Michael Nunn vs Bernard Hopkins

Hopkins would smother Nunn. He'd maul him most of the night en route to a decision win or late stoppage. Nunn could not put the sum of the parts together and has become somewhat overrated. Having said that he would be quite difficult for some ATG's whose style fell into his. That's not the case here tho. Hopkins too determined, too smart and too adaptable.

 

Another vote for Nunn

 

He is out since mid last year. That sentence was way too harsh in my opinion.

 

This thread was started a long time ago. I probably commented on this then perhaps. I would pick Nunn by UD if we talk about the Nunn from 1988. The 1991 Nunn? I don't know. Hopkins might have the plan to work the body and rough him up. But the best Nunn against the best Hopkins is a UD for Nunn .The style is all Nunn's advantage.

Nunn is an interesting fighter. The knockout over Kalambay affected him in a detrimental way rather than help him. I will try to explain.. He really was not a guy with one punch knockout power and I think that knockout took him away from his best asset which was the boxing and using his legs and countering. He scored a flukish knockout against Kalambay who was probably a little off with the time change and other things.

Nunn really looked great when he beat Frank Tate. Moving in and out and out quicking Tate an outclassing a good fighter. I thought Tate was solid after beaten Olajide, who was touted as a top guy in the mid 1980s. Then when Nunn fought Roldan he used his great style but Roldan takes anyone out of their rhythm and Nunn was clocked a little. He wont but I don't think to that point he was hit like that, and I think Nunn had a bit of a fragile mind as far as boxing. A lot of talent, but not mentally strong like a Hagler or Hearns or Duran to overcome hard fights. . But he looked ok against Roldan as far as anyone looks against Roldan. With Barkley he struggled and Barkley landed a few good punches (as did Roldan) but he won but Barkley could be tough for anyone. And somehow those three fights Roldan, Kalambay and Barkley affected his style for the worst. It would have happened at anytime anyway. Nunn was not built to last mentally. A little bit of the Hector Camacho syndrome without the full skill of Hector. Then Nunn standing in one spot later on with his confusion and the style of Nunn to lean back against the ropes worked against Barkley, yet not against Toney in 1991. So Toney saw that weakness and would punch as he was leaning back. Had Nunn stayed with his moving style and going back in with his fast hands he could have beaten Toney that night had he stayed away from James throwing those quick straight rights down the middle. Although James was landing his right hand nicely and later followed up with the left for the knockdown..

But the fact to me is that he never really fought his top notch style again which got him there with Tate. He lost his confidence and the false knockout ruined his game plan for different reasons. And he could never get it back. Bernard was a great fighter but to me he was not as quick as he was high boxing IQ. Bernard was consistent and always in shape and strong mentally, so he took rather on the high side of mediocre skills and got the best out of it with his IQ. And high boxing IQ is great but usually speed beats that, and Nunn would have beaten him if we put the Nunn of 1988 in there.

Then you have guys like Hearns or Duran who were so natural at boxing that they could get in tough fights or even knocked out and fight the same style one fight later with some modications. I think that is the mark of great fighters to learn and come back better in someways. Nunn could not do that. Neither could Hector Camacho

 

Well I think the reason why Nunn got off his feet and started to slug more .
was due to America Presents. The Goosens were just on the way up and trying to play the game with the powers that be. And they tried to please the networks by having Nunn make a transition from being a safety first cutie pie to a guy that would stand and trade. Otherwise no showtime deal and America Presents, at that time, did not have the power or juice, to refuse.

Nunn had the skillset to alter his style and still be effective. How many fighters can make that kind of transition? Or, are willing?

But a prime Nunn that used his legs and just shoeshined out there would have had easy fights against Barkley. And Roldan. But here he was trading and fighting flat footed and taking away his own mobility. You'd think he would have fought them like he did Curtis Parker and won all the rounds and not been hit.

But I think network pressure was after a more exciting version and the Nunn style was altered to the degree where it subtracted a lot of his strengths.

 

I agree.

He can beat the brakes off a hard punching Pavlik, but stinks out a snoozer against Dawson. Almost completely winded against Calzaghe-yet didn't throw too many punches but stands the clubbing of Pascal 2x & throws with bad intentions to the end.

 

Same here, BrixtonBomber. Love watching Nunn in his 1988 pomp. Like The Ring magazine said, he was 'Great in '88'. (Side note: I live near Brixton. Pass through it 4 or 5 times a week. See headspinningly beautiful women every single time I do so.)

 

Very bad style match up for Hopkins. Fast,tall southpaw who moves and is faster then Hopkins.
Nunn would decision him.

 

True words. You know your Nunn.

 

Hopkins is too seasoned and too great here. He'd keep on him from all sorts of angles and negate his advantages, as always. a late stoppage is likely.

 

Hopkins is the one who is starting to become overrated.
He beat Holmes who was a southpaw and Jackson who was past his prime.
Against Holmes Hopkins was able to grind him but to be honest Holmes didn't really do anything.
Jackson was way past his best and Hopkins got to him and stopped him.
Nunn who constantly MOVED is too much for Hopkins.
Throw in that prime Nunn is ALOT faster then Hopkins how exactly is Hopkins going to even get on the inside of Nunn?

 

Always been a shrug from me with this one. Just haven't watched a lot of Hopkins frequently enough to weigh in. I think I like Nunn in this one though.

 

Hopkins isn't Frank Tate. Frank Tate just wasn't all that.

Holmes barely won a round. There's a reason he "didn't really do anything". Nor did Tarver vs a past peak Hopkins. Winky Wright was comfortably beaten even past peak as well. Hopkins opponent not really doing anything is a common theme as he negates their strengths and makes them look bad. It's a very common theme.

He'd do it to Nunn too. Watch some Nunn fights - he didn't "constantly move". In fact he was prone to mixing it up at various times. It wouldn't matter as Hopkins sublime footwork would pressure him and he's certainly going to find his way inside on a consistent basis if he needs to.

There's a reason Hopkins was collecting and defending titles for almost two decades....Nunn not so much. I can't take him against bonafide ATG's like Hopkins, Hagler and Monzon. These guys found ways to win for a long time against a variety of opponents.

 

If Nunn stuck to boxing and his stamina and chin held out, I think he'd UD Hopkins and pretty wide.

If he tried to slug Hopkins out or fought at too high a pace I can see a canny customer like Bernard smother him and take over late for a close points win or possibly even KO.

 

If people are emphatically picking Nunn here, I think they are the ones doing the overrating.

Hopkins was demonstrably great whereas Nunn showed the potential for greatness in two fights, one a freak victory of sorts (Kalambay), the other against a fighter who wasn’t in the same league as Hopkins (Frank Tate). I think Nunn’s performances against Iran Barkley and James Toney are just as instructive as the Tate and Kalambay wins.

Unlike Nunn, Hopkins made demonstrable improvements as a fighter throughout his reign as middleweight champ to the point he could win in lots of different ways. He is too versatile for Nunn. He could go the long route here and win on points or stop Nunn - he had that ability. Either way, he’d win.

Very good matchup, though.