Hopkins was well past his best when he fought Roy (as was Roy). Neither had really entered their primes when they fought the first time. For me it is all about the eye test and performance.

Hopkins started to slow down around the Oscar fight but he changed his style and became very defensive focused and conservative during the fight, preferring to build to a high pace as he shut down and frustrated his opponent. Many will disagree, but I think Roy was on the tail end of his prime when Tarver knocked him out- meaning I believe that was still a prime Roy (he looked as fast as ever until that punch.