Morning Impressive: Hopkins beating Tarver or Duran beating Barkley

Barkley is the better win, but independent of the question asked or its context, Tarver (who is quite underrated) >>>>> Barkley.

 

1. Hopkins jumped two weight classes past age forty to beat an above above average champion.

2. Duran became world level at 135 and gradually climbed four weightclasses to beat an average champion in his late thirties.

The former has been accomplished by nobody I can think of. The latter has been accomplished or bettered by Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Marquez, and Guillermo Jones off the top of my head. James Toney and Dingaan Thobela almost qualify.

So Hopkins had the better win.

I don't award fat guy points to professional athletes.

 

Duu-ran, Duu-ran, Duu-raan!

 

Duran, because Barkley took out a less diminished great fighter prior to the Duran fight, he had that momentum and because of the massive size difference between Duran and Iran. What did Roy ever accomplish after Tarver turned off his lights? He seemingly regressed to a B Level fighter overnight, and never even remotely regained his old form.

Iran was a boiled down light heavyweight. He somehow managed to fight, somewhat mildly successfully at that, all the way up to heavyweight.