bernard hopkins back on july 14th

[ICB]

well just seen this and supposedly hbo has set a july 14th date for hopkins so who is he going be fighting guys ??

[superheavyrhun]

Personally I wouldn't bet against a post-Manfredo Joe Calzaghe, but seeing as his range can be anywhere between SMW and Heavyweight, he seems to have loads of options available to him. There was a good article about him in this week's Boxing News. Doubt the B-Hop fans will agree, but it questions whether the media have made him a legend, when really all he is is a good champion. Worth a read if you find the time between the Turkey, chocs, beer and spirits.

[BrooklyniteQueen]

Wouldn't hold my breath

[Pugilistic]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

[Preme]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

its not going to be at LH lol; the whole point is hopkins is going to stop calzaghe making 21 title defs, sumin hopkins cudnt do.

[El Gamo]

I really really hope it's JC,to answer all the arguments and to prove how good JC is(I think he's really good). It would mean more to me personally than to see Hopkins fighting Maskaev,which would not interest me in the slightest.

[tuckwopat]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

its not going to be at LH lol; the whole point is hopkins is going to stop calzaghe making 21 title defs, sumin hopkins cudnt do.

It's true that Hopkins didn't make 21, but look at his competition compared to Joe's. Hell, I go 50 and 0 every time I go beat up a playground filled with kids.

[Kev]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

its not going to be at LH lol; the whole point is hopkins is going to stop calzaghe making 21 title defs, sumin hopkins cudnt do.

It's true that Hopkins didn't make 21, but look at his competition compared to Joe's. Hell, I go 50 and 0 every time I go beat up a playground filled with kids.

You probably would get the chair if you tried though so you'd lose big in the end :P

[ICB]

id love to see calzaghe vs hopkins but i dont think it will happen somehow but i hope im wrong

[Preme]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

its not going to be at LH lol; the whole point is hopkins is going to stop calzaghe making 21 title defs, sumin hopkins cudnt do.

It's true that Hopkins didn't make 21, but look at his competition compared to Joe's. Hell, I go 50 and 0 every time I go beat up a playground filled with kids.

2 WW and tarver? if any non american done what he did he would be slagged off as much as calzaghe, calzaghe destroyed alot of up and comers much like hopkins, but hopkins has tito and the golden boy on his record

[ICB]

a fight with calzaghe at light heavy or a rematch with roy jones jr

its not going to be at LH lol; the whole point is hopkins is going to stop calzaghe making 21 title defs, sumin hopkins cudnt do.

It's true that Hopkins didn't make 21, but look at his competition compared to Joe's.  Hell, I go 50 and 0 every time I go beat up a playground filled with kids.

2 WW and tarver? if any non american done what he did he would be slagged off as much as calzaghe, calzaghe destroyed alot of up and comers much like hopkins, but hopkins has tito and the golden boy on his record

agreed i like hopkins but his record wouldnt be much different to calzaghes record if he hadnt of had oscar and tito on his record but with them 2 wins makes hopkins title reign way better

[tuckwopat]

Hmm,

Hopkins defended against...

De La Hoya
Trinidad
Eastman
Joppy
Vanderpool
Echols
Holmes
Brown
Johnson

Not all greats, but very good fighters.

I'm not going to bother posting all of Joe's no name defenses, but feel free to compare.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=005364

[superheavyrhun]

Hmm,

Hopkins defended against...

De La Hoya
Trinidad
Eastman
Joppy
Vanderpool
Echols
Holmes
Brown
Johnson

Not all greats, but very good fighters.

I'm not going to bother posting all of Joe's no name defenses, but feel free to compare.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=005364

I'm sorry tuckwopat but I have to take some serious issue with your comparison of the record. Both fighters have taken gimmie fights which fill the time between the bigger bouts. The only problem for Americans is that for the past decade or so, the best fighters in that division have not been American....so you think it doesn't exist.

Have another look at Hopkins' record, and remind me of the great exploits of Robert Allen, Morrade Hakkar and Carl Daniels. And as for Antwun Echols, he hadn't done too much before going twelve against Hopkins, and then getting stopped late on. Hving been beaten so comprehensively, by 8 points on two cards and 10 on the other, why did he warrant a rematch? And Syd Vanderpool, he outpointed Glen Johnson, who came into the fight outpointed by Sven Ottke, one fight doesn't make a career.

