Why did Hopkins not move up sooner?

Because he would have a tough time with those guys. One thing pretty consistent in the bigger fights he had was his opponents for the most part were one dimensional. Look at the trouble a guy like Taylor gave him who really wasn't that good, but utilized his feet and movement. He could eat up guys that came to him. He blames guys like Jones for not facing him but there's a reason he stayed away from some of the titleists up there. He could have beaten Collins and Eubank probably. I think he would have struggled with Toney Nunn and even Mclellan who is pretty underrated although somewhat one dimensional.

 

By the time he actually came into prominence at Middleweight most of those guys were pretty much done, or at least close to it. A fight between him and Calzaghe wouldn't really have brought much money at the time either, considering both were relatively unknown titleholders. I suspect he just wanted to rule Middleweight, and that was his goal. There was no need for a rematch with Jones, at least at the time, and Toney was wandering around lost at 175. For the most part, I just don't think he was enough of an attraction for any of the name fighters above him to really accept a challenge, and he wanted to focus on cleaning out Middleweight more than straddling two divisions as a contender.

I don't really regard him as a big Middleweight anyway. The weight was perfectly fine for him to be at, and he insisted 154 was possible if he had to go there to get the really big payday against DLH.

 

He was offered very good money to fight calzaghe and turned it down

 

160 was his natural weight and there were big paydays with tito and de la hoya to stick around for. him and jones could never agree to a percentage split for a rematch until it was too late. the calzaghe payday in 2002 is a crock. there's never a link for it, just a quote from the late jay larkin who was with showtime. hopkins was an hbo fighter in 2002. why would larkin be negotiating a fight with him?

 

He was making the weight with ease, 168 was a bit of a wasteland, and personally I don't believe he fancied a trip up to rematch Roy, so he probably thought it'd serve his legacy best to be a long-reigning, dominant, unified champion at his natural weight. He was right.

 

He turned down 40% to move up to face Jones Jr and ****** offered him the amount he requested to face Calzaghe in 2003 but then he doubled his demands. Did he not fancy the fights or was there other reasons? It's rumoured Don King would take a substancial percentage of his purse but when it came to Roy Jones he just didn't fancy it, he didn't even fancy it in 2007

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbOw_5DPiE[/ame]