If Bernard Hopkins beats Kovalev and Stevenson, he's higher on the ATG list than both Pac and Floyd

[Newzz]

Reading Stephen "Breadman" Edwards (trainer of Julian "J-Rock" Williams) article this morning and ran across this question and answer. Would like to see what The Ring thinks about this:

Question:
People usually rate Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as the best of this era. But Bernard Hopkins has a very strong case. I have a few questions. Where does Hopkins rate all time, in this era and are there any holes in his legacy?

Bread’s Response:
You have a point. Hopkins has a legitimate argument that he is the best of this era. The crazy thing is Hopkins is he’s actually a part of two eras. He’s part of the Roy Jones, Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield era where they were considered the best fighters, and he’s part of the Pacquiao, Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Joel Calzaghe, Marco Antonio Barrera era.

I look at Hopkins a lot like Archie Moore. Moore was a great fighter from the 30’s to the 50’s. At no point was he the absolute best for an extended period but his level of performance remained more consistent than his contemporaries.

For example. In the 30’s Louis and Armstrong were considered better than Moore. Like in the 90’s Whitaker and Jones were considered better than Hopkins. In the 40’s Moore had to go up against Pep, Robinson and Charles, losing to Charles. In the 2000s Hopkins had to go up against Mayweather, Pacquiao and Calzaghe losing to Calzaghe.

But like Moore , Hopkins consistency has at times outdid most of his contemporaries even some of the ones who beat him.

There are no glaring holes in Hopkins’s resume. I did an all time middleweight list a few years ago and he came in at #5. If you nitpick you could say he didn’t fight any of the other outstanding middleweights of the early 90’s except Roy Jones. You had James Toney, Reggie Johnson, Michael Nunn, Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan and Julian Jackson. But Hopkins turned pro in 1988 lost his debut and didn’t fight again until 1990. So he didn’t duck all of those guys , he just missed tangling with them. Other than that he’s a great fighter by all standards. Eye Ball Test, Accomplishments, Opposition, and Response to Adversity. Hopkins rates really high. Eye ball him in his peak performances vs Glen Johnson and Tito Trinidad. He has almost 30 title fight victories so that says it all about his accomplishments.

As for his opposition he has actually fought better fighters over 40 than under 40, which is odd but true. And he has responded to adversity great. He started his career with a loss and it didn’t deter him. He lost his first title shot to Roy Jones and scored a draw in his second one. That didn’t deter him. He was a huge underdog in his unification match vs Tito Trinidad and that didn’t deter him.

He had tons of promoter and legal squabbles and that didn’t hold him back. He lost twice to Jermaine Taylor and jumped straight to 175 and beat the man in Antonio Tarver. Then he beat the man who beat Taylor twice in Kelly Pavlik. He lost to Joe Calzaghe and he moved past that. He drew with Jean Pascal and was dropped twice and schooled him in a rematch. He lost to Chad Dawson and now he still outshines Dawson.
Hopkins has made a career out of outlasting guys like Roy Jones, Chad Dawson, Jermaine Taylor and Joe Calazghe although they all beat him. Not only does he outlast them he beats guys who beat them, so the losses to them get minimized as bad style match ups or bad nights or bad decisions. Bernard Hopkins is an all time great fighter. One of the best who ever laced them up. And if he beats Sergey Kovalev I will rate him as better than both Pacquiao and Mayweather.

BOXINGTALK : BONUS BREAD

 

[Thatrogueassdiaz]

No

 

[patscorpio]

being undisputed and lineal in 2 or more divisions would put him in select company of ATG's..but stevenson's style is all wrong for bhop...ill be happy if im wrong about that..him surpassing pac or floyd.. thats up for discussion

 

[GzUp]

i would say yes

 

[krackdagawd]

You already know my answer

*awaits the "no because he has losses" crowd*

edit and he didn't lose to fukking Calzaghe

 

[Newzz]

You already know my answer

*awaits the "no because he has losses" crowd*

edit and he didn't lose to fukking Calzaghe

How did I know you were gonna 5 star the thread


I already have Hopkins over RJJ on the All-time list, which goes by resumes, and beating Kovalev and Stevenson....I dont know if I would put em over Pac and Floyd, but he's right there with them imo.

 

[krackdagawd]

How did I know you were gonna 5 star the thread


I already have Hopkins over RJJ on the All-time list, which goes by resumes, and beating Kovalev and Stevenson....I dont know if I would put em over Pac and Floyd, but he's right there with them imo.

nikkas were getting at me for saying he was above Roy Jones a few months ago, might have to do some digging in the boxing thread. .

 

[Black Ball]

That's a great if, but he aint beating no Stevenson though so

 

[Newzz]

nikkas were getting at me for saying he was above Roy Jones a few months ago, might have to do some digging in the boxing thread. .

I was one of em, but I still hold THAT stance.


At their peaks, Roy Jones Jr was better than Bernard Hopkins at his very best. However, Bernard has the better resume and career, which is why I place him ahead of Roy on the ATG lists


Kinda like, if this was football, Larry Johnson at his best was a better RB than Curtis Martin ever was at his very best. However, Curtis Martin has the better career.

 

[Amare's Right Hook]

Yes

 

[krackdagawd]

I was one of em, but I still hold THAT stance.


At their peaks, Roy Jones Jr was better than Bernard Hopkins at his very best. However, Bernard has the better resume and career, which is why I place him ahead of Roy on the ATG lists


Kinda like, if this was football, Larry Johnson at his best was a better RB than Curtis Martin ever was at his very best. However, Curtis Martin has the better career.

"At their peaks" sounds like moving goal posts to me That's the problem with the Jones argument nikkas want to put a timetable on everything.

Ol "lets not count the Tarver/Johnson ass whopping" ass nikkas

Ol "lets not count Roy getting stretched by bums in the ECW arena" ass nikkas


Boxing careers aren't sprints they're marathons and the rabbit moves fast but it came in last after the turtle.

 

[Newzz]

"At their peaks" sounds like moving goal posts to me That's the problem with the Jones argument nikkas want to put a timetable on everything.

Ol "lets not count the Tarver/Johnson ass whopping" ass nikkas

Ol "lets not count Roy getting stretched by bums in the ECW arena" ass nikkas


Boxing careers aren't sprints they're marathons and the rabbit moves fast but it came in last after the turtle.

ECW arenas?


Joey Styles doing commentary during his fights

 

[LauderdaleBoss]

As of now I don't rate Hopkins higher than Roy Jones Jr on the ATG list and he's about equal if not slightly higher than Manny and Floyd.

If Hops were to beat Stevenson and Kovalev decisively, than he pretty much clearly jumps ahead of Jones, Pac, and Floyd to me.

What Hopkins is doing is impressive at this age, but I can't sit here and act like Cloud, Shumenov, and Pascal were any better than a Ruiz win at heavyweight.

Hopkins is challenging himself more now in the twilight of his career than he did in his prime. It''s like nikkas only wanna focus on these recent victories and not look at the bums he was beating up on USA's Tuesday Night Fights and HBO back in the day. If someone were to say Roy and Hops are equal now I wouldn't even argue it since it's close enough and the gap has been closed a lil, but to act like Hopkins done Vince Cartered this nikka and jumped over him tremendously is crazy.

It's hard to even debate Hopkins objectively since you mostly come across die hard haters of the man who give no respect to his accomplishments or guys who are super stans who worship everything he does and look at him as doing no wrongs. I fall somewhere in between that spectrum. shyt's all opinions anyways.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Id rate him higher than pac but below PBF

 

[krackdagawd]

or guys who are super stans who worship everything he does and look at him as doing no wrongs.