1. Whitaker beating Nelson 2. Hopkins beating Oscar Both of these wins get knocked down a peg because a particular fighter was moving up past their best weight... That said, which win was better i.e. was Nelson or Hoya the bigger challenge for the champion ?
Certainly Nelson was the move live opponent in there, so that is the better win. But the Hopkins win is meaningful in that he's the only guy ever put Oscar down for the count, at least while he still had some fight left in him. I also make the Nelson victory more significant because the jump in weight was less. Nelson started as a feather and jumped to lightweight. Oscar started as a lightweight, even won a title at jr. light, and went all the way up to middle, which is a bigger jump up overall.
Nelson. Oscar had literally zero business in the ring with Bernard. He even lost to Sturm at MW. Bernard completely dwarfed Oscar. Oscar was pretty much done after the Mosley rematch anyway. Nelson on the other hand, was in good condition for the fight although the smaller guy. Nelson was a FW, Oscar a LW. Bigger disparity - something that should be considered. To add to that...I secretly think Hopkins-Oscar KO was a fix.