I'm not dissing Bernard, he fought a lot of great fighters, but he's fought bums of an equal standing to those Calzaghe has fought. And now for my defence of Calzaghe's record:
Byron Mitchell was a champion twice before trying to beat Calzaghe for his third title.
Mario Veit brought in a top record and was the interim champ when he was schooled by JC.
Charles Brewer was a former champion.
Ashira had challenged for world title honours at Middleweight.
Salem had won a number of regional American titles before coming in.
Woodhall was a former champion with a number of defences under his belt.
Then there's Sheika and Lacy, who came in hyped as America's great hope at SMW, by the American boxing media.
All schooled by Calzaghe.

He has fought bums...the biggest of whom was Tocker Pudwill, Mger Mrktchian who was a mandatory, Will McIntyre and Rick Thornberry. But so has Hopkins.

My argument, now that I've finally reached it, is that Calzaghe has fought the best in his division over 10 years, as has Hopkins. But also Calzaghe has fought some who didn't warrant a title shot, but so has Hopkins. And I will now rest my aching fingers!

[ICB]

Hmm, 

  Hopkins defended against...
 
De La Hoya
Trinidad
Eastman
Joppy
Vanderpool
Echols
Holmes
Brown
Johnson

  Not all greats, but very good fighters. 
 
  I'm not going to bother posting all of Joe's no name defenses, but feel free to compare.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=005364

vanderpool ?? got koed by lacy and a guy with 22-3 brown was koed by david reid in 4 rounds and he had lost his last 4 out of 9 when he fought hopkins ive already said his title reign was better but i dont think there is much difference if he hadnt of beat tito and oscar imo anyway and im not dissing hopkins i like the guy but thats just the way i feel mate

[tuckwopat]

Hmm,

Hopkins defended against...

De La Hoya
Trinidad
Eastman
Joppy
Vanderpool
Echols
Holmes
Brown
Johnson

Not all greats, but very good fighters.

I'm not going to bother posting all of Joe's no name defenses, but feel free to compare.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=005364

I'm sorry tuckwopat but I have to take some serious issue with your comparison of the record. Both fighters have taken gimmie fights which fill the time between the bigger bouts. The only problem for Americans is that for the past decade or so, the best fighters in that division have not been American....so you think it doesn't exist.

Have another look at Hopkins' record, and remind me of the great exploits of Robert Allen, Morrade Hakkar and Carl Daniels. And as for Antwun Echols, he hadn't done too much before going twelve against Hopkins, and then getting stopped late on. Hving been beaten so comprehensively, by 8 points on two cards and 10 on the other, why did he warrant a rematch? And Syd Vanderpool, he outpointed Glen Johnson, who came into the fight outpointed by Sven Ottke, one fight doesn't make a career.

I'm not dissing Bernard, he fought a lot of great fighters, but he's fought bums of an equal standing to those Calzaghe has fought. And now for my defence of Calzaghe's record:
Byron Mitchell was a champion twice before trying to beat Calzaghe for his third title.
Mario Veit brought in a top record and was the interim champ when he was schooled by JC.
Charles Brewer was a former champion.
Ashira had challenged for world title honours at Middleweight.
Salem had won a number of regional American titles before coming in.
Woodhall was a former champion with a number of defences under his belt.
Then there's Sheika and Lacy, who came in hyped as America's great hope at SMW, by the American boxing media.
All schooled by Calzaghe.

He has fought bums...the biggest of whom was Tocker Pudwill, Mger Mrktchian who was a mandatory, Will McIntyre and Rick Thornberry. But so has Hopkins.

My argument, now that I've finally reached it, is that Calzaghe has fought the best in his division over 10 years, as has Hopkins. But also Calzaghe has fought some who didn't warrant a title shot, but so has Hopkins. And I will now rest my aching fingers!

I stand by what I say. Joe is a great fighter, and has all the skill to take down just about any fighter. But....I think Hopkins competition was much stiffer. And whoever hyped Sheika too you had no idea what they were talking about. He was a decent fighter, but extremely beatable. He had 1 loss before the Calzaghe fight and more losses than I bother to remember afterwards.

The reason that the win over Lacy was so fantastic is because Joe primarily fights in a bubble. Nobody knew just how good he could be because his competition has been sorta stale. I dont' think he ducks anyone, he's just making big bucks by fighting very ordinary fighters. (I probably would to)

Outside the belt, B-Hop has also fought Roy Jones, Jermain Taylor, and Tarver. Granted he didn't win'em all, but he tried.