Hopkins was an old master, but what about when he faked injuries in fights?

He doesn't get thought of the same as Mike Tyson largely because he usually cameback to beat the guy in a rematch. Robert Allen for example.

 

I've met Hopkins and talked to him a good bit. I didnt sense any racism. Unless you really know somebody. What I did get just from conversations is that he still has the joint with him. He spent about 6 years in prison and he still has it with him.

 

You're underthinking this, but as usual I get the strong impression you're being contrarian for its own sake and not because you have much interest in discussion for its own sake. Let's juxtapose two sentences you write just a few lines apart:

'The statement "the better it is, the less it is appreciated" simply isn't true ...'
"Who's to say that Cecil Taylor's jazz is better than that of any of the many, many more widely appreciated pianists out there?"

I actually have a definite position on whether evaluative statements about art can ever have objective truth conditions, but you evidently don't.

I also did not say that 'Coltrane's less accessible material is "better jazz" than his more accessible work;' I said that notwithstanding a few exceptions and caveats, there is a general trend (in my estimation of course) that the greater the work the less likely it is to be widely appreciated by the public. This is (roughly) why Kenny G has outsold Charlie Parker, and Romeo and Juliet is far more often taught to high school students than A Winter's Tale.

I'll make my point with an outlier; an exception that "proves" the rule. This is the best-selling jazz album of all time, and indeed it's about about as deserving of that distinction as any. (It has perhaps the most perfectly crafted opening I have ever heard in any piece of music in any genre.) And it's highly accessible:

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This is Miles with his quintet a few years later. This is every bit as good as anything on Kind of Blue. Every man on that stage is absolutely f*cking on fire
-but I'll bet you to nine people in ten it just sounds like frantic noise:

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For every So What I can cite dozens if not hundreds of Gingerbread Boy's.

 

And Miles Smiles is probably still more popular and more widely appreciated than 99% of the jazz albums that have ever been recorded!! Not the best example (and by the way, neither was Mayweather-Pacquiao).

Most human beings like melodic, harmonious music and most people who like boxing prefer to see high volumes of punches thrown with ill intent (or at least tactical matches punctuated by knockouts). Generally speaking, music and boxing matches that have those traits will be more widely-embraced than those that do not. This is a matter of stylistic differences---not differences in quality.

Going back to sleep but I'll try to give you a fuller response tomorrow.

 

Various comments. List is endless. Google Bernard Hopkins racism. He had said I would never lose to a white man, said Mayweather would beat Pac man because he is black etc.

 

He's a convict who fouled and faked injuries that happened to have world-class boxing skills. Also racists. I like him better outside the ring as a commentator.

The ending of his career must have been rough for him, getting knocked out of the ring and being upset about being stopped in the fashion he was.