Boxing Discussion thread *spoilers* (part 2)

CrazyJamie

Fantastic achievement from Bernard Hopkins. He deserves real credit for the drive and determination that has shown in recent years; many people knocked him for not retiring, but he continued on. A worthy champion. Unfortunately I didn't see any of the fight (being asleep at the time), but I'll catch a replay at some point. Him doing press ups before the seventh round sounds like a classic moment.

In terms of the other fights, I thought DeGale had done enough, but ultimately I don't think losing that fight will do him any harm. When he reflects on it he will hopefully realise that the reason he lost was that Groves went in with a solid plan, whereas he thought that he could just out box him. That's a dangerous mentality to have at the top of the sport, and if DeGale learns that lesson it will make him a better fighter in future. Groves did exceptionally well whichever way you spin it and proved a lot of doubters wrong. No doubt he will be fast tracked to bigger things now.

Cleverly was impressive in his fight, but in fairness he was fighting a weak opponent and the result was never in doubt. The fight was ended prematurely, but Cleverly would have knocked him out comfortably anyway. I'm looking forward to him fighting someone who can give him a real challenge.

Iccz

Am I the only one who thinks that  B-Hop being Champion at 48 is an absolute joke?

Greatest fighter of the decade? Really?

Since 2004 he has fought 1 good boxer and that was Calzaghe who schooled him.
Everyone else he has fought in that time has been average at best (Taylor, Pavlik) or shot to pieces (Winky, RJJ, Tarver).

With a record of 52 wins and 32 knockouts, we know Hopkins used to pack power with his combinations and speed... When was the last time he scored a knockout? DLH in the 9th back in 2004. Since then he was unable to knockout anyone, even a shot to pieces Roy Jones Jr who was done in the 1st round by Green who was hardly much good.

I would strongly argue against fighter of the decade, while I have a lot of respect for B-Hop and used to think he was a great (I still think he is, but he has ruined his record here even with the new record), but now I'm starting to think he's defiling his history.

Best fighter of the last decade?
Mayweather?
Pac?
Calzaghe?

For me those 3 come above B-Hop...
Then when we drop back to the 90s I think that RJJ is going to beat B-Hop every time when it comes to what was achieved.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not disrespecting B-Hop, I just want the guy to hang his gloves up, he's not doing himself, nor boxing and favours.

wezzywebb

gotta disagree with you on this one,hopkins was hardly schooled by calzaghe  ,it was a very close fight in most peoples eyes which could have gone either way,i certainly wouldnt call jermain taylor average, what about glen johnson ? one very underated fighter who will almost certainly give carl froch a very hard night when they fight, felix trinidad ? certainly not an average fighter,the list goes on, i certainly dont think that hopkins is hurting his legacy by continuing fighting,for me he,s just making a mockery of the current boxing scene in general !!

Iccz

It was a close fight in people's eyes because Joe has never been given the recognition he deserves and B-Hop has always got the nod over other fighters when it has been close. For me the videos around on the internet of the fight that show highlights favour B-Hop heavily.
B-Hop was lost in that fight, he was constantly being pushed back and really looked like he was lost for tactics to do anything effective.

The win he had over Lacy was about the only thing he has done since  B-Hop, I don't really consider the Spinks fight of worth.

What about Johnson?

Tito was 2001, I'm talking about 2005 - Present.

He's making a mockery of boxing, okay maybe his legacy isn't as badly effected as I'm making out, but no knockouts, a few losses he should never have had... I hate to see a boxer do this to themselves when they should have hung their gloves up.

wezzywebb

as for jones do you really think that calzaghe would have lived with him in his prime?? i certainly dont

CrazyJamie

Whilst there is a debate to be had about how he compares to other fighters in the last decade, I wouldn't describe him being champion as a joke. He can only fight what's put in front of him, and if he has the ability to win a world title at that age I say fair play to him.

Iccz

Jones? Do you mean B-Hop?

A prime B-Hop - Calzaghe fight was something I wanted but B-Hop wouldn't go up for the fight when he was younger, which I would say is a fair thing... It's hard to call it, Calzaghe being younger and without injury problems might have been able to take B-Hop... but at the same time I think B-Hop would probably have took him.

If you meant Jones, i don't know what weight we'd be looking?
I think a prime Jones would take most fighters, because at his prime he was an incredible fighter.

It's a joke because it highlights how bad boxing is - you can pick your fights and your weight quite easily, there are several belts which makes it easier to do so and more weights. Back in the golden days of boxing it was a lot harder as you had less belts and less weights.

I'm not trying to take anything away from B-Hop but it really does show the state of boxing at the moment... B-Hop is still a good figher, but he's not great, not like he used to be.

CrazyJamie

That's fair enough. Ultimately creating so many different niche weight classes was always going to dilute the competition, and that's what we have seen over recent years. It also doesn't help when fighters in the same or similar weight classes avoid one another (Mayweather-Pacquiao). Still, we can still enjoy the odd excellent match up and there is still plenty to talk about, so I can't find it in myself to despair too much at the state of the sport, doubtless it may be that it has seen better days.

Tetlee

Typical that DeGale(or Warren for that matter) can't just be gracious and accept defeat

They've been trying to push for an instant rematch, and have been on to the board of control to try and force the decision.

Love the reply statement...
Don't doubt he will come back stronger and likely the loss will actually do DeGale some favours bringing him back down to earth nice and early in his career(unless he continues to live in denial and can't see where mistakes were made thinking he clearly won the fight). But anyway, in the meantime....

I see Chirosa v Fury is on, guessing that little bust up during the Groves v DeGale undercard was probably put on to get the hype rolling.

Chisora-Fury confirmed | Sky Sports | Boxing | News

On another note, surprised to hear Hopkins beat Pascal the other morning, must see if I can track that one down when we get back home.

Spligsey

You should do - watch old man Popkins doing his press-ups at the start of round 7