Is Hopkins truly that good ,or is heflattered by the level of competition in his era

He is a great technician. His performances against Trinidad, de la Hoya, and Tarver show his excellent craftmanship.

He put on a clinic against Trinidad.

He gave De la Hoya a lesson in spite of what Larry Merchant wanted to believe in the beginning. Merchant, who I happen to like, thought that Hopkins was throwing the fight away because he wasn't imposing his size on Oscar. What he failed to realize is that though Hopkins may have been capable of winning that way, he would have also given Oscar his best chance for victory. Oscar's only advantage over Hopkins was speed, and this would have better allowed Oscar a chance to use it.

Don't let Tarver's flat performance be blamed on the weight loss. I predicted the outcome of that fight the moment it was announced. My friends tried to argue that if Jones couldn't outbox Tarver, Hopkins couldn't. I tried to explain to them that this was a different style match-up. Hopkins is only an inch shorter, so Tarver would not enjoy much of a size advantage. Especially since he in not a pressure fighter. Tarver troubles Jones, much like Forrest troubles Mosley. I did not know Hopkins was going to shut Tarver out, but I thought he would win convincingly. He constanly beat Tarver to the punch, partially because of superior technique. His is more ready in his guard, stance, and approach. His punches are a little more to the point than Tarver's.

 

A bit of both.

 

Yes, he was better technically than Giardello, he was more versatile than Joey too, could fight in different styles effectively.

 

Giardello was excellent as a counter-puncher. Young Hopkins was an excellent aggressive offensive fighter too.

 

It will be interesting to see what type of legacy Hopkins ends up with. Hopkins is a hall of fame fighter for sure, but was he that good, or merely a good champion who feasted on Grade B competition and blown up welter weights? I think it’s a bit of both.

The public seems infatuated with speed and power. Hopkins posses neither on the elite levels. He doesn’t throw a lot of punches either. Perhaps this is why he’s mis-understood. Hopkins really has excellent technical skills on offense or defense. Hopkins has a trap oriented type of defense with rare countering skills. Hopkins has also mastered the art of dirty fighting without getting caught. Few at 160 had better chins. Few could fight better in their late 30’s to early 40’s.

 

I would say a little bit of both. Hopkins is an old school fighter in the sense that he has taken the time and has had the dedication and work ethic to learn his craft thoroughly, while many of his contemporaries now do not. I feel this is the fact he is still able to compete at such a high level at an advanced age. Years ago it wasn't possible to fight at such a high level for so long because there were more tough, well rounded fighters around and less titles and weight classes. Also the nutrition and supplementing of today enables athletes today to stay young for longer.

 

I think that Hopkins totally understood the sweet science and can use almost everything to his advantage even if he does not have big KO power or extreme speed, that's why all his late career losses are close fights. His ring intelligence is awesome and he is always calculating everything.

I hope he becomes a trainer because his knowledge of the game is amazing, he assimilated all facets of boxing like an old school trainer.

 

In reference to Hopkins' technical skills, Robbi's thread a while back about an article on Don Familton's perception of B-Hop was a very nice read.

I don't know if I agree with this, but as a big Hopkins fan, Familton's quote “Hopkins is closer to being flawless, technically, than any fighter I’ve seen in the post-World War II era,” is now one of my favorite quotes boxing-wise.

www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98576

Perhaps it was the level of his competition that made his technique stand out more, but he rarely made mistakes from a technical aspect, he is one of the most skilled fighters I personally have ever seen.

 

is it not possible that hopkins be remembered as the smartest ring technician of all time?

just asking, don't crucify me you classic junkies

of my time, he is the smartest fighter.

 

Agreed.

He definitely has skills/class on par with the old timers, but it's magnified by the fact that most fighters today don't know how to deal with that anymore.

 

I don't know how you can rate/compare "smartness" between fighters.

However, the guy is damn smart.

 

That´s a matter of oppinion but to answer it one must just ask himself the question: Do I think Hopkins could compete in the era of Giardello or Robinson or Graziano?
Personally, I think he would not only able to compete in these era´s but he would be one of the top dogs in the division and very likely be champ. He may not end up with a record of title defences and perhaps with some more losses but also with some more quality wins.

 

This is just one of those wishy-washy sit-on-the-fence bland comparative statements that people often make about anyone.

I say NO! Instead of playing down a living legend by some drab statement about this era, why don't we just be positive instead? Why don't we acclaim someone who has (IMO) proven his greatness by his skill and achievements in the ring?

Hopkins is truly that good. No, he is not flattered by the level of competition in his era.

He has dominated HOF lock, 3-weight world champion Felix Trinidad, dominated the talented, linear light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver after jumping 2 weight divisions, dominated undefeated middleweight king and KO artist Kelly Pavlik at the age of 43, convincingly beat HOF lock Winky Wright (becoming the 1st man in 8 years to defeat him), and became the first man to stop both Glengoffe Johnson and HOF legend Oscar De La Hoya. Throw in a very close and controversial SD loss to HOF lock Joe Calzaghe and a competitive performance against a near-peak Roy Jones Jr, and I don't think his standard of competition can be criticized.

He fought some excellent fighters, and won convincingly far more than he lost. Simple as that.

I feel very confident that if Hopkins came up in Hagler's era, he would've beaten Marvellous H2H. Perhaps Hopkins's era actually held him back a bit??