Hopkins would never fight Lebedev, Hopkins is skilled but he can't punch and he's not strong. Hopkins was starting to get bullied by Dawson and whenever Pascal had the energy he was far to strong for Hopkins. Hopkins actually got hurt by Pascal. If a crude little guy like Pascal can hurt Hopkins then imagine what a legit cruiser who can punch like Lebedev would do? Which is why Hopkins would never fight him, not going to happen.
If people are honest,Toney's biggest problem was his love affair with food.He could have been an ATG at middle or light heavy(know some think he is,but I mean beyond any argument) but could never control his eating.I never really took his efforts at heavyweight seriously,because I felt it was a cop out from a supremely talented boxer who lacked the discipline that so many have yet wish they had an ounce of Toney's ability and sadly never will,no matter how hard they try.Despite his many achievements,James Toney will always go down as a sad waste of talent for me.And while I know he had a huge amount of success,I just feel he could have had a lot more.
Poor James. I havent seen this fight yet but it is sad to see these legends when they fight too long.
Hopkins won't fight Lebedev simply cause it makes no business sense. If he did choose to fight him, his not having KO capability is a none factor. From what I just saw from Lebedev facing a helpless Toney, Lebedev is slow as dirt, has average B level punching power, and one dimensional. If they fought, I see a Hopkins-Pavlik type outcome. Hopkin's knees are fine. Looks to me that Pascal or Dawson could easily move up and beat this bum Lebedev. Tarver would enjoy another Danny Green type exposure with another TKO win.
In the post presser he said he's gonna talk to his dad about this. Who is he talking about? I thought his dad let him as a kid and that he hated him.
Agree with most of what you said. But many fighters who ended up messed up could claim they had the right to decide when to quit and they made very bad decisions. If they had listened to others they may well still be enjoying good health.
I wonder if he and former trainer Bill Miller are on speaking terms? He used to say Miller was like a father-figure to him. Could that be it? Because it's a certainty he's not going to discuss his future in the sport with his schizophrenic and psychopathic biological father.