Toney vs. Hopkins at 168 and 175

dude the inside fight is just Toney's game. Toney like these dirty inside fighters tricks. Jirov, Barkley, Ruiz,Holyfied, Prince Williams to name a few

 

So basically conceding already that Hopkins was likely to take this irl

 

Hopkins would tie Toney up on the inside and pop him with potshots at the outside.

I don't exclude a Toney win; his own timing was good.

That said in a series I'd put money on Hopkins and his consistency.

 

I guess the difference I'd see is that Hopkins wouldn't stay on inside for as long as those guys - but You do have a point, for sure.

 

At their best its a pickem fight but if we are using the time-frame as outlined by the OP as 1997/1998 then I have BHOP all day long. In 97' I don't like how Toney looked at all especially when he was getting beat by Drake Thazdi. He was wildly inconsistent unlike BHOP who was as dedicated, hungry and determined as you could get.

Folks forget about how BHOP was fighting in that time peroid. He was knocking out John David Jackson, Glen Johnson, Simon Brown who may not have been at there best but all were future or former world champs and beating the brakes off of Antwan Echols back when Echols was a feared and avoided guy. BHOP was a much more aggressive guy in those days before he transitioned into a more technical fighter in his later career.

 

Agreed on all points - Hopkins controls pace as you said, get rough on the inside (and no doubt throw a few to the hip on the other side of the ref lol) and does enough to get a decision. I too think that Tony was extremely talented, perhaps a bit more talented & equally as skillful as Bernard imo. Bernard's sneaky overhand right would be interesting to see against Toney's wily defense.

 

Hopkins fights from the outside, ties up in close, moves and wins a decision. Then Toney complains after that, "Bernard fought like a b%tch".

 

As long as James is in shape which I believe he would be for Bernard I have James winning at both weights. At there best I rate James the superior boxer

 

I think Hopkins is a bad matchup for Toney. People have this weird idea that Toney was only beaten by Jones but he either lost or had extremely close fights against the best opposition he faced. Factor in that he was lazy and inconsistent even at his best and Id pick Hopkins to beat him. It would be a good fight but I consider Hopkins the more versatile fighter. In my opinion Toney really needed the right fighter to make him look as good as some his fans seem to remember him.

 

I remember Toney commenting that 'they say Bernard Hopkins is old school, but I think he's more like old fool'

 

not really related to this thread, but do you think Toney really lost the Thadzi fight? I thought he did enough with his clean connect to deserve a close win. He did not look good though after tiring from the middle rounds on

 

I remember it being a fight that could have gone either way but he simply didn't look like JT. I thought he won the fights with Griffith a year before. Late 90's was not a great time for him but he certainly stepped it up in the early 2000's.

 

If forced to choose I’d pick Hopkins by the narrowest of decisions at both those weights. But not something I’d bet money on either

 

Thats how I see it too