When was B-Hops prime as a fighter?

The recent victories and performances of B-Hop after his 40th birthday have been nothing short of amazing and arguably more amazing than any of his performances prior to that date.

Many point at the losses to Taylor and Calzaghe and say B-Hop was no longer within his prime as a fighter and therefore discredit/discount these performances by each fighter.

My personal opinion is that B-Hop was in his prime from the ages of 38-43 where he collected wins against ODLH, Pavlik, Tarver, Wright and managed to gain all four titles at MW before moving up to LHW and taking the major belt at that division.

When do you think he was in his prime?

 

So, 30 to 39 - beat ODLH, Trinidad, Joppy, Eastman, Johnson, unified titles - lost to Jermain Taylor.

 

Performing at a high level and being the "best" in the business is your prime, otherwise we make up areas where we think Hopkins was a better fighter.

Many people forget, Hopkins dramatically changed his style after the Echols fights and became less of an aggressive come forward fighter into the more defensive, counter focused style he is now well known for.

Personally I feel the come forward fighter was easier to beat than the fighter he is now - sure, if you married his endurance/energy with the power he used to show with the fight style and skill he has now, he's a beat.

But he wasn't as skillful at 30 as he was at 40, he'll admit that himself.

 

Rephrase it in your minds.

Which version of Hopkins would win a fight?

The 25-35 year old or the 35-45 year old?

The come forward boxer puncher, who didn't clinch in exchanges and often out worked the fighters he fought against before knocking them out.

vs

The cagey, defensive focused fighter who worked off counter punching opportunities, looked to use his boxing rather than power to take him to victory and outlast opponents.

Me personally? I'd have Hopkins between 38-43 beating any other version of Hopkins.