Originally Posted by
SlimTrae
I know some Tito fans claimed he was over his best weight, but going into the fight Tito easily disputed that claim by stopping then WBA champ William Joppy who had defended the title on a number of occasions.
Great way to unify the 3 main belts. Champ vs Champ & one turned in a masterful performance.
Side note- I saw something in that performance no one talks about; To me, there were several times Hop wanted to clinch & Tito stopped it by using his elbow to push off on Hop's collar bone. Hop adjusted to it. Even though he had his back to the ropes, he kept moving, never laying on the ropes.
I also note that the final knockdown was completed by a bit of a push, but hey, the master knew every trick in the book!
It was not his best weight but that cant be used as an excuse. And lets keep it real. Joppy was about as much a world beater as Kieth Holmes. That was one of the weakest eras in middleweight history.
I'm not trying to take away from the performance because Tito just happened to meet up with one of the top 5 middleweights that has ever laced them up regardless of the era he operated in.
His performance inside the ring was equaled only by his performance outside it. He won the fight prior to the bell to start the first round. He took Tito's head w/o throwing a punch. Papa didn't help things much telling him he was winning the fight.
Its staggering really. Tito, Taylor, Tarver, Pavlik, Wright, never the same again.
Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
Re: Masterful performance from Hopkins vs Tito.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks