As good as Hopkins is/was..

..he is the ugliest, most dissappointing, most unexciting fighter I've ever seen.

Pathetic, disgusting.......and I am damn glad he lost.

 

I used to be a huge Hopkins fan, and he can still win me back by moment like when he dropped Cal in round 1, but I'm glad he lost too, he became a very boring fighter, all of the fights he's in are shit

 

Bernard wasnt boring his whole career. Only about the last 4-5 years as he's slowed. In the 90's up until the Carl Daniels fight he wasnt a dull fighter.

 

Dude, he was fucking boring BEFORE he beat Tito. That is a helluva lot longer ago than 5 years.

Great, smart, instinctive, natural and again GREAT fighter.......but he is hard to watch.

Hopkins has a knack for making everyone fight his fight, ..which is ugly and unentertaining.

Bottom Line....

 

he made it hard for calzaghe to be accurate

Even though calzaghe landed more shots on bernard than roy jones did. He is an extremely clever fighter and very defensive minded.

 

The fight was good for a Hopkins fight.

 

Hops really showed his bitch-side 2nite

 

Yup, to be honest I was proper shocked. I've always respected Nard and considered him a warrior.

He looked like he was quitting, and wanted a cheap way out of the fight.

He wasn't looking to get a point knocked off, he was looking for a DQ win.

That was fucking pathetic.

 

:bears::bears:

Yeah.-Dissapointing.

 

Hopkins got whitewashed. Apart from the first he won no rounds clearly, fouled like Duran and acted like Ruiz. I have always liked him but this was embarassing

 

Same - I've never found Hopkins exciting - however his style is effective and to use a cliche, a 'throwback' to the old days.

You watch someone like Roberto Duran and see what he does in his fights -somewhat similar (re: Leonard I in '80).

Having said that, I thought Calzaghe just pulled it out of the bag - I havent scored properly but I gave Calzaghe 7 rounds.

 

If Calzaghe announced "He'd never lose to a black boy" "It just aint supposed to happen from where I'm from" or said shit like, "Say goodbye to your children" to his opponents or pushed them in the face at post-fight weigh ins, and he was constantly equipped with an army of European apologist sportswriters and forum members desperately trying to interperate his words and actions in a more positive light, AND even applying some spin for his pathetic low-balling hostage-like negotiation techniques. All this besides OFCOURSE having an entire career bludgeoning smaller fighters, and stinking the joint out with grappling and butting and nut crushing,..and losses to Jermaine Taylor that europe could not BARE to have happenned :crafty: where European groupies used the "OLD!!" excuse a little prematurely,..... If Calzaghe, with all this, could retain as much of the kind of irrational praise, love and respect that Hopkins evidently did coming into this fight, we'd be living on a different planet.

"Only in America"... I think is the term. Congratulations, by your own admission, the EURO,............ is now the immortal lord of the universe. :laughing:

 

All that fucking around when he got 'hit' by the low blow in the tenth was a disgrace.

As MWS says- he wasn't looking for Joe to lose a point, he was looking to get Joe DQ'd.

I give 'Nard major props for his counter punching style and his ability to fight at an elite level at the age of 43, sure, but he is one dirty, crafty, sneaky son of a bitch, and some of his antics last night were atrocious.

 

Randy Couture is older than Hopkins, and he has to fight fare and at the same pace, using every old muscle and bone in his body, not just throwing his hands extremely sporadically every 3 minutes.. I think Hopkins age is overrated considering the way he fights.

 

Amen brother.

 

Let's be honest though ... that drop was bullshit.

Yes , Bernard hit Calzaghe with a clean punch , but what put Joe down was Hopkins moving forward and over him , pushing him down. Joe was absolutely honest when he said it was more a slip than a knockdown.

 

Yep ... sadly I have to agree.

 

Then you're just a casual fan who only appreciates brawling action like a Gatti or Ward. How can you watch Hopkins as a fan of the sweet science and not appreciate the craft that he brings. He's a scientist in there.

I will say, however, that this was the worst that he's looked since before the Roy Jones fight.

The Bernard of old wouldn't have needed to take breathers. Hopkins of 5 years ago would have won that fight clearly.

 

...and the Calzaghe of 5 years ago would've fought with more abandon. I'm not sure I agree with the conclusion.

 

How about the Hopkins who fought Jermaine?.. ...Green Hops is Roy's bitch, Old Hops is Calzaghe's bitch,.. tough break being completely unbeatable inbetween :: .

 

dsimon writes:

:: :: very good Kaulki. You really have a handle on the whole Hopkins thing. I don't agree with you. I am in Sly's camp on this one but credit where credit is due. :doh: :bears: Very clever post especially the black boy Calzighe post and this one.

 

dsimon writes:

Guys like Hopkins did not invent the double standard where by a black guy can use the term white boy but a white fighter would be considered out of bounds to use the same term towards a black fighter.... 200+ years of history invented that term. And Black people today get a free pass on langauge and little else, and Bernard cashes in those chips, hey its an inadvantage why not cash it in?

Yes Bernanrd lost to Jones early and lost to Calzighe late, but he fought well in both fights.

 

Im an absolute cynical cranky old cunt these days,.. most of what I say is fuelled by frustration and irritation,.. even I'll admit Im nowhere near as likeable as I think I might have been once,.. I've really lost touch, big time.

 

Kauki, what amazes me about that vignette of the fight in your sig, is that nobody in the crowd cracked up, they are all straight faced.

I laughed out loud when I saw that at the time.

 

Yep,,..Hopkins was going down,..and Joe thought..."Aww bullshit you cheating cunt.."... and tried to humiliate him before he could have his little rest.

 

Hopkins is a master boxer, and for 43 that was a good Hopkins fight. He averaged 39 punches a round against Cal, which is great activity from him. Great counter rights and lefts, great movement, some nice body shots. I fint the Hop's boxing ability amazing to watch.

 

What do you think of Randy Couture?.. 44 years old, has to grapple with young bulls and use every muscle in his body for 5 minutes straight per round, I think he's the current champion too,.. still and all, Hopkins is truelly in a class of his own, with his good 12 second participation per 3 minute round, backing away and throwing his fist out every now and then.

 

Hops was obviously frustrated by Joe's pressure. He got tired too, by trying to muscle and wrestle with the welshman, who got underrated strenght. Now I'd like to see Hops to retire, since I can't, for the life of me, stand another one of his fights :doh:

 

It sounded like he was ready to retire after the fight.

I think he delayed his ultimate retirement for more financial security and the fact that he could still fight at a high level and avoid taking serious punishment.

But he says he wants to spend time with his daughter and that he's been smart with his money..it may be likely he's through.

 

how many times do he actually go 5 rounds/5 minutes each...:dunno: 2 or 3 times in his career. .500 fighter...