I've been thinking about this for awhile. I used to think it was clearly Floyd, but Hopkins has done more lately and I could see that being enough to give him the edge. I'd still lean ever so slightly towards Floyd though, as I feel he was a more dominant fighter who also has the quality wins and fewer losses to back it up. One more good win for Hops could probably put him over the top for me, though. What's your take? :think
I think they'll both be ranked as greats and you can argue over resumes. But when looking back many people will say " He was probably the most talented fighter I ever saw" and it's more likely it'll be Floyd they'll be talking about.
Hopkins has the better resume and longevity, also Hopkins record defences equalize Floyd´s weight jumping. Clearly Hopkins.
Hopkins dominated his division for years and Floyd moved around weights to much cherry picking some average fighters to often. This is not even close. Hopkins by a mile.
Maywhether. his 130 resume. Beating Linear champ at 140 also. No losses, and pretty dominant against nearly every fighter he fought. The better boxer.
What is "crazy" about his resume? It's fairly mediocre by ATG standards. His longevity is his only real stand-out point on paper. There are, of course, other factors to be taken into consideration when rating a fighter, but on paper I'd give Mayweather the edge. Overall, it's basically a toss-up, depending on what you prefer. Also, Hopkins has most certainly been beaten decisively.
To be honest, if Johnson makes Hopkins' top 5 it's a sign of weakness rather than strength because that version of Glen Johnson was just a journeyman, as evidenced by his losing everytime he stepped up in class for year following the fight. Another thing I see is that in all of his best wins, the other fighter was at least a class over their best. That doesn't mean they don't count of course, but I've seen Floyd take alot of **** for beating Hatton at 147 when most of Hopkins best wins were the same scenario- a fighter great at one weight, who moved up and was still very good, but lost something in the move up. And finally, I think Floyd's lower class prowess kind of gets lost in the shuffle here. He was absolutely phenomenal at super feather, still great at lightweight and 140, and very good at 147.
Truly. When looking at it objectively, Floyd's success at 130 alone is enough to at least match Hopkins's success at 160. Hopkins has the longevity at the weight, while Floyd's resume was better and he was likely even more dominant. When taking everything into account, I'd probably slightly favor Floyd, but I can see arguments for Hopkins depending on how highly you favor certain aspects over others.