If RJJ get criticized for his resume and fighting cans, why not BHOP???

Yeah, I think they'd have all beaten Hopkins.

For me, Hopkins' aging is overstated. Whilst he may have declined physically, he became a better boxer. The version of Hopkins who fought Tito in 2001 may not have been as quick, agile or as strong as the version who beat Tarver in 2006, but I think he became a much better, smarter boxer in that period. He learned abilities that he didn't know before, he came into the ring with a much better strategy. Hopkins was a much better fighter when he was 43 than 33.

Boxing isn't all about the physical side of it. When Calzaghe fought Hopkins, neither man was at their physical peak but the difference is, Hopkins knew how to mature much better than Calzaghe did. You could say the same for someone like Larry Holmes or James Toney. They adapted their styles and didn't really suffer to the aging process.

If Hopkins fans want to create some mythical hybrid of the fighter we've seen over the years, that's great. Put his punching power from 1992 together with his footwork from 2001 and his ring IQ from 2008 and you have a near perfect fighter. However, that version of Hopkins doesn't exist and the further you go back in years to his physical prime, the less ring IQ you have.

Hopkins' peak was probably around 2004/5, when he had the best combination of a gameplan, ring IQ, physical ability and so on. That version of Hopkins was good, but he wasn't good enough to beat some of the guys who he fought.

 

Hopkins was deserving or nowhere near 50/50. He was the guy who was routinely making less than a million per fight. Jones was a superstar. It'd be like Seth Mitchell demanding 50/50 from Wlad.

 

This is the sad thing about Joe Calzaghe's career, while Roy Jones was ducking guys out of his own free will Joe Calzaghe was probably excited about big fights but Fish Eyes was doing the ducking for him atsch

Hopkins is not Huck, when he moved up he did it the right way ie put on pure muscle mass and once you put on pure muscle it's not easy to burn it off without ruining yourself (ask Roy Jones) and considering Hopkins was in his late 30's by that time there's close to 0 chance he'd ever get back down to 160 and get an opportunity to face Oscar, and the Mayweather situation is different as he came in at 150lbs not 154lbs and was in his prime not pushing 40.

 

No they're nothing alike atsch Roy Jones was the 175lb champion but Hopkins was undisputed MW champion the first fighter to have unified all the major belts and felt he was entitled to an even slice yet you think this is the same as Seth Mitchell who has literally done nothing and is still green even now wanting a 50/50 with Wlad (long time unified HW champion) :nut

 

I'm failing to understand your logic, so Frank ****** makes offers to both Hopkins and Ottke's camps, and both refuse, so Joe ducked these guys?? :think

So my point about Mayweather stands, Bernard didn't need to weigh 168+ to face Joe, he could have come in at anything between what he was already comfortable at, up to 168, then he could have gone back down to 160. Archie Moore did it regularly, Thomas Hearns did it, other fighters have done it and been strong. I won't go into Roy Jones, as that's a debate for another day. There's '0' chance he could have got back down to 160? That's bull**** and you know it.

 

You think Hopkins peaked at 40 :blood

 

What a fighter has or hasn't done is irrelevant in terms of discussions. It's all about how much money a fighter brings to the table. Hopkins, like Mitchell, brought nothing and he didn't deserve anything like 50%.

 

Yeah, I do. Like I said, he was better at 43 than 33. Who would seriously pick 33 year old Hopkins to beat the 43 year old version?

He got better with age. There is a limit, of course, but when he was 40, he was a well rounded fighter.

 

Fish Eyes used Calzaghe, wasn't interested in getting him the real big fights that's why he was doing double headers with Mario Veit (a guy who he had previously knocked out in one round)

Hopkins is 6"1 and was always considered a big MW, so moving to 168lb he'd want to fill out and it would be ridiculous and comical to think he'd come in at 164lbs giving away a tremendous weight and size advantage against a natural 168lb fighter while at the same time holding ambitions to get back down to 160 to fight Oscar, it was one or the other.

 

There are just alot of RJJ haters. **** dirty ass Hopkins. RJJ was a true fighter.

 

Why would they offer Hopkins $3m in 2002, and be willing to travel to America if they weren't interested in big fights?

How do you know that he received both offers simultaneously? He was a big MW, but he wasn't struggling to make MW in 2002. He could have gained the extra weight to fight Calzaghe, then taken it off. Hearns went to 175, then back down to 160. I'm sure Bernard could have hired the best nutritionist and advisers in the business to handle it. He accepted the fight in the first place, now if it's out the question, why would he accept at all?? He could have fought Calzaghe, and a couple of years later been comfortable enough at MW to fight Oscar. I'm sure most will agree with me on that.

edit: my last post now as I'm off to bed

 

Hopkins would have bought more to table then any fighter Jones had faced since Toney, Jones knew this and wasn't going to have his plans for a HW strap ruined by an old foe.

34-36 year old Hopkins is what prime Hopkins is IMO both physically and mentally, i'd take a 35 year old Hopkins over a 43 year old Hopkins any day.

 

thank you. fight calzaghe for 3mil and get no credit for beating another protected european fighter, or fight superstar de la hoya for 10mil? my ***** didn't even need to finish high school to figure that **** out.

 

RJJ a true fighter? come on son atsch

RJJ never showed fighting heart once in his career, not ONCE. Every time he was faced with adversity he crumbled from the first Griffin fight to the Tarver knockdown to the Johnson shattering.

 

The Hopkins fight didn't come off...were there no other name opponents out there? why didn't fish eyes try to land another name fighter? instead it was 5 whole years before he got him Kessler and Hopkins.

Sure he accepted then he wanted more money to make sure it wasn't going to be a dud venture, and it was a ***** move on his part after agreeing to the original $3 million but it was about the money at that time and fighting a relative no name at 168lb would have ended his reign at MW and ended the chance of him getting a real big money fight with Oscar. And all this talk of Hearns is irrelevant as Hopkins frame is not like Hearns and being close to 40 makes it close to impossible to jump up then back down in weight without finishing yourself no matter what conditioners you get.