When was the last time Bernard Hopkins was in a live fight?

EXACTLY:good

 

Maybe he should move down in weight and face Bika and Manfredo, that will cement his legacy.

 

How can he be overrated...he hasn't come close to losing (convincingly) in the last 14 years. You have never seen a 43 year old man with his will, stamina, etc. He still can beat every single person on the p4p list...and easily...NO ONE wants to fight this 43 year old man...

 

trinidad was a 3-1 favorite if memory serves me right, and he was expected to have go through hopkins enroute to a rjj mega fight. tarver was a favorite as well, in virtue of him being more accustomed to 175, crushing wins over rjj and a good couple of fights against johnson (weight drained excuses came out after the fight). wright was a favorite as well and was firmly wedged in the top 5 in some people's p4p rankings. even before the tito fight in those 20 defenses he faced solid competition. had a crushing performance against then undefeated glenn johnson, who would later become linear champ at 175. wins over solid fighters like hard punching antwun echols, william joppy (who some rated above hopkins in the 90's), one of the better european MW's in eastman, good win over future hof'er oscar, good win against ok guys like holmes, jackson, lipsey etc... thats a solid resume, and hopkins certainly is no fraud. despite being an underdog i'd still love to see a fight between him and calzaghe next year, as he usually puts on a great performance against a betting favorite.

 

I may or may not have been drunk on that occassion. Or I could have meant top 15 'H2H', which I'd agree with that 100%.

By the way, that doesn't look like Johanssen, looks like some girl from Bavaria from that angle. Maybe I'm just exhausted...

 

He has a better chance against Dawson than Calzaghe. Styles and condition mate, you need to learn the difference. A guy who throws that many shots while moving in and out and not giving Hopkins any oppurtunity to work is going to win 10/10 times.

Kessler has that long jab consistently, Hopkins eats Kessler's more so than Taylor and is controlled off the end of it. Kessler stops the old man.

Dawson however gives Hopkins the most oppurtunity, even though I feel Dawson would stop him also, but only because Dawson can be 'bullied'. Hopkins can pull a dirty/rough fight and give himself a chance that he wouldn't have against Calzaghe or Kessler.

You can't 'out dirty' Calzaghe, in terms of clinching and then exploding out of a clinch, he's the best around.

 

I disagree and you are proving my point...He is damn 43 years old, everyone here who is saying that he fought people past their prime are proving their arguments by stating he would lose to people fighting him while he's out of his prime...where were all these guys 2-3 years ago...they would stand no chance, and I still give b-hop a 50/50 chance on all of them. Everyone wants to call him out now...he'll be damn 50 years old in 6.5 years...it's ridiculous...what else can the guy do to prove to people...he's already blasted glenn johnson, Tito, tarver and winky who were all considered the best in and around his weight class (with the exception of GJ when they fought).

 

Berlin and Heidelburg are pretty nice chicks too.

 

Hopkins is both a fraud and a legend.

Hopkins most impressive performance was perhaps his loss to Roy Jones, in which Hopkins proved himself to be amongst the top 50 ever.

 

If you lose twice to Taylor, even if it's controversial, it was still contested. Calzaghe, Kessler and Dawson are two steps above Jermain Taylor, just do the math.

 

A prime Hopkins and your prediction has merit, but he would be dead tired, like he was against Wright before a second wind(Wright is nothing at 170) and he could not fire off his right hand enough.

Even a peak Hopkins gets outworked, the in and out movement from Calzaghe is really a stylistic nightmare for Hopkins, as is the odd angle shots and speed.

Calzaghe can eat punches, Hopkins does not have overbearing power, Calzaghe is willing to eat a good lead right to dish out his workrate.

The reason Jones' lead right does damage is because Jones at 168 was a true KO puncher, therefore he stops Calzaghe dead in his tracks at times for his tactical advantage when timing the lead right, Hopkins' is not as snappy, nor as powerful.

 

A 43 year old can never truly prove himself, if he simply isn't a good as he once was.

He can and will prove he is faded though, as soon as he comes up against a Calzaghe or Dawson.

 

Or any other young LHW that is competently skilled. Let's take Erdei for example, he'd shut Hopkins out.

 

34 and a natural LHW with a good jab and good skills, I'd take Erdei.

Hopkins really showed his age against Wright, as did Wright for that matter, people don't get that I guess.

Point is -

Calzaghe, Kessler, Erdei, Dawson and the lot are all a step up in class from Jermain Taylor, who defeated Hopkins twice on paper in contested bouts.

 

People forget Wright's bouts with Soliman and Quartey. Now don't get me wrong, he beat Quartey wide on the scores, but Quartey was competitive in a sense that he gave Wright a good scrap and Quartey is a totally shot WW-LMW. Quartey was also beating Wright to the jab early on.

Now let's take Dawson's, Calzaghe's and Kessler's jab into the equation, which is superior to the smaller Quartey's due to speed and size.

Wright was chosen for a reason against Hops. Wright thought he could win due to age, Hopkins knew Wright's limitations at the weight.

And think about it also, Winky's always been a favourite of mine, a guy who earned his spot, but people forget about the Vargas competitive bout, the Harry Simon competitive bout and the two competitive Mosely fights, none of these guys are on the level of 'elite' MW-SMW's in that regard.

Wright is a great fighter, no doubt, but he's a LMW, who deserved P4P regard, but he's no LHW at all and the Hopkins-Wright fight was contested because Hopkins can't fire off like he could in his prime.

Hopkins is 42 mate, it's amazing what he can do, but he can only do the maximum of what a 42 year old can do and that doesn't include defeating SMW-LHW's who are either 'fresh' or in their prime, IMO.