thewoo Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Trinidad was 17 when he went pro, hopkins was 23. I think it's safe to say that trinidad had some more growing to do when he turned pro. Also Tito was a seasoned amatuer used to making weight wheras hopkins had almost no amatuer career and was fresh out of jail. based on that I would not put too much emphasis on their starting weights.

    This would not be the same as saying that hopkins is bigger than Tyson. Tyson Aside from height Tyson beats hopkins in every measurable dimension (waist size, circumference of bicep and forearm, shoulder width, etc), this was not the case in hopkins vs Trinidad, I'd say they were of comparable size at the time that they met
     
    thewoo, Aug 11, 2008
    thewoo, Aug 11, 2008
    #9
  10. DINAMITA

    DINAMITA Guest


    Maybe most boxing people do agree with us, but I often see comments like this one on this forum:
    (this was posted in another thread today)

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pugilist64
    Hopkins hasn`t beaten anyone bar a couple of decent midgets but you don`t go on about that. His title reign was joke



    This is the attitude that led to this thread!!
     
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    #10
  11. DINAMITA

    DINAMITA Guest


    By that logic, Bowe's wins over Holyfield or Hagler's over Hearns mean nothing then. :nono

    The size disadvantage between Trinidad and Hopkins was not big enough to justify downgrading this win.
     
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    #11
  12. klion22

    klion22 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Great point. And although Hopkins started at 175, he permanently moved to MW after a few fights.
     
    klion22, Aug 11, 2008
    klion22, Aug 11, 2008
    #12
  13. DINAMITA

    DINAMITA Guest

    My mistake- that top 5 was from the start of '01 just before the Corrales-Mayweather fight. Still, I doubt Trinidad's position had changed from then.
     
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    DINAMITA, Aug 11, 2008
    #13
  14. Jack Presscot

    Jack Presscot Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Overrated, as is the career of Borenard. He beat up a blown up welter. Big Deal.
     
    Jack Presscot, Aug 11, 2008
    Jack Presscot, Aug 11, 2008
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  15. bladerunner

    bladerunner El Intocable Full Member

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    most at the time tought that "the executioner" was the one that was going to be executed others who gave him a shot said that his only chance was to make it an ugly fight.
    but instead what happened was one of the biggest boxing displays by a fighter ever it was truly a masterpiece by Hopkins and a very underrated win.
     
    bladerunner, Aug 11, 2008
    bladerunner, Aug 11, 2008
    #15
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