Was Bernard Hopkins still elite in his forties ? Vote !

Hopkins did nothing elite at 175. He defied logic due to his age, but his record and resume do not constitute anything elite. 1st off, as we all know, Hopkins was a freak of nature. He made his debut at 177 pounds. When he fought ODLH many years later, he was 156 pounds. I wouldn't dare to define what his would be "above his natural weight class," because his freakish physique, training habits and longevity defy logic. Now as far as being a top 10 LHW for 10 consecutive years, big ****ing deal. He fought in an extremely weak lightheavy era and his best win there was probably Tarver, whose best win is a shot to **** Roy Jones. You know Tarver, the fellow who lost to Glencoffe Johnson, a fellow BHop stopped at 160. I'm going to exclude Bhop's debut loss at 177 and his losses to both Joe Smith and Kov, and you know what? Without those losses, his record at 175 is 9-2-2 with 0 ko victories. Elite resume? His best wins? Johnson victim Tarver, natural 168 pounder Pascal, nothing special Cloud, natural middleweight Pavlik and natural 154 pounder Winky. Now if that's an elite lightheavy's record and resume to you, God bless. Personally I simply cannot fathom it. I give him massive props for his longevity, but most certainly NOT his record and resume at 175. You want an elite 175 pounders resume? Pick almost all the top 175 pounders from the mid 70s to early 80s. It's all about Hopkins longevity at 175, most certainly not his record and resume there.

 

At middleweight. Not the 170 catchweight that he and Hopkins fought at. By any chance, are you aware that Pavlik moved back down to middleweight after Hopkins beat him?

 

Ya, I mentioned his 3rd and 4th losses at 175, but I didnt count them because its clear he was shot at that point. He fought for so many years at such an advanced age its pretty crazy when you think about it. Ive the utmost respect for his accomplishments in his 40s. But his comp was at 175, at best(I personally wouldnt even rate it that high), mediocre. It was quite simply a very weak era for lightheavies.

 

Legends like Markus Beyer, Omar Sheika and Tucker Pudwill.

 

I don't consider Hopkins to have been 'elite' in his forties. There's no doubt that he was some distance past his physical peak by then.

That said, I don't think his achievements, post-40, are entirely due to weak opposition. He was able to use his innate skill level and ring composure (which seemed to solidify with age) to afford him the equalizer, against what were, in the main, younger and stronger opposition.

But, whilst Hopkins has some solid wins at 170+, the LHW scene wasn't exactly brimming with elites, at the time, either.

 

one guy so unknown with absolutely no reason to be in the ring, whose name actually sounded like it was made up by Wassen on the night ...Myger Mychergan ..