Prime Bernard Hopkins vs.Prime Gerald McClellan

Hopkins easy UD.

 

hopkins UD. Gman was very heavy handed but i just dont see him catching bhop hard enough to ko him which was probably his only shot

 

G-man had the kind of speed Hopkins never liked dealing with, so he would have the potential to pull an upset...but I'm not convinced he was disciplined enough to maintain a perfect gameplan through an entire fight with Hopkins, and Hopkins' specialty was sloppy power punchers. If I were wagering on it, I'd put my money on a Hopkins wide UD...but it's an interesting matchup because Gerald presents Hopkins with certain things Hopkins doesn't like as well as things Hopkins absolutely feasts on.

 

Nahh Gman is overrated because of the tragedy, but if you see the fight you will see another limited fighter with a brutal punch. puncher and brawlers are always overrated because of his exiting style.

 

sad but true. though i think with g-man it's an exciting case of "what if" in terms of his career; he had the potential to be VERY good, even great and we saw small traces of that in his better performances. As it is, as much as I like watching him he doesn't bring much to the table that Bernard hasn't seen. His combination of speed and power was great for the first few rounds but he was killing himself to make weight. After the 3rd Hopkins would feast on him

 

Both Bernard and James Toney were far too slick defensively and had granite chins to be beaten by very good,not great Gerald.Both of them outbox Gerald and,had it happened,James mauls Bernard in a tough 12 rounder.

 

bernard got knocked down twice and nearly lost against segundo mercado...i say mcclellan puts him down and out if segundo m did

 

Hopkins UD

 

Those werent particularly hard knockdowns, from memory one technically wasnt and that fight was at altitude..The rematch is all you have to look at there.

The very best Hopkins from a couple of years later was a defensive master.

G-Man wouldnt be a walk in the park but he loses a wide decision.

 

It occurs to me, I'm not sure when Hopkins' prime was. You could say mid-late 90s, his physical prime. But he's steadily gotten smarter throughout his career. And his performance above 160 has also shown that perhaps he would have been even stronger physically 10 years ago if he was fighting at 168 or perhaps even 175.

 

Would you rate that as the "prime" Hopkins?

I don't.

2001 Hopkins just boxes and frustrates McLellan into submission.

 

Hopkins would get a decision.. Gerald would have struggled with B Hops defensive style

 

Tough fight. Got say its tougher than the Tito fight becuase of Gerald's size. but if Nigel Benn could outbox him. I gotta favor B-Hop