People make a big deal about Hopkins' Age to give higher tribute to his ATG status...

Let's put it like this.

Everyone I know or who have talked to over the age of 35 involved in athletics will tell you that past that age, there are certain things the body simply can not do as strongly, quickly, or smoothly. Even someone who takes immaculate care of their body over the decades will feel the effect of father time creeping up on them, it's just the way it is.

Bernard Hopkins hasn't just continued to fight at a high level, he's continued to hand out devastatingly clinical beatdowns to men who by the very virtue of their youth, should hold an advantage over him physically. And he's not playing croquet with them, he's fighting them hand to hand. While it's true that Hopkins got a late start and doesn't have the mileage on him that Mexican fighters who start as teens do, it doesn't mean his body was cryogenically suspended all those years either.

I can't say whether Hopkins should get MORE credit for doing what he's doing, but he's vaulted himself into a very special category of fighters just by being ABLE to do what he's doing. And if you can't understand or respect that at some level, I don't know what else to tell you.

 

We all have a personal agenda in posting on a forum, it doesnt mean that its meant in a malicious or disrespectful manner. It just means its your agenda. My apologies if you took it otherwise.

But back to the underlying point.

You have shown that yes, you have seen his fights from his younger years...but in the way I took the original post, you mentioned that his age in the Pavlik fight should have little bearing on the greatness of that win. That in essense is false, as if it were the Hopkins of say the Echols fights, Pavlik doesnt win a round and in all likely gets stopped as well (I think most of us can agree to that). In laymens terms, his win wouldnt have been as technically brilliant (as he has matured in his ring intellect since then), but it would have been more dominant (as his physicality has eroded greatly since then).

This was my reason for questioning just how many Hopkins fights you have seen, as something like this is obvious. His prime and his skill level were at their highest in between the Johnson win and ending right around Tito IMO (tho his level of competition in the few fights immediately afterwards never really allowed him to showcase this against the greats...and by the time he did, he had begun to clearly fade physically). To not elude to a significant difference in the two led me to that conclusion (which in both posts we have debated in, you have proven that assertion incorrect...my apologies :thumbsup).

And in all honesty, by saying a fighter, doesnt deserve the accolades that come with others of his age fighting at such a high level regardless of the wars he had been in over his career, or the way in which he lived his life (diet, training, etc.) is faulting that fighter for that lifestyle and/or the way in which he fought. Remember part of Hopkins greatness is the fact that pretty much every fighter he fought, fought his fight...regardless of their specific styles (even Roy Jones said he found it hard to control the pace and distance vs Bernard...tho that just lends credence to how great Roy was...I mean, he still won!!!)...another major part is his longevity.

As stated by a few posters on here, fighting or doing anything of athletic ability at an advanced age is damn near impossible. The simple fact that we could make a post about the top p4p fighters in the world today and Hopkins would make pretty much every list speaks worlds to how his age adds to his greatness...and ATGreatness.

I danced professionally for about 11 years (breakin', hiphop, poppin' and lockin', etc.) and before a car accident cut that career short, at 27 I still found that my body just wouldnt do things as easily as they did at 21...I could do them, but it was a struggle in comparison. Now imagine me attempting those same moves at 35? Or 43?

What Hopkins is doing at his age is matched by VERY few in the history of the sport. For that, he should be praised. And in all honesty, its one of his greatest assets when assessing his career.

:thumbsup

 

:thumbsup