What was Bernard Hopkins thought of as on his way up?

they thought he was a tough, underrated fighter, who as a result of slight mismanagement and a virtually unbeatable (except by supreme athletes like a prime jones and a pre pavlik taylor) fighting style that lacked high entertainment value, was overlooked. his early career is directly in tune with the early career of winky wright in those respects.

 

Yep, I remember when 'The Executioner' was a dreaded force coming onto the scene, he was thought of as mean, nasty, tough and dangerous as hell. All of which turned out to be true.

 

High risk, low reward. Back in those days, they didn't call him "The Terror" for nothing:
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I always wondered why Hopkins never fought Benn or Eubank. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Get a hold of some torrents for his old fights. Johnson Vrs Hopkins is a good one it particular. You get a good sense from the commentary of how he was percieved earlier days.

 

Dont get me wrong by the way, im not questioning Hopkins or saying he avoided them, but Hopkins vs Benn would of been a classic (and as a Brit im partial to Benn's habit of beating top US fighters in their backyard).

 

Benn and Eubank's careers were pretty much at an end when Hopkins won the IBF title. Hopkins was an awesome fighter when he was younger. Never pretty to watch but effective, aggressive and super fit. It's why Don King kept Holmes and Joppy away from him for so long. In the end, King thought he had Hopkins' number when he put on the tournament. How wrong he was.

 

Skinny Mike Tyson wannabe.

 

It's funny. Guy lost his pro fight. Ended up being at ATG. I wonder how many have done that.

 

he was a classic high risk low reward type, but everyone thought beatable if u had speed (RJJ type). There wasn't anything special about him as such but he knew how to fight. I remember he was nothing special when people in press etc talked about him -how wrong they were. Hos style was just not something people thought be a ATG

 

Bernards biggest problem was he couldnt get along with any of the promoters. He often fought on Showtime undercards for Don King, but he fought with all of the promoters, and wouldnt sign a long deal with anyone, so once he won the title, he had to just sit back and keep defending his title on the promoters schedules, and they often buried him in the undercards. It wasnt until Don King wanted Tito to unify the titles that King was forced to put Hopkins on the main stage, and anyone who followed Hopkins knew he was going to win that tournament easy.

 

agreed
and as a fight, IMO that was one of his masterpieces

 

on parole.

 

I remember many fans disliked him in the aftermath of the tito fight
the hakkar fight was pure comedy
he was also critisized for "beating up smaller guys"
I hope he doesnt fight again
the pavlik fight was a masterpiece too
I would like to see the x man go out on a high note
he would be an excellent trainer