I was more like arthur abraham fan back in the day when Kelly still had fire in his heart. And What a ****en fighter he was. You guys remember those days when fight between kelly and arthur still matheted... Man i miss those days and the hype.. It almost felt like it was one of those fights that truely did mather. Damn
I remember being a big fan of Jermain Taylor as a kid. I knew he had a few flaws even then, like telegraphing his right hand amongst other things. I seen could see the Ghost being a tough fight and was heartbroken when the KO happened and the lacklustre rematch. Ghost was a tough dude. I respect his fighting heart.
Although Kelly is most remembered for the win over Jermain, my favorite fight of his was the win over Edison Miranda. I was actually a pretty big fan of Miranda, but Miranda was getting really annoying, talking trash to Taylor when he should have been focusing on Pavlik. Miranda got punished badly for looking past Pavlik. That was a nasty beating. Bob Arum did a good job of managing Kelly on the way up. Kelly had a few fights where he looked slow and awkward, but Arum moved him slowly and let him develop his skillset. By the time he was beating Zertuche and Miranda, he had clearly grown into a legit threat.
Kelly was one tough dude...Even with a name like that. Boy the guy could hit. His obliteration of Miranda was indeed special.
Yeah I was a fan of him as well, I felt bad how beat up he got against Hopkins. Hopkins was impressive in that fight.
I was never a fan of Hopkins but I almost felt bad seeing him get blasted out of the ring by Smith Jr as a farewell gift. Smith Jr was impressive in that fight. My favorite Hopkins fight if I had to pick one was his effort against Calzaghe. Ol’ “B-Hop” really pulled out all the stops in that one. Lol Tricky fighter! Even FAKING low blows to get an extra point when he got desperate and knew he was going to lose. Lol Bernard was a character.
As a long-standing Hopkins fan I can appreciate the warmth and admiration you have for him. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Hop would've been on PEDS too late career when he fought Joe...Looked for every advantage, stretching and breaking the rules but he draws the line at PEDS, yeah right !
Lol, yes, he tried to play it out like Smith pushed him out of the ring, unfortunately for him the replay showed that was not the case. Hopkins always tried play out fouls that never happened and is not the most likable fighter, but some of his fights have been really impressive like against Trinidad, Tarver and Pavlik. Hopkins was a stud and a character like no other
