When was Bernard Hopkins prime?

08? r u mental? 40something is prime?

 

As several others I think he looked to have slowed down clearly by 2003-2004. When he did he was less effective, especially against speed and workrate, so I'd say that was the end of his prime.

Hard to say when it started, since he didn't face the best in the division until his mid 30's, but he looked very good in the Mercado rematch. That seems a reasonable point.

 

B-Hop is not human. Pavlik is easily 1 of if not his most impressive performance.

 

Do you thing he looked better in the Mercado rematch than he did against Roy Ritchie? Looks like virtually the same exact fight to me

 

its his most impressive when accounting for age - his work rate is well down from his prime against kelly. He set a pace that suited his age and Pavlik was dumb enough to go with it.

 

Pavlik is one of his best opponents period and it was a 1 sided a beating as Hopkins has ever dished out at any point in his career.

Switching to an equally effective style does not mean you're out of your prime

 

The first Mercado fight was very controversial. And Mercado took a lot of punishment.

I was at the second fight, at the US Air Arena. Mercado looked jaded - like he was stepping in post holes. He did little but back to the ropes and take a beating. Hopkins continued where he left off in the first fight. He was no cute counterpuncher in this fight. He overpowered Mercado and issued a beating. It could be argued the first Hopkins fight ruined Mercado. The second one certainly finished him off. He was crap after that.

The mags. said Hopkins should have won the decision in the first fight. It was in all appearances a home town gift Draw for Mercado.

I wouldn't say the Hopkins that eventually beat Mercado was much different from the Hopkins that lost to Jones. It just happened to be that Jones was a rarified elite. It wasn't like Hopkins vastly improved. He was extremely solid when he faced Jones in '93 (I was at that fight, as well). Against Jones, Hopkins showed all around skills, he wasn't just walking in to shots. It was a matter of Jones being too fast of hand and foot whether Hopkins led or tried to counter.

The second Mercado was a "turning point" only in as much as Hopkins finally got a World Title. But, other than losing to Jones, Hopkins was on an upward trajectory. Then, after winning the IBF title, he made a lot of defenses - but none of his opponents were as close to as good as '93 Jones, who beat him. Did Hopkins improve after the first Jones fight - absolutely. But, you could say the same about Jones. Their fight occurred when both were entering their respective primes. I think if Hopkins had moved up to 168 in '94-95, or 175 in '96-97, he would lose to Jones in a rematch. Jones was simply more gifted and better than Hopkins prime for prime.

 

being in your 40s does.

 

Why when he's still beating the best opponents by the biggest margins? You can't just arbitrarily pick a point in time to fit a narrative. There has to actually be some kind of evidence

 

There isn't much of an argument behind Hops being prime in '93 or '94 that isn't a thinly veiled attempt to give Roy more credit than the win itself ought to. Hopkins hadn't grown in to his name yet. He was 0-0 vs top 10 competition going in to the Jones fight.

Hopkins didn't beat a top 10 contender until two years later in 1995, and that was Mercado. Not only did it take two tries to get the job done vs Mercado, it took him two shots vs an unproven fighter. Mercado himself never beat a top 10 contender.

To say that's a prime version (or close to it) would infer that no other version of Hopkins would have done measurably better, and I don't buy in to that. It wouldn't matter if '97 Hopkins fought Mercado in Mercado's mom's living room with his family as the judges and refs; there's no way a fighter of Mercado's level goes the distance with that Hopkins and knocks him down twice in the process.

The loss & draw helped him grow into a better fighter. Implying he was prime to start with robs him of that ability to grow and improve in to the fighter he eventually became, and I think that's an unfair slight on Hopkins for the sake of boosting Jones.

 

watching him fight.

plus all he evidence you need of uniform human physical deterioation.

 

Bingo and perfectly put.

 

That's nice but if the results continue to be as good or better it's useless

 

and they didnt continue as in his 30s, yes.

thank you.