Is Hopkins overrated??

Hopkins did well to beat Pascal given that he was so old but lets be honest Pascal aint all that good. He also lost to Taylor twice who Froch beat aswell and so did Abraham and Pavlik. Then if you look at his best wins over Trinidad and De la Hoya fair play they are good wins but not sure either of those two guys were all that good at middleweights they seemd to be alot smaller than Hopkins. I think Hopkins was quality but my question is do people overrate him just because he is old and still doing well?

Dunno, where is he rated?

I hate the phrase overrated, everyone probably has a different opinion on him.

I don't think Hopkins is ever overrated and more likely he gets the opposite because people tend to highlight his best wins were against De la Hoya and Trinidad.

I agree Oscar was not great at 160lbs, but going into the fight Trinidad was the betting favourite against Hopkins. Both his losses to Taylor were very contentious and if they were over 15 rounds he would have stopped JArmain in a similar fashion to Froch. Also apart from his first loss to Pavlik, Taylor has been damaged goods ever since that KO and subsquent KO defeats to bigger and stronger opponents were inevitable.

Also as poor as you suggest Felix and Oscar were at middleweight, you would also have to say Bernard is not at his best at 175 lbs. However, since going there he has beaten Tarver, Pascal, Winky Wright, Jones Jr, Pavlik and loss a contentious split decision to Calzaghe atfer having him on the floor.

All of his lightheavy weight career is well in to his 40s, when in reality it would be a good run of results for someone 20 years younger.

Far from overrated IMO.

I don't think he is over rated. Think he certainly has earnt respect by staying competetive for so many years, but I also think that is justified and the guy deserves it.

mikeymax71 wrote:I don't think Hopkins is ever overrated and more likely he gets the opposite because people tend to highlight his best wins were against De la Hoya and Trinidad.

I agree Oscar was not great at 160lbs, but going into the fight Trinidad was the betting favourite against Hopkins. Both his losses to Taylor were very contentious and if they were over 15 rounds he would have stopped JArmain in a similar fashion to Froch. Also apart from his first loss to Pavlik, Taylor has been damaged goods ever since that KO and subsquent KO defeats to bigger and stronger opponents were inevitable.

Also as poor as you suggest Felix and Oscar were at middleweight, you would also have to say Bernard is not at his best at 175 lbs. However, since going there he has beaten Tarver, Pascal, Winky Wright, Jones Jr, Pavlik and loss a contentious split decision to Calzaghe atfer having him on the floor.

All of his lightheavy weight career is well in to his 40s, when in reality it would be a good run of results for someone 20 years younger.

Far from overrated IMO.

I don't think you can put that RJJ win down as a telling victory, RJJ was so shot it was embarrassing (and still is) having been sparked out by Danny 'Nobody' Green in his previous fight and horrendously ko'd by another nobody, Lebedev, the fight after. In fact, the fact he could only get a UD, albeit a comprehensive one, over the most shot RJJ ever probably counts as a negative on BHop's ledger.

It's funny with Hopkins. As a middleweight he never beat a great middleweight but his defining wins came against welterweights coming up. Greatness defined by longevity in much the same way as Slappy

i dont think so, he does deserve credit for boxing so well at his age, but that aside he still is an excellent boxer. he came as close to beating JC as anybody ever did, and wins over pascal, pavlik, tarver, de la hoya, trinidad, TKO of johnson and wright are all good wins. and 7 (i think) different world titles at 3 weights, and numerous defenses is something to be proud of.

Wouldn't call him overrated.

You don't defend the MW title 20 odd times by being an overrated fighter.

Granted his landmark fights at MW came against WW's moving up, but he did fight everone there was to fight.

His career at LHW only adds to his already fine career.

People have been writing him off since Pavlik and he just keeps on winning.

Saying all that however, he is still an absolute burk of a man.

His middleweight career is very very under rated, beat everyone there was to beat at the weight unified all four belts along the way.

Trinidad, Joppy, Eastman, Holmes, Johnson, Jackson, De La Hoya and Brown represented the best opposition to face and he beat them all, very different situation to Calzaghe.

Overrated....After being at the top for 20 years???

if he wins dawson as well it is would just be the icing on the cake

yawn, Coming next is being overrated overrated?

Super D Boon wrote:It's funny with Hopkins. As a middleweight he never beat a great middleweight but his defining wins came against welterweights coming up. Greatness defined by longevity in much the same way as Slappy

I'm willing to bet that your average punter would simply fall over after a so called "slap" from JC. The receiving end was no picnic I believe.

I don't mindcontentious threads, but this is just wrong. You may as well ask if the sun is actually cold for all the sense it makes. A modern great.

Something here smells of WUM.

Hopkins overrated? Come on.

He has fought the guys at the top for over 15 years, was the man at middleweight for 10 years. Despite his losses they have come to the best at their time and above all has adapted his style throughout many years... he also holds one thing that secures his ATG legacy, and that is longevity...

Name a boxer who has accomplished what he has done recently?

All he needs to do is make a grill or something and you could call him a messiah.

Deep down i loved Hopkins he was a true Legend.. But i loved it more when he got beat by a white guy.. And let us hope Cleverly gets the chance to beat his ass too.. Overrated?? No just a bit gobby..

Joshsmith wrote:Deep down i loved Hopkins he was a true Legend.. But i loved it more when he got beat by a white guy.. And let us hope Cleverly gets the chance to beat his ass too.. Overrated?? No just a bit gobby..

Whats wrong with you?

AlexHuckerby wrote:

Joshsmith wrote:Deep down i loved Hopkins he was a true Legend.. But i loved it more when he got beat by a white guy.. And let us hope Cleverly gets the chance to beat his ass too.. Overrated?? No just a bit gobby..

Whats wrong with you?

Is it too late for an abortion?

Only referring to Hopkins himself saying he cannot be beat by a white guy..

...Right...

Waingro wrote:I think Hopkins was quality but my question is do people overrate him just because he is old and still doing well?

That's a view which has been strangely common on 606 for a while now. Personally, I can't agree that his feat of winning at the highest level while at such an advanced age is overrated for one simple reason - so few have done it, not just in Hopkins' generation, but in the whole of boxing history.

Mikey made a very good point that while some are quick to dismiss some of Hopkins wins at 160 lb due to them being against men who weren't natural Middleweights, we sometimes forget that Hopkins himself is no natural 175 lb man. While nothing could make me think that anyone other than Monzon, Greb and Hagler deserve the top three spots in the Middleweight pantheon of greats, to my mind Hopkins is the closest man to them. In the days where boxing politics have made it almost an impossibility, Hopkins' feat of uniting all four of the 'major' titles deserves massive credit, as does his sheer consistency. We've been writing him off for over a decade, and yet here he is, still. Say what you like about him - and I'll happily admit that he hasn't always endeared himself to me in terms of personality - but he is remarkable.

In an age where less and less are worthy of it, Hopkins has more than earned the 'great' tag.