Why did BHop struggle so much against JT?

Sorry fellaz but there are 12 rounds in Championship fights.

Hopkins didnt start to fight till about the 8th-9th rounds of both fights.

He did too little too late.

 

:|:|:|:|

 

Hopkins lost the 1st fight clearly, he started way to late, i don't know what the hell he was waiting for:huh i thought he lost the 2nd fight as well he was outworked.
Hops was holding Wright to much in that fight too, and at 43 his lousy shitty workrate will cost him on Saturday..

 

Well put. I had the first fight 115-113 Hopkins, and the second fight a draw. I hadn't ever thought about Bernard being drained, since he'd been at the weight for so long, but it's possible. I think he was just showing a hell of a lot of respect for Taylor's power.

Now he's got to show respect for speed, power and volume, a few more years down the road to boot.

:think

 

speed and volume... but not power, Calzaghe's punch at 175 ain't gonna do **** on Bernard.

 

Thing is Taylor DID tag him a couple of times and they staggered Hopkins. Now this was very much about Taylor's right hands being so awkward that its hard to see them coming. But still Hopkins seemed weak in his last two fights at 160.

And I think its foolish to say Hopkins 'started slow' on purpose, but its obvious to me that his overall level of activity in his last few fights at 160 was low ON PURPOSE. Look at the fight with De La Hoya even. Peoplle seem to forget that although Hopkins knocked him out later in the fight, up until the last couple of rounds Hopkins hardly did anything.

 

I think the point has been missed here. The question is why did Mary struggle with a B+ level guy like Taylor, who cares if he won by a point or not, it should have been comprehensive enough there is no debate

I think a lot probably lies in the weight. Getting down to 160 was tough at the best of times, Hopkins has a big frame, the fact he has been reborn at 175 against similar level opponents suggests this would be an accurate presumption

The age of both fighters is also a factor. If you look at Toby's recent fights he's been fighting old guys, or guys on the slide. Tarver is old as ****, Wright past his peak and out of his depth. That's not to discredit them, it just stands out to me that he struggled against the youngest, quickest and most athletically gifted

A prime Hopkins would destroy Taylor

 

Its a combination of the fact that Hopkins was weakened at that weight, which has been touched on in this thread already and had shown this in previous fights against DLH and Eastman, and the styles of each fighters, and also Hopkins probably giving too much respect to Taylor. I mean isn't this why some were writing him off even against the likes of DLH, Eastman, and then Taylor? In 24 rounds, Hopkins still showed that he was the superior boxer even in a weakened state.

 

That is correct :good

 

That is correct :good

 

He struggled because taylor was so much stronger than him. He also respected his power too much. He spent too much time trying to neutralize Taylor's offense than actually mounting any kind of consistant attack. when he did, he was already too far behind on the scorecards to win. It happened in both fights. I was dissapointed in him in those fights because he seemed lazy early in those fights and was depending on the judges to give him rounds based on the fact that Taylor wasn't landing any clean punches, but he did even less himself.

 

Exactly. :nod

 

Great points. As i said before, you know Hopkins and pay attention as i do to his fights.

The weight was an issue and it had to play a role. He has said plenty of times that 175 is his natural weight and that he could've moved up years ago. I think if they fought again at 170 or something, the outcome would be different as he won't be nearly as drained.

Also, JT is a big MW who is young, powerful, and had the type of hunger to come in and land big shots. That's something Hopkins didn't deal well with and as you said, it really did seem like Hopkins wanted to avoid the big shots from JT and that's why JT landed almost nothing flush in both fights.

 

Hopkins might have struggled but his right hand didn't struggle against Taylor, especially down the stretch.

The 2nd fight IMO was tough for B-Hop because he was trying to start early which wasn't his style ... if he wouldve wore Taylor down like he did the first fight he wouldve gotten the victory.

Taylor also made great adjustments and worked harder than he did in the first fight ... he hooked off the jab and wasn't so hesitant to engage Hopkins.