Pernell Whitaker or Bernard Hopkins? Who’s better who’s greater?

Hopkins is probably greater due to his longevity but I definitely think Whitaker was better. More talented and IMO more skilled and to me, more impressive.

What say y’all?

 

Tough one. What Hopkins was able to achieve in the long run is astonishing. Whitaker in his prime had a great run as well.

Probably lean more towards Hopkins, but slightly. Hopkins does hold victories over the guys that beat Whitaker (Trinidad and ODLH).

 

Whitaker was definitely more athletically talented than Hopkins. Better jab and more elusive but relied on his reflexes.

Hopkins was more fundamentally sound and had better balance. He was more “correct” in terms of technique.

 

Whitaker better and greater.

 

I would agree Hopkins had the more successful career, simply due to just how long he was at the top. He beat some good fighters - although not as good as Whitaker did - but was also extremely dominant at 160, and lasted ages after that.

But Whitaker was a much better fighter. Just a complete level above. More skilled, more talented, more intelligent. Just a better fighter all round.

 

Whitaker better prime for prime, Hopkins clearly greater

 

why would Hopkins be greater? his resume is worse

 

Yeah, I don't get it either.

I have Pete as a top 15-20 all timer. Not Bernard.

Longevity is nice and all, but Hopkins also has much greater failures than Whitaker.

I'll take Whitaker's body of work, despite the fact that he had less longevity.

 

I agree that Whitaker was a better H2H fighter than Hopkins and more skilled. If Pernell were the same size as Hopkins he would have beaten him clearly.

 

I think people tend to overrate longevity. In that case, James Toney would be better and greater than Pea but he clearly was never on Whitaker’s level, and I’m a fan of Toney.

I dig Hopkins too for his versatility and for what he was able to accomplish in his latter years but even at his best against Trinidad, he in my eyes was never a better fighter than Whitaker.

Even past prime, I don’t think Whitaker loses to a Jermain Taylor level type of fighter.

 

I have Whitaker, Hagler, and Monzon all roughly in the same tier of greatness, and I consider all three greater than Hop. I won't disrespect Hopkins and say I think they're greater by leaps and bounds, but I do consider them greater.

 

Considering how much Whitaker struggled with Rivera while being ten years younger than Hopkins was against Taylor, I don't believe this to be true

 

Whittaker and Hopkins were on different drugs.

 

Pernell was better

I mean, if you place a lot of value on longevity, then I can understand you putting B-Hop greater all-time. But Whitaker was better during his prime than Hopkins was in his.

And it’s not like Whitaker didn’t have respectable longevity in his own right. It just wasn’t insane like Hopkins’s longevity.

 

Whittakers 12 round effort Vs Trinidad eclipses a lot of Hopkins efforts vs Dawson, Pascal or Smith.

 

Both guys liked to hold and hit, a lot.

 

what longevity exactly? doesn't that word apply when someone doesn't lose for a long time?
Hopkins pretty much only started in 2001, before that has little to speak of...I guess he hung around for a while, if that's what longevity means

 

Pea would've stopped Navarette.

 

of course a jr middleweight will beat a super bantam

 

Pea was known for his power

 

Nav would get the Lomeli treatment.

 

Whitaker’s effort against Trinidad was incredible. At times I thought he was gonna get KO’d but he showed some mean stuff in there.

 

Whitaker was able to survive Trinidad because Estevez let him sit down in the corner numerous times when Trinidad had him hurt and cornered

 

I'm in the Whitaker better, Hopkins greater camp.

 

I remember Foreman commentating on HBO and talking about how Whitaker doesn’t fit the image of what you think of as a mean boxer. You think of power punchers, pressure fighters, KO artists, (like Tyson, Duran, Qawi, Liston)….etc

George said something like “don’t be fooled by that, Whitaker is a very mean guy in the ring”.

Obviously they all have mean streaks but there’s levels to it. Some (like Qawi) seen more sadistic than others.

 

A main reason Trinidad dominated Whitaker was the use of his forearm to prevent Whitaker from getting inside and grappling.

 

trinidads forearm didnt have so much to do with it as whitakers decade long cocaine and alcohol binge prior to that fight.

 

Well yeah but whitaker was just a sitting duck

 

Same here

 

Yeah qawi seems to delight in inflicting pain. His performance against leon spinks is so sadistic, i watch it a few times per year