who was better, hopkins when he fought roy jones or the one that fought calzaghe???

The Hopkins Jones beat by a mile. Hopkins was in his prime years before the American media started giving him credit. Prime in his mid-late 30s? Not at all. Much earlier than that, before he started fighting big named midgets.

 

I'd say the Hopkins who lost to Jones is a bit better. They are both some way off a prime Hopkins though.

 

If Hopkins actually came in to actually fight for 12 rounds against Calzaghe he would lose, the only reason he came close to winning by decision was because it was such a slow,dirty fight!
Whether he's 43 years old or 33 years old he would've lost because Calzaghe has better alround boxing skills and fitness, and before any numpty calls me a nuthugger thats just how I see it!

 

I think sean hit it on the head. Neither version of Bernard was the best or "prime".

But theres a deeper answer to this as well.

Leading up to the fight vs Jones, Bernard was known as a buzzsaw in the ring (ya dont get the nickname "The Executioner" by outpointing people)...with skills to go with it....but was not yet anywhere close to what he would become. He had phenominal stamina, great workrate, chose to press the action rather than counter his opponent and wait on mistakes, still had great timing and accuracy, but had not evolved his footwork, defense, counterpunching ability and most importantly his ring intellect.

The "prime" version of Bernard was about as complete a fighter as I have seen. He still had the phenominal training regimine...so in turn, phenominal stamina and workrate (when needed....see Echols)...but his footwork, defense, counterpunching and ring intellect all became not only the best he had ever had...but more accurately, in every one of those categories...he evolved in to arguably the best in the game (with ring intellect, you can easily argue he was the best EVER).

I think the best answer I can give to this original question is...Vs Roy, Bernard was a much better fighter....Vs Joe, he was a much better boxer. The difference is, later in life, the skills he relied so heavily on before he hit his prime had faded (further than most believed...not nearly as far as some thought)...which meant, at the end of the fight, for the first time since fighting Roy, he wasnt the stronger guy. The phenominal boxer in him kept the fight close...but the fighter in him wasnt there to push him to that next level he had visited so often. Whether that would have made the difference in the end is up for discussion (I think its obvious it would...others feel differently).

Hope all that helps!!!

:good

 

:good

 

Not true in any way.

I agree that it was before the media (all media...not just american you xenophobic ******* :hey ) gave notice, but much later than you want to give credit for.

Id say right around the Johnson fight is when he started to realize that he didnt just have the ability to overpower and outfight his opponents...but could also outsmart them. He started to look for openings more....started relying and perfecting his defense and counterpunching. Hopkins from that point on was a GENIUS in the ring...to the point where you can actually SEE him laying traps and luring the opponent into his fight. It was a thing of beauty.

Id say he hit his stride fully right around Johnson (give or take a few fights of really perfecting his style) to about his destruction of Joppy. After that, you can see his physical tools start to fade (tho not as much as some idiots were eluding to before the Calzaghe fight), while his main weapons started to be his intangibles (footwork, defense, timing, ring intellect, etc.) rather than a mix of both.

 

When he fought Jones he was more agressive...when he fought Calzaghe, he was more experienced and tactfull

 

i agree that jones would have beaten him too much speed for bernard however i don't think b-hop can be blamed for the fight not coming off roy agreed to fight trinidad if he got past b-hop because he assumed he would but when b-hop won and won convincingly the verbal diarrhoea and excuses started to flow
i'm too big for b-hop (trinidad's even smaller), i beat him before (8 years ago) i won't do it for 50-50 even though b-hop was undisputed middle weight champ and it still would have been the biggest fight available to him

 

not gonna call you a nuthugger but to say he has better boxing skills is ridiculous he's amateurish and his technique is awful it just took a crafty vet like b-hop to show it

 

Its very close (Hops of 93 versus Hops of 08 ), regardless of the fact that his prime came in between.

As both RJJ and Cal were not exactly in their prime either, it shows the difference between the 2. Especially if you count RJJs bum hand.