whats the better fight for Hopkin's legacy? does he fight dawson next? the maybe cloud, and that other bum in that division with the belt? or does he go down or let Bute come up to fight him? i personally think Bute is the better rout! and do it in Canada! dawson lost his star power and the weight class belt holders dont have the appeal as bute put together. i say he sets up to be the first to beat bute!
Hopkins would lose to Dawson if Dawson fought with 100% effort, and defeating Cloud is not very likely either based on how strong and aggressive Cloud is. I think of Hopkins felt he could beat Dawson that fight would have already happened. If Bute was smart he wouldnt fight Hopkins, its not a fight he needs and he would have to go up in weight pre-maturely. He doesn't want to repeat Kelly Pavliks mistake, I wouldnt either.
Unfortunately, the way boxing fans work...we naturally try to milk every last punch out of these fighters... If he only fights Dawson: "Dawson's not really that good...not a big pucher...he should have fought Bute who is exciting and can bang!" If he only fights Bute: "Bute was overrated in Canada and Hopkins is ducking Dawson because he's a tall and rangy southpaw with skills!" If he only fights Cloud: "Cloud's only test was vs Johnson..otherwise he's just a come forward banger who needs more fights!" If he fights either Froch or Ward: "They're too small!" If he fights Johnson: "He already beat him!" So no matter which way, one victory still won't please some of his detractors. Hopkins could beat say 2-3 of those guys and his detractors would be looking for the next hot fighter in the division to say he "needs" for his legacy. I think the fighter I personally would rather see him fight to eliminate most LHW doubt is Chad Dawson. Cloud nor Shumenov brings much to the table in terms of name or money. I know Hopkins wants Bute because it can be more of an "event" in Canada than a fight with Chad in the US.
Explain to me how the fight would go... When I said 100% effort I mean the will to try 100% and to give your best perfomace of your career, which I'm not saying he would do, but IF he did.
I think Dawson would look decent early on but BHop would figure him out, find a way to take his jab away, attack from the right angles, make him tentative,rough him up and generally discourage him. Cloud,Shuemenov and Cleverly are not skilled enough to give him to much trouble either.
I respect that view. It would be interesting to see, I think Dawson could be a top 10 P4P fighter if he fought to his potential which includes more aggression.
I think BHop has a very good chance of beating Dawson and should take the chance. He can then retire on a high note. Or challenge Wlad or Vitali for a big send off (to dreamland probably).